William Franklin Sater Benedict (April 16, 1917 – November 25, 1999) was an American actor, perhaps best known for playing "Whitey" in Monogram Pictures' The Bowery Boys series.

Early years

Benedict was born in Haskell, Oklahoma, After his father's death when Billy was three years old, his mother supported him and his two sisters. He took part in school theatricals, and on leaving school he made his way to Hollywood.

Career

Benedict's first film was ''$10 Raise'' (1935) starring Edward Everett Horton, which launched the blond-haired young man on a busy career. He almost always played juvenile roles, such as newsboys, messengers, office boys, and farmhands. In 1939, when

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

began its Little Tough Guys series to compete with the popular Dead End Kids features, Billy Benedict was recruited into the cast. These films led him into the similar East Side Kids movies, usually playing a member of the East Side gang, but occasionally in villainous roles. The East Side Kids became The Bowery Boys in 1946, and Benedict stayed with the series, as "Whitey", to the end of 1951. Other films included '' My Little Chickadee'' (1940) starring W. C. Fields and

Mae West Mary Jane "Mae" West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, singer, comedian, screenwriter, and playwright whose career spanned more than seven decades. Recognized as a prominent sex symbol of her time, she was known ...

, '' The Ox-Bow Incident'' (1943), Ed Wood's '' Bride of the Monster'' (1955), ''

The Sting ''The Sting'' is a 1973 American caper film. Set in 1936, it involves a complicated plot by two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) to con a mob boss ( Robert Shaw). The film was directed by George Roy Hill, who had dir ...

'' (1973) and '' Farewell, My Lovely'' (1975). Benedict never shook his juvenile image completely, and continued to play messengers and news vendors well into his sixties. He often worked in television commercials,Staff
"William Benedict Character Actor, 82"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', November 30, 1999. Accessed March 30, 2009. and in television series, including '' The Andy Griffith Show'', ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...

'', and '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''.

Death

Benedict died at age 82 on November 25, 1999, at

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...

, following heart surgery.

Selected filmography

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict, William American male film actors Male actors from Oklahoma 20th-century American male actors 1917 births 1999 deaths Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) People from Haskell, Oklahoma