Billy Gilbert

Birth : 1891-09-15, Hollywood, California, USA

Death : 1961-04-29

History

*** FYI: NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH ACTOR BILLY GILBERT (born William Gilbert Barron) WHO LIVED FROM 1894 TO 1971. *** Billy Gilbert (born William V. Campbell; September 15, 1891—April 29, 1961) was involved in more than 150 American films between 1913 and 1936, working as either an actor, extra, or director. Gilbert spent his entire career working almost exclusively in shorts, often uncredited. [biography (excerpted) from Wikipedia]

Movies

Give Us This Night
Leader of Clacque
After being introduced to the world of opera, a fisherman (Jan Kiepura) falls for a woman (Swarthout) whose guardian is a noted composer (Philip Merivale). They met when the fisherman evaded the police by seeking refuge in the village church. While there, they are each captivated by hearing the other singing Mass. The beautiful woman falls in love with the fisherman with the wonderful voice.
The Rodeo
Minor Role (uncredited)
The film begins with a family at home having a meal. The biggest laugh involved some candles being substituted for asparagus and the hilarity that resulted when the people and dog at them. Later, the decide to go to the rodeo but 1001 problems occur on the way there in the car.
Motorboat Mamas
Boat Officer
Motorboat Mamas is a silent comedy short.
Movie Mania
Tim Murphy
Part of a short-lived "Izzie and Lizzie" series named after the male and female ingénues in two comically contrasted families living next door to one another, this slapstick adventure finds Lizzie Murphy (Bess True) "going Hollywood." Having won a beauty contest, she's invited to travel west for a film test. Both Izzie Cohen and the Murphy menfolk are soon in hot pursuit, having belatedly realized that (according to a lurid tell-all book) Tinsel Town is the ruin of many a virtuous maiden. When they arrive, Lizzie is already starring in a movie and the wide-eyed family folk are fast wreaking havoc on the lot at "Paramet Studio."
Fiddlesticks
Bystander
Harry will do anything to be a musician, but it takes a junk collector to discover his hidden talents.
For Sale, a Bungalow
The Gas Man
For Sale, a Bungalow is a 1927 comedy short
Smith's Pony
Ship's Purser
The Smith's visit San Francisco to attend a horse show only to have their precocious daughter cause some minor comical mishaps and their over-sized canine refusing to obey commands.
The Pride of Pikeville
Hawkins House Guest
Unlikely Lothario, the less-than-dashing crossed-eyed Ben Turpin, finds himself pursued by many beautiful ladies.
Smith's Fishing Trip
The Fisherman
Twelfth release in 'The Smith Family' series of 2-reel comedies and the family gos fishing while their house is renovated.
Crazy to Act
Projectionist
Millionaire film producer Gordon Bagley wants to marry Ethel St. John, the leading lady in his latest film. Ethel is in love with Arthur Young, the hero of Bagley's lastest movie. Work on the film starts, and at the preview screening is shown to be disasterous. Ethel then goes away with Arthur, while Gordon runs on a rotating movie set.
A Small Town Princess
Gateman
A small town princess gets hired for the movies.
Peaches and Plumbers
The Attorney
To make her boyfriend jealous a society girl starts dating a plumber but his sweetheart gets revenge.
Flirty Four-Flushers
Soup Drinking Customer / Hotel Desk Clerk
With her winnings from an essay contest, a waitress gets dolled up and goes to a swanky resort to snag a millionaire husband.
The Soapsuds Lady
Grandpa Tucker
The Soapsuds Lady is a 1925 silent comedy.
Smith's Uncle
Messenger
Here it's Andy Clyde in a long beard as Raymond McKee's rich uncle Dan. He quickly becomes entangled with Carmelita Geraghty, the vamp next door, and her conniving brother Bud Jamison.
Smith's Landlord
Small Mover
Third release in 'The Smith Family' series of 2-reel comedies. Omar the dog, usually the most sedate member of the Smith family, has a starring role in this episode, digging up the garden and stealing the landlord's hat.
Smith's Baby
Mabel's Father, Jimmy's Father-in-Law
Baby Bubbles torments her babysitting grandmother (Sunshine Hart) while her parents enjoy a rare night out at the movies.
Ice Cold Cocos
Ice Rink Usher
Billy and Andy impersonate two ice-delivery men in a suburban town. Billy takes a fancy to a newly-wed bride and most of his loose cash is liquidated as he flirts with her. Her husband is not pleased at Billy's attentions to his new bride. There is a skating contest at the local ice-rink, and the bride, her mother and her husband are in attendance, as are Billy and Andy, the icemen.
Hayfoot, Strawfoot?
Doctor
Hayfoot, Strawfoot? is a silent comedy short.
Whispering Whiskers
Indian
Billy Bevan and Andy Clyde are hobos who happen upon a train and are hired as cooks.
A Sweet Pickle
Bakery Chef
A Sweet Pickle is a 1925 Comedy short.
Ten Dollars or Ten Days
Customer with Cane
In this silent comedy, a pretty department store cashier is charged with a robbery that occurred overnight at the store. However, circumstantial evidence points to the store's soda clerk having committed both the $10,000 robbery and the assumed murder of the store's nightwatchman, who is missing.
Stuck Up
Bud Duncan comedy produced by Schiller and distributed by Reelcraft.
All Wet
A slapstick comedy featuring Bud Duncan & Billy Gilbert.
Dynamite Allen
'Simp' Hallett
Betty, a blind girl, is the sole "witness" to the murder of a mine owner and whose mistaken testimony convicts Sid Allen her own benefactor. Years later, the adult Betty returns to the mining town, her sight restored. Fearing that she may remember the truth, the real murderer, "Bull" Snide has the girl kidnapped.
The Tip
Director
A short film starring Harold Lloyd.
Move On
Director
Our hero is a police officer who gets involved in a crap game, flirting with a nurse and other amusements.
The Flirt
Director
A man takes a job in a café, hoping to get to know the pretty waitress working there.
Rainbow Island
Director
After finding a note in a floating bottle, our hero is off to resue the heroine. He runs into a tribe of cannibals.
His Bitter Pill
Barfly
Jim, the apple of his mother's eyes, is the big-hearted galoot of a man and is sheriff of his small town. He is sweet on Nell, who he has known all his life. Just as he is about to propose to her, he finds out that he has missed his opportunity as Diamond Dan, a big city slicker, has already proposed to her, to which she's accepted.
A Submarine Pirate
Torpedo Loader (uncredited)
A waiter tricks his way into command of a sub in order to rob a ship carrying gold bullion.
Fickle Fatty's Fall
Man at Test-of-Strength Concession
Fickle Fatty's Fall is a 1914 Comedy short.
A Hash House Fraud
Freeloading Customer
A swindle in a tiny downtown restaurant leads to a classic Keystone Cops finale. One and all have an easy time with the pretty and flirtatious cashier played by Louise Fazenda, who went on to great success as a character actress and married famed producer Hal B. Wallis in 1927. Released by Keystone Film Company.
Miss Fatty's Seaside Lovers
Bellhop
When a rich 'mothball magnate' checks into a hotel with his family, the mashers come out of the woodwork to woo his daughter (Fatty Arbuckle.) The scene shifts to the beach where the buxom heiress becomes stranded on a rock, where she is sunbathing, when the tide comes in. An hilarious rescue effort ensues.
Mabel’s Wilful Way
Blackface Man in Sideshow Game / Man Going Down Slide
Mabel sneaks away from her parents for some mischievous fun at the fairgrounds with a pair of impromptu suitors.
Wished on Mabel
Police Chief
Mabel, in the park with her mother, sees her boyfriend and asks him to join them.
A One Night Stand
Audience Spectator
Two clownish stagehands make life difficult for the manager and cast of a dramatic production.
That Little Band Of Gold
Audience Member
A happy young couple become engaged, and soon afterwards they are married. But after their marriage, the husband begins to stay out carousing with his friends, leaving his wife at home with her mother. Then, when the three of them go to the opera together, the husband spots one of his friends in another box. Soon the domestic difficulties reach their peak.
Hogan Out West
The Cowboy
After arriving in a hostile Western town, Hogan meets the Wild West head-on. A shack loaded with dynamite aids his return to urbanity. "Plenty of western color helps to make the production an attractive one apart from its comic attributes. In this film Charles Murray as Hogan is his usual comical self." -The Moving Picture World, March 13, 1915.
Fatty's New Role
Fatty gets kicked out of a bar, and then the place gets a bomb threat.
Love, Speed and Thrills
Cop
After Walrus has been shot, Ambrose takes him into his house. When Ambrose sees Walrus flirting with his wife he leaves. When Walrus runs away with Mrs. Ambrose, Ambrose gets on a horse to save her. The Keystone Kops are also after Walrus.
Fatty and Mabel’s Simple Life
The Groom
Fatty is a farm hand at Mabel's father's place. He and Mabel love each other, but dad wants to marry Mabel off to the landowner's son in exchange for tearing up the mortgage. When Mabel and Fatty find out dad's plan, they elope, pursued by dad, the hopeful suitor, and the local constables.
Ambrose's First Falsehood
Café Patron
After running into a friend and two ladies, a married man sends his wife a note saying that he's taken a train for business, but then his wife reads that the train crashed.
His Prehistoric Past
Caveman Masher (uncredited)
Set mostly in the Stone Age, a prehistoric king, with a harem of wives, rules a beach. Charlie arrives and falls for the king's favorite wife. In the end, it turns out to have been a dream; Charlie was asleep in the park.
Leading Lizzie Astray
Cafe Waiter
A city slicker tries to woo a country girl while her boyfriend fixes his tire.
Tillie's Punctured Romance
Policeman (uncredited)
A womanizing city man meets Tillie in the country, after a fight with his girlfriend. When he sees that Tillie's father has a very large bankroll for his workers, he persuades her to elope with him.
His Trysting Places
Diner in Overalls
Charlie and his friend Ambrose meet in a restaurant and accidentally leave with each other's coats. Charlie was going to pick up a baby bottle and Ambrose was going to mail a love letter that was in his coat pocket. Charlie's wife finds the letter and thinks he has a secret lover and Ambrose's wife believes he has an illegitimate child. Controversy arises in the park between Charlie and his wife and Ambrose and his wife. It is resolved at the end, but Charlie sparks another fight between the other couple by showing his friend's wife the love letter that was in his pocket.
His Musical Career
Piano Store Salesman
Charlie and his partner are to deliver a piano to 666 Prospect St. and repossess one from 999 Prospect St.
Gentlemen of Nerve
Spectator
Mabel and her beau go to an auto race and are joined by Charlie and his friend. As Charlie's friend is attempting to enter the raceway through a hole, the friend gets stuck and a policeman shows up.
Those Love Pangs
Movie Patron
Charlie and a rival vie for the favors of their landlady.
The Rounders
Doorman in Blackface
Two drunks fight with their wives and then go out and get even drunker.
The Masquerader
Cameraman
Charlie plays an actor who bungles several scenes and is kicked out. He returns convincingly dressed as a lady and charms the director, but Charlie never makes it into the film.
Those Country Kids
Man whose Carriage is Stolen
Those Country Kids is a 1914 short comedy film starring Fatty Arbuckle and Mabel Normand, and directed by Fatty Arbuckle.[1]
The Knockout
Society Singer
To show his girl how brave he is, Pug challenges the champion to a fight. Charlie referees, trying to avoid contact with the two monsters.
A Busy Day
Policeman
A jealous wife is chasing her unfaithful husband during a parade, after he starts to flirt with a pretty woman.
Caught in a Cabaret
Cabaret Patron (uncredited)
Charlie is a clumsy waiter in a cheap cabaret, suffering the strict orders from his boss. He meets a pretty girl in the park and tries to impress her by pretending to be an ambassador. Unfortunately she has a jealous fiancé.
The Star Boarder
Boarder (uncredited)
A brat's magic lantern show exposes an indiscreet moment between a landlady and her star boarder.
Cruel, Cruel Love
Short Ambulance Attendant
This early Chaplin film has him playing a character quite different from the Tramp for which he would become famous. He is a rich, upper-class gentleman whose romance is endangered when his girlfriend oversees him being embraced by a maid. Chaplin's romantic interest in this film, Minta Durfee, was the wife of fellow Keystone actor, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.
His Favorite Pastime
Shoeshine Boy
A very plastered fella follows a pretty woman home, and proceeds to make a nuisance of himself.
Tango Tangles
Guest in Cowboy Hat (uncredited)
In a dance hall, two members of the orchestra and a tipsy dancer fight over the hat check girl.
A Film Johnnie
Theater Usher (uncredited)
The Tramp, a film Johnnie (someone who loiters near theaters or studios to meet stars or get a job), attempts to meet his favorite movie actress at the Keystone Studio, but does not win friends there.
Mabel's Strange Predicament
Bellboy (uncredited)
The Tramp gets drunk in a hotel lobby and causes some misunderstandings between Mabel and her lover.
Making a Living
Jealous Husband (uncredited)
A swindler scams a journalist to get some money and then applies for a job at his newspaper.
Rebecca's Wedding Day
The Thief
Rebecca's Wedding Day is a 1914 movie starring Roscoe Arbuckle and Billy Gilbert.
He Would a Hunting Go
Villager
Count Chicori is perused by a bear whilst visiting at a hunting lodge.
Fatty Joins the Force
Fighter
Fatty rescues the daughter of the police commisioner and is given a job as an officer as a reward, but its not all its cracked up to be!
Fatty at San Diego
Theatre Patron / Man on Dock
Fatty induces wife to let him take a day off to go to the celebration at San Diego. He has a wonderful time, flirting with the girls, breaking up a parade, fighting the police force and falling into the fountain with him, escapes, and with the crowd after him, leaps into the river. Here he rescues a little boy and becomes a hero. He goes home to wife in a bedraggled condition, tells of rescue and is set upon a pedestal. Wife, as a reward, takes him to the movies at night and sees husband flirting and fighting in the fountain, where some enterprising cameraman caught him. That explaining, as she thought, the bedraggled state in which he arrived home, she turns and beats him all the way home.
The Speed Kings
Man Ford Bumps into
Race-car drivers pursue Mabel Normand, whose father has a clear favorite.
A Quiet Little Wedding
Wedding Guest
The scene is laid for a quiet little wedding. The guests are waiting for Fatty and an ancient maid to be made one. Fatty's rival appears and breaks up the wedding. A lemon meringue pie battle ensues, with the rival the victor. He carries the bride away. A most sensational and ludicrous finish is when he sees Fatty at the foot of a precipitous cliff. In a fit of rage he throws the bride from the top of the cliff at him, who lands unscathed in Fatty's arms.
Mother's Boy
Mug
Mother's Boy is a 1913 movie starring Roscoe Arbuckle and Alice Davenport.
Mabel's Dramatic Career
Audience Member
A young man falls in love with his mother's kitchen maid, Mabel. But his mother objects strongly, and arranges for him to meet another young woman whom she considers more suitable. Mabel confronts the young woman, and is dismissed from her position. Later, when the young man learns about the new career that Mabel has found, he begins to act in an agitated and unpredictable manner.