![Image of Willie Best](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/akmMrTWzo9GLLy0jxR7Kv7iNjWu.jpg)
One of the hard-working, unappreciated Negro actors of Hollywood's "Golden Era" who produced good work with what he was given. He starred alongside some of film's great comedians including the Marx Brothers, Bob Hope, Laurel and Hardy and three films with Shirley Temple. In addition to being a talented comedian and character actor, Best was also a musician/song writer. After a drug arrest ended his film career, he worked in television for a while before retiring to obscurity. He passed away at the Motion Picture Country Home and is buried in North Hollywood, California. Best was one of the victims of the racist attitudes of the era, never given the opportunity to fully flex his comedic muscle beyond the stereotyped porter and janitor roles that dominated his career. Sadly he was also a victim of backlash for these same roles during the Civil Rights movement and it is hard to watch many of his films without cringing, despite his ability. Bob Hope referred to Best, as his comedic co-star in The Ghost Breakers (1940), as one of the finest talents he had ever worked with. In his earliest film appearances, in the early 1930s, if he was given screen credit he was billed as "Sleep 'n' Eat". He came to Hollywood serving as a chauffeur for a Mississippi white couple on vacation, and decided to stay and seek a career in show business.
Movie | TV in Black: The First Fifty Years | Self (archive footage) | 2004-01-01 |
Movie | Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? | Self (archive footage) | 1975-08-06 |
Movie | Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed | 1968-08-31 | |
Movie | Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy | Charlie (archive footage) | 1962-12-04 |
Series | Waterfront | Billy Slocum | 1954-08-21 |
Movie | Ellis in Freedomland | Male Model | 1952-06-15 |
Series | My Little Margie | 1952-06-16 | |
Series | Racket Squad | Unknown | 1951-06-07 |
Movie | South of Caliente | Willie, Stable Boy | 1951-10-15 |
Series | The Stu Erwin Show | Willie | 1950-10-21 |
Movie | Half Past Midnight | Andy Jones | 1948-03-01 |
Movie | Shanghai Chest | Willie Best | 1948-07-11 |
Movie | Suddenly It's Spring | Porter on Train | 1947-02-13 |
Movie | The Red Stallion | Jackson | 1947-08-16 |
Movie | The Face of Marble | Shadrach | 1946-01-19 |
Movie | Dangerous Money | Chattanooga Brown | 1946-10-12 |
Movie | The Bride Wore Boots | Joe | 1946-06-05 |
Movie | The Monster and the Ape | Flash | 1945-04-20 |
Movie | Pillow to Post | Lucille, Colonial Auto Court Porter | 1945-06-09 |
Movie | The Red Dragon | Chattanooga Brown | 1945-08-01 |
Movie | She Wouldn't Say Yes | Porter (uncredited) | 1945-11-29 |
Movie | Hold That Blonde! | Willie Shelley | 1945-11-23 |
Movie | Home in Indiana | Mo' Rum (uncredited) | 1944-06-15 |
Movie | The Adventures of Mark Twain | Butler | 1944-07-20 |
Movie | Music for Millions | Red Cap (uncredited) | 1944-12-18 |
Movie | The Girl Who Dared | Woodrow | 1944-08-05 |
Movie | The Mark of the Whistler | Men's Room Attendant (uncredited) | 1944-10-09 |
Movie | The Powers Girl | Men's Room Attendant (uncredited) | 1943-01-15 |
Movie | Cinderella Swings It | Hipp | 1943-01-22 |
Movie | Cabin in the Sky | Second Idea Man | 1943-04-09 |
Movie | Dixie | Steward (uncredited) | 1943-06-23 |
Movie | The Kansan | Bones | 1943-09-10 |
Movie | Juke Girl | Jo-Mo | 1942-05-30 |
Movie | Whispering Ghosts | Euclid White Brown | 1942-05-17 |
Movie | A-Haunting We Will Go | Waiter | 1942-08-07 |
Movie | Maisie Gets Her Man | Sam (Uncredited) | 1942-06-01 |
Movie | Scattergood Survives a Murder | Hipp | 1942-10-01 |
Movie | The Hidden Hand | Eustis, the chauffeur | 1942-11-07 |
Movie | Busses Roar | Sunshine | 1942-09-19 |
Movie | Scattergood Baines | Hipp | 1941-02-21 |
Movie | Road Show | Willie | 1941-02-18 |
Movie | High Sierra | Algernon | 1941-01-23 |
Movie | The Lady from Cheyenne | George | 1941-04-11 |
Movie | Flight from Destiny | George | 1941-02-08 |
Movie | Kisses for Breakfast | Arnold | 1941-07-05 |
Movie | The Body Disappears | Willie | 1941-11-22 |
Movie | Breakdowns of 1941 | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1941-11-14 |
Movie | Nothing But the Truth | Samuel | 1941-10-10 |
Movie | Highway West | Bub Wellington | 1941-08-07 |
Movie | The Smiling Ghost | Clarence | 1941-09-06 |
Movie | I Take This Woman | Sambo | 1940-02-02 |
Movie | Blondie on a Budget | Newsboy (uncredited) | 1940-02-29 |
Movie | The Ghost Breakers | Alex | 1940-06-21 |
Movie | Who Killed Aunt Maggie? | Andrew | 1940-11-01 |
Movie | Money and the Woman | George Washington Jones | 1940-08-17 |
Movie | Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation | Driver (uncredited) | 1939-07-07 |
Movie | Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter | Apollo Johnson | 1939-06-17 |
Movie | The Saint Strikes Back | Algernon, Simon's Butler (Uncredited) | 1939-03-08 |
Movie | Way Down South | Chimney Sweep | 1939-07-21 |
Movie | Mr. Moto in Danger Island | Launch Pilot | 1939-04-07 |
Movie | Slightly Honorable | Art, Elevator Operator | 1939-12-22 |
Movie | Blackmail | Bunny - the Janitor (uncredited) | 1939-09-08 |
Movie | The Covered Trailer | Baltimore | 1939-11-10 |
Movie | Private Detective | Norton's Valet | 1939-12-09 |
Movie | Blondie Brings Up Baby | Hotel Janitor (uncredited) | 1939-11-08 |
Movie | At the Circus | Redcap (uncredited) | 1939-10-20 |
Movie | Merrily We Live | George | 1938-03-04 |
Movie | Gold Is Where You Find It | Joshua | 1938-02-12 |
Movie | Crashing Hollywood | Train Porter (uncredited) | 1938-01-07 |
Movie | Goodbye Broadway | Jughead | 1938-04-01 |
Movie | Everybody's Doing It | Jasper - Elevator Operator | 1938-01-14 |
Movie | Spring Madness | Porter on Train | 1938-11-11 |
Movie | Vivacious Lady | Train Porter | 1938-05-13 |
Movie | Blondie | Porter | 1938-11-30 |
Movie | Straight, Place and Show | Hannibal | 1938-09-30 |
Movie | Youth Takes a Fling | George | 1938-09-22 |
Movie | You Can't Buy Luck | Airline Porter (uncredited) | 1937-04-30 |
Movie | We Who Are About to Die | Airport Porter (uncredited) | 1937-01-08 |
Movie | Racing Lady | Brass | 1937-01-12 |
Movie | Meet the Missus | Bootblack | 1937-06-04 |
Movie | Super-Sleuth | Warts, Martin's manservant | 1937-07-16 |
Movie | Saturday's Heroes | Sam | 1937-10-08 |
Movie | The Lady Fights Back | McTavish | 1937-10-01 |
Movie | Murder on a Bridle Path | 'High-Pockets' | 1936-04-17 |
Movie | Two in Revolt | Eph | 1936-04-03 |
Movie | Muss 'em Up | Janitor at Spivali's Bar (uncredited) | 1936-02-13 |
Movie | Silly Billies | Excitement | 1936-03-20 |
Movie | The Bride Walks Out | Smokie | 1936-07-10 |
Movie | Thank You, Jeeves! | Drowsy | 1936-10-04 |
Movie | The Green Pastures | Henry - the Angel (uncredited) | 1936-08-01 |
Movie | Night Waitress | Black Pedestrian | 1936-12-18 |
Movie | General Spanky | Henry | 1936-12-11 |
Movie | Down the Stretch | Noah | 1936-09-18 |
Movie | Mummy's Boys | Catfish | 1936-10-02 |
Movie | Hit and Rum | Shoe Shine Man (uncredited) | 1935-04-25 |
Movie | Murder on a Honeymoon | Willie (as Sleep 'n' Eat) | 1935-02-22 |
Movie | The Arizonian | Pompey | 1935-06-27 |
Movie | The Nitwits | Sleepy | 1935-06-07 |
Movie | Jalna | Sam | 1935-08-09 |
Movie | The Littlest Rebel | James Henry | 1935-12-27 |
Movie | To Beat the Band | Elevator Operator | 1935-11-23 |
Movie | Hot Tip | Apollo | 1935-08-20 |
Movie | Kentucky Kernels | Buckshot (as Sleep 'n' Eat) | 1934-11-02 |
Movie | Little Miss Marker | Dizzy Memphis (uncredited) | 1934-06-01 |
Movie | West of the Pecos | Jonah (as Sleep 'n' Eat) | 1934-12-27 |
Movie | The Monster Walks | Exodus | 1932-02-07 |
Movie | Virtuous Husband | Luftus | 1931-04-12 |
Movie | Up Pops the Devil | Laundryman | 1931-05-19 |
Movie | The Guilty Generation | Club Merlin Doorman (uncredited) | 1931-11-19 |
Movie | Ladies of Leisure | George (uncredited) | 1930-04-05 |
Movie | Feet First | Janitor | 1930-10-30 |