Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Willie Best(1913-1962)

  • Actor
  • Music Department
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Willie Best, Ida Lupino, and William Prince in Pillow to Post (1945)
Trailer for The Monster And The Ape
Play trailer1:49
The Monster and the Ape (1945)
1 Video
15 Photos
One of the hard-working, unappreciated African-American 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. Best is sometimes confused with William "Pat" Best, a musician and writer of (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons.. 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.
BornMay 27, 1913
DiedFebruary 27, 1962(48)
BornMay 27, 1913
DiedFebruary 27, 1962(48)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank

Photos15

Willie Best in Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter (1939)
Edward Everett Horton, Willie Best, and Jeffrey Lynn in The Body Disappears (1941)
Willie Best in Feet First (1930)
Willie Best and Wayne Morris in The Smiling Ghost (1941)
Willie Best in The Smiling Ghost (1941)
Sydney Greenstreet, Willie Best, Barbara Brown, Ruth Donnelly, Stuart Erwin, and Regina Wallace in Pillow to Post (1945)
Sydney Greenstreet, Willie Best, Ida Lupino, and William Prince in Pillow to Post (1945)
Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Willie Best, and Richard Carlson in The Ghost Breakers (1940)
Willie Best, Abner Biberman, Arthur Hohl, Milton Parsons, John Shelton, and Grady Sutton in Whispering Ghosts (1942)
Willie Best, Fortunio Bonanova, Benson Fong, Marjorie Hoshelle, and Sidney Toler in The Red Dragon (1945)
Willie Best, Patricia Ellis, and Dennis Moore in Down the Stretch (1936)
Willie Best, Benson Fong, and Sidney Toler in The Red Dragon (1945)

Known for

Elisabeth Fraser, Craig Stevens, and Milton Parsons in The Hidden Hand (1942)
The Hidden Hand
6.1
  • Eustis the Chauffeur
  • 1942
Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard in The Ghost Breakers (1940)
The Ghost Breakers
7.1
  • Alex
  • 1940
Jack Nicholson in As Good as It Gets (1997)
As Good as It Gets
7.7
  • Soundtrack(as William Best, "For Sentimental Reasons (I Love You)")
  • 1997
Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino in High Sierra (1941)
High Sierra
7.5
  • Algernon
  • 1941

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Preston Foster in Waterfront (1954)
    Waterfront
  • Charles Farrell and Gale Storm in My Little Margie (1952)
    My Little Margie
    • ...
  • Stuart Erwin in The Stu Erwin Show (1950)
    The Stu Erwin Show
  • Meet the O'Briens (1954)
    Meet the O'Briens
  • Ronald Reagan in General Electric Theater (1953)
    General Electric Theater
  • Betty Furness in Ellis in Freedomland (1952)
    Ellis in Freedomland
  • Racket Squad (1950)
    Racket Squad
  • Stuart Randall in Mark Saber (1951)
    Mark Saber
  • Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Pinky Lee, and Trigger in South of Caliente (1951)
    South of Caliente
  • High and Dizzy
  • Pat Goldin, June Harrison, Marcelle Imhof, George McManus, Renie Riano, and Joe Yule in Jiggs and Maggie in Jackpot Jitters (1949)
    Jiggs and Maggie in Jackpot Jitters
    • (uncredited)
  • Deannie Best, Mantan Moreland, Roland Winters, and Victor Sen Yung in Shanghai Chest (1948)
    Shanghai Chest
    • (uncredited)
  • Brian Aherne, Constance Bennett, Michael O'Shea, and Barry Sullivan in Smart Woman (1948)
    Smart Woman
    • (uncredited)
  • Peggy Knudsen and Kent Taylor in Half Past Midnight (1948)
    Half Past Midnight
  • Ted Donaldson, Noreen Nash, and Robert Paige in The Red Stallion (1947)
    The Red Stallion

Music Department

  • Five Star in Five Star: (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons (1994)
    Five Star: (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons

Soundtrack

  • Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr., Eli Goree, and Kingsley Ben-Adir in One Night in Miami... (2020)
    One Night in Miami...
  • Euthanizer (2017)
    Euthanizer
  • Zooey Deschanel, Max Greenfield, Hannah Simone, Lamorne Morris, and Jake Johnson in New Girl (2011)
    New Girl
    • (uncredited)
  • Danny DeVito and Martin Lawrence in What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001)
    What's the Worst That Could Happen?
  • Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson, and Lindsay Lohan in The Parent Trap (1998)
    The Parent Trap
    • (as William Best)
  • Jack Nicholson in As Good as It Gets (1997)
    As Good as It Gets
    • (as William Best)
  • Five Star in Five Star: (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons (1994)
    Five Star: (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
  • Silvestr na prání aneb Cí jsou hory Kavcí
  • The Lawrence Welk Show (1955)
    The Lawrence Welk Show
  • Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn, John Garfield, Jack Carson, Eddie Cantor, Joan Leslie, Ida Lupino, Dennis Morgan, Ann Sheridan, Dinah Shore, and Alexis Smith in Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
    Thank Your Lucky Stars
    • (uncredited)
  • Red Skelton and Ann Sothern in Maisie Gets Her Man (1942)
    Maisie Gets Her Man
    • (uncredited)
  • Shirley Temple in The Littlest Rebel (1935)
    The Littlest Rebel
    • (uncredited)

Videos1

The Monster and the Ape
Trailer 1:49
The Monster and the Ape

Personal details

Edit
    • May 27, 1913
    • Sunflower, Mississippi, USA
    • February 27, 1962
    • Hollywood, California, USA(cancer)
  • Television actor.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Article

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    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.
  • Quotes
    Yassuh!

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.