Willie Best
Birthday
1913/05/27
Day of death
1962/11/27 (49 years old)
Gender
Male
Place of Birth
Sunflower, Mississippi, USA
Also know as
Sleep 'n' Eat, Sleep 'n Eat, Sleep n' Eat
Biography
William “Willie” Best (May 27, 1916 - February 27, 1962), sometimes known as “Sleep n' Eat,” was an American television and film actor. Best was one of the first African-American film actors and comedians to become well known. In the 21st century, his work, like that of Stepin Fetchit, is sometimes reviled because he was often called upon to play stereotypically lazy, illiterate, and/or simple-minded characters in films. Of the 124 films he appeared in, he received screen credit in at least 77, ...Read more
Acting
(1952) Ellis in Freedomland
as Male Model
(1938) Blondie
as Porter
(1939) Blondie Brings Up Baby
as Hotel Janitor (uncredited)
(1942) Scattergood Survives a Murder
as Hipp
(1943) Cinderella Swings It
as Hipp
(1939) The Covered Trailer
as Baltimore
(1941) High Sierra
as Algernon
(1930) Feet First
as Janitor
(1940) The Ghost Breakers
as Alex
(1935) Hit and Rum
as Shoe Shine Man (uncredited)
(1942) A-Haunting We Will Go
as Waiter
(1935) The Littlest Rebel
as James Henry
(1945) The Red Dragon
as Chattanooga Brown
(1946) Dangerous Money
as Chattanooga Brown
(1939) Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter
as Apollo Johnson
(1936) Murder on a Bridle Path
as 'High-Pockets'
(1941) Highway West
as Bub Wellington
(1941) The Smiling Ghost
as Clarence
(1942) The Hidden Hand
as Eustis, the chauffeur
(1934) Little Miss Marker
as Dizzy Memphis (uncredited)
(1935) Murder on a Honeymoon
as Willie (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
(1943) Cabin in the Sky
as Second Idea Man
(1946) The Face of Marble
as Shadrach
(1941) Nothing But the Truth
as Samuel
(1942) Whispering Ghosts
as Euclid White Brown
(1942) Juke Girl
as Jo-Mo
(1942) Maisie Gets Her Man
as Sam (Uncredited)
(1942) Busses Roar
as Sunshine
(1945) She Wouldn't Say Yes
as Porter
(1945) Pillow to Post
as Lucille, Colonial Auto Court Porter
(1944) The Girl Who Dared
as Woodrow
(1941) Road Show
as Willie
(1941) The Lady from Cheyenne
as George
(1937) Super-Sleuth
as Warts, Martin's manservant
(1936) Down the Stretch
as Noah
(1941) Kisses for Breakfast
as Arnold
(1946) The Bride Wore Boots
as Joe
(1945) The Monster and the Ape
as Flash
(1935) Raised and Called
as ---
(1940) Who Killed Aunt Maggie?
as Andrew
(1944) Home in Indiana
as Mo' Rum (uncredited)
(1938) Goodbye Broadway
as Jughead
(1940) Money and the Woman
as George Washington Jones
(1936) Muss 'em Up
as Janitor at Spivali's Bar (uncredited)
(1938) Merrily We Live
as George
(1938) Gold Is Where You Find It
as Joshua
(1937) Meet the Missus
as Bootblack
(1937) Saturday's Heroes
as Sam
(1947) The Red Stallion
as Jackson
(1937) Deep South
as ---
(1937) The Lady Fights Back
as McTavish
(1943) The Powers Girl
as Men's Room Attendant (uncredited)
(1938) Youth Takes a Fling
as George
(1937) We Who Are About to Die
as Airport Porter (uncredited)
(1943) Dixie
as Stewart
(1945) Hold That Blonde!
as Willie Shelley
(1935) To Beat the Band
as Elevator Operator
(1931) Up Pops the Devil
as Laundryman
(1938) Everybody's Doing It
as Jasper - Elevator Operator
(1939) At the Circus
as Redcap (uncredited)
(1936) Two in Revolt
as Eph
(1936) Mummy's Boys
as Catfish
(1938) Spring Madness
as Porter on Train
(1935) The Nitwits
as Sleepy
(1934) Kentucky Kernels
as Buckshot (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
(1935) Horse Heir
as ---
(1939) The Saint Strikes Back
as Algernon, Simon's Butler (Uncredited)
(1939) Mr. Moto in Danger Island
as Launch Pilot
(1939) Way Down South
as Chimney Sweep
(1939) Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation
as Driver (uncredited)
(1951) South of Caliente
as Willie, Stable Boy
(1939) Slightly Honorable
as Art, Elevator Operator
(1936) The Bride Walks Out
as Smokie
(1939) Blackmail
as Bunny - the Janitor (uncredited)
(1935) Jalna
as Sam
(1937) Racing Lady
as Brass
(1937) You Can't Buy Luck
as Airline Porter (uncredited)
(1936) Night Waitress
as Black Pedestrian
(1938) Crashing Hollywood
as Train Porter (uncredited)
(1944) Music for Millions
as Red Cap (uncredited)
(1930) Ladies of Leisure
as George (uncredited)
(1940) Blondie on a Budget
as Newsboy (uncredited)
(1940) I Take This Woman
as Sambo
(1947) Suddenly It's Spring
as Porter on Train
(1936) The Green Pastures
as Henry - the Angel (uncredited)
(1934) West of the Pecos
as Jonah (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
(1936) Thank You, Jeeves!
as Drowsy
(1944) The Mark of the Whistler
as Men's Room Attendant (uncredited)
(1941) Breakdowns of 1941
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
(1935) Hot Tip
as Apollo
(1938) I'm from the City
as Train Porter
(1935) The Arizonian
as Pompey
(1936) General Spanky
as Henry
(1937) Mississippi Moods
as ---
(1943) Thank Your Lucky Stars
as Soldier in "Ice Cold Katie" Number (uncredited)
(1938) Vivacious Lady
as Porter
(1936) Silly Billies
as Excitement
(1932) The Monster Walks
as Exodus
(1943) The Kansan
as Bones
(1962) Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy
as Charlie (archive footage)
(2004) TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
as Self (archive footage)
(1938) Straight, Place and Show
as Hannibal
(1975) Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
as Self (archive footage)
(1948) The Shanghai Chest
as Willie Best
(1937) Breezing Home
as Speed
(1948) Half Past Midnight
as Andy Jones
(1941) Flight from Destiny
as George
(1944) The Adventures of Mark Twain
as Butler
(1941) Scattergood Baines
as Hipp
(1939) Private Detective
as Norton's Valet
(1941) Minstrel Days
as Singer
(1931) Virtuous Husband
as Luftus
(1931) The Guilty Generation
as Club Merlin Doorman (uncredited)
(1941) The Body Disappears
as Willie
(1952) My Little Margie
as ---
(1951) Racket Squad
as ---
(1950) The Stu Erwin Show
as Willie
(1954) Waterfront
as Billy Slocum