Billy Lee (actor)

Billy Lee
Born William Lee Schlensker
(1929-03-12)March 12, 1929
Indiana, U.S.
Died November 17, 1989(1989-11-17) (aged 60)
Beaumont, California, U.S.
Years active 1934–1943

Billy Lee (William Lee Schlensker) (March 12, 1929 – November 17, 1989) was a child actor who appeared in many films from the mid-1930s through the early 1940s.

Lee's first role was in the Our Gang comedy Mike Fright as a tap dancer in a sailor suit. His first significant role was in Wagon Wheels when he was just four years old, though he is probably best remembered for his performance in The Biscuit Eater. He also did the voice of "The Boy" character in the animated portion of the Disney film, The Reluctant Dragon.[1] In addition to being an actor, he was also a singer and dancer, appearing and singing with Bobby Breen in Make A Wish. Lee continued acting throughout the 1930s, appearing in a number of movies ( among others: Too Many Parents, Easy to Take, Three Cheers for Love, The Silk Hat Kid, The Big Broadcast of 1937, Cocoanut Grove, Sons of the Legion, Say it in French, Boy Trouble, Night Work, Sudden Money, Nobody's Children (1940), Hold Back the Dawn, Nevada City, The Road to Happiness (1941) and working alongside some of Hollywood's finest, including, Lon Chaney Jr., Roy Rogers, Charles Boyer, Randolph Scott, Lew Ayres, Gene Autry, Robert Cummings, Basil Rathbone, Olivia de Havilland, John Boles, Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland and Broderick Crawford). In the 1941 film, Reg'lar Fellers, he starred with co-star Carl Switzer. Lee retired from film in 1943.

Lee died on November 17, 1989, of a sudden heart attack.

References

  1. ↑ The Reluctant Dragon on IMDb

Bibliography

  • Holmstrom, John (1996). The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich, Michael Russell, p. 165-166.
  • Best, Marc (1971). Those Endearing Young Charms: Child Performers of the Screen. South Brunswick and New York: Barnes & Co., p. 144-147.
  • Willson, Dixie (1935). Little Hollywood Stars. Akron, OH, e New York: Saalfield Pub. Co., p. 133-142.
  • Lamparski, Richard (1986). Whatever Became of...?. (Tenth Series). New York: Crown Publishers, p. 96-97.
  • Liebman, Roy (2009). Musical Groups in the Movies, 1929-1970. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers, p. 22.
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