Billy Halop

Summary

William Halop (February 11, 1920 – November 9, 1976) was an American actor.

Billy Halop
Halop in They Made Me a Criminal (1939)
Born
William Halop

(1920-02-11)February 11, 1920
DiedNovember 9, 1976(1976-11-09) (aged 56)
Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeMount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
Occupations
  • Actor
  • registered nurse
Years active1931–1976
Spouses
Helen Tupper
(m. 1946; div. 1947)
Barbara Hoon
(m. 1948; div. 1958)
Suzanne Roe
(m. 1960; div. 1967)

Early life edit

Halop was born to Benjamin Cohen Halop and Lucille Elizabeth Halop on February 11, 1920. Halop came from a theatrical family; his mother was a dancer, and his sister, Florence Halop,[1] was an actress who worked on radio and in television. Additionally, he had a much younger brother, Joel Tucker Halop (1934-2006).[2]

Acting career edit

In 1933, he was given the lead as Bobby Benson in the popular new radio show The H-Bar-O Rangers.[3][4] From 1934 to 1937, he starred in one of his first radio series, playing Dick Kent, the son of Fred and Lucy Kent, in "Home Sweet Home".[5]

While studying at the Professional Children's School[2] in New York, he was cast as Tommy Gordon in the 1935 Broadway production of Sidney Kingsley's Dead End[6] and traveled to Hollywood with the rest of the Dead End Kids when Samuel Goldwyn produced a film version of the play in 1937. Usually called Tommy in the films, he had the recurring role of a gang leader in a series of films that featured the Dead End Kids, later billed Little Tough Guys. In his later years, he claimed that he was paid more than the other Dead End actors, which had contributed to bad feelings in the group, and that he was tired of the name "Dead End Kids". He played with James Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), and he also played the bully Harry Flashman, speaking with an English accent, in the 1940 film Tom Brown's School Days opposite Cedric Hardwicke and Freddie Bartholomew.

After serving in World War II in the US Army Signal Corps, he found that he had grown too old to be effective in the roles that had brought him fame. At one point, he was reduced to starring in a cheap East Side Kids imitation at PRC studios, Gas House Kids (1946), at age 26. Diminishing film work, marital difficulties, and a drinking problem eventually ate away at his show business career.[citation needed]

In the 1970s, Halop enjoyed a career resurgence playing the character Bert Munson, cab driver and close friend to Archie Bunker on the television series All in the Family. He appeared in 10 episodes from 1971 to 1975, including the famed "Sammy's Visit" episode from the second season in 1972 starring Sammy Davis Jr.

Personal life edit

Halop was married at least four times, according to interviews given near the end of his life. Helen Tupper was his first wife from 1946 until their divorce in 1947. On Valentine's Day, 1948, he married Barbara Hoon. Their marriage lasted ten years until their divorce in 1958. His third marriage in 1960 to Suzanne Roe, who had multiple sclerosis, lasted until their divorce in 1967.

The nursing skills he learned while taking care of his third wife led him to steady work as a registered nurse at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. His fourth marriage, to a nurse coworker, whose name has not been publicized, was quickly annulled after she allegedly attacked him. He later moved back in with his second wife Barbara, but they chose not to remarry.[citation needed]

Following two heart attacks, Halop underwent open-heart surgery in the fall of 1971.[1]

He died of a heart attack on November 9, 1976, in Hollywood at the age of 56.[2] He is interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Filmography edit

Films (partial) edit

Television edit

Year Series Role Notes
1951 The Bigelow Theatre Unknown Episode Crossroad
1952 Racket Squad Salesman Episode Accidentally on Purpose
1952 The Unexpected Anthony 'Tony' O'Brien Episode Born Again
1953 Boston Blackie Johnny Evans Episode The Heist Job
1953 The Cisco Kid Dr. Jerome Alpers / Cass Rankin 2 episodes
1953-1954 Your Favorite Story Randy Warren / Pidge 3 episodes
1954 Robert Montgomery Presents Unknown Episode The Pale Blond of Sand Street
1954 The Jack Benny Program Call Boy / Delivery Man 2 episodes
1955 Big Town Marty "Killer" Craig Episode Egomaniac
1956 Steve Donovan, Western Marshal Fred Rowe Episode Stone River
1957 Telephone Time Chaplain Raymond Hall Episode Jumping Parson
1958 Playhouse 90 Fourth Counsellor Episode Free Weekend
1959 The Thin Man Al Episode The Perfect Servant
1959 Colonel Humphrey Flack Ambros Episode West of the Weirdos
1959 Richard Diamond, Private Detective Charlie Cole Episode Two for Paradise
1959 Highway Patrol Steve Dorn Episode Desperate Men
1960 Wanted: Dead or Alive Cashier Episode Mental Lapse
1961 77 Sunset Strip Tim Acton Episode The Space Caper
1961 87th Precinct Richard Samuelson Episode Lady Killer
1961 Outlaws Grady Episode The Verdict
1962 Wagon Train Mr. Brewster Episode The Jeff Hartfield Story
1962 The New Breed Unknown Episode Walk this Street Lightly
1962-1964 Perry Mason Barman / Man / Corbett 3 episodes
1963 I'm Dickens, He's Fenster Attendant Episode Mr. Takeover
1963 The Courtship of Eddie's Father Milkman
1963 Going My Way Mr. Thompson Episode A Tough Act to Follow
1963 Glynis Riley Episode '"Ten Cents a Dance
1963 The Fugitive Mike Episode Terror at High Point
1963, 1965 The Andy Griffith Show Tiny / Charlie 2 episodes
1963 The Fugitive Mike Episode Terror At High Point
1963-1964 The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Drive-in ticket clerk / Newspaper Man / Pool Hall Manager 3 episodes
1964 Vacation Playhouse Soldier #2 Episode Papa G.I.
1965 The F.B.I. Manager Episode To Free My Enemy
1965, 1968 Gomer Pyle: USMC Attendant / Hawkins 2 episodes
1966-1967 Gunsmoke Bartender / Barney 3 episodes
1969 Adam-12 Judge George Perkins Episode Log 123: Courtroom
1969 Land of the Giants Bartender Harry Episode Our Man O'Reilly
1970 Julia Security Guard Episode Ready, Aim, Fired
1970 Bracken's World Pat, the projectionist 2 episodes
1971-1976 All in the Family Bert Munson 10 episodes
1971 O'Hara, U.S. Treasury Bart Episode Operation: Bandera
1974 The Phantom of Hollywood Studio Engineer TV film

References edit

  1. ^ a b "On This Day in History, February 11: Leader of the Dead End Kids". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 10, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Billy Halop, 56, Dies; Led Dead End Kids". The New York Times. November 11, 1976. p. 44. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  3. ^ "Bobby Benson". www.otrsite.com.
  4. ^ Barnouw, Erik (1996). Media Marathon. Duke University Press. pp. 47–58.
  5. ^ Cox, Jim (July 17, 2009), The A to Z of American Radio Soap Operas, p. 103, ISBN 9780810863491
  6. ^ Cody, Gabrielle H.; Sprinchorn, Evert (2007), The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama, Volume 1, p. 334, ISBN 9780231144223

External links edit