William Benedict
Acting • Born 1917-04-16 – Died 1999-11-25
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. William Benedict (April 16, 1917 – November 25, 1999) was an American actor, perhaps best known for playing "Whitey" in Monogram Pictures' The Bowery Boys series. Born in Haskell, Oklahoma, he took part in school theatricals, and on leaving school he made his way to Hollywood. His first film was $10 Raise (1935) starring Edward Everett Horton, which launched Benedict on a busy career. The blond-haired Benedict almost always played juvenile roles, such as newsboys, messengers, office boys, and farmhands. In 1939, when Universal Pictures began its Little Tough Guys series to compete with the popular Dead End Kids features, Billy Benedict was recruited into the cast. These films led him into the similar East Side Kids movies (usually playing a member of the East Side gang, but occasionally in villainous roles). The East Side Kids became The Bowery Boys in 1946, and Benedict stayed with the series (as "Whitey") through the end of 1951. Other films included My Little Chickadee (1940) starring W. C. Fields and Mae West, The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), Ed Wood's Bride of the Monster (1955), The Sting (1973) and Farewell, My Lovely (1975). Benedict never shook his juvenile image completely, and continued to play messengers and news vendors well into his sixties. He also worked often in television commercials.
Filmography
236 credits
Bringing Up Baby
Movie • 1938
David's Caddy (uncredited)
Tuxedo Junction
Movie • 1941
Thomas 'Piecrust' Murphy (as Billy Benedict)
Theodora Goes Wild
Movie • 1936
Henry - Copyboy (uncredited)
Rogue's Gallery
Movie • 1968
Jocko (as William Benedict)
The Talk of the Town
Movie • 1942
Western Union Boy (uncredited)
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine
Movie • 1942
Bellboy
Scattergood Baines
Movie • 1941
Lafe Hopper (uncredited)
Nobody's Darling
Movie • 1943
Sammy (uncredited)
The Gentleman Misbehaves
Movie • 1946
Bellboy (uncredited)
Triple Trouble
Movie • 1950
Whitey, Bowery Boy
Bonanza: The Next Generation
Movie • 1988
Gus Morton
The Great McGinty
Movie • 1940
Farm Boy (uncredited)
What Am I Bid?
Movie • 1967
Clem (as Bill Benedict)
Confessions of Boston Blackie
Movie • 1941
Ice Cream Man
The Man Who Lost Himself
Movie • 1941
Telegram Delivery Boy
Crazy Over Horses
Movie • 1951
Whitey (as William Benedict)
Clancy Street Boys
Movie • 1943
Butch
Great Guns
Movie • 1941
Recruit at Corral
The Last Gangster
Movie • 1937
Freddy the Office Boy
Time Out for Rhythm
Movie • 1941
Messenger (uncredited)
Captain January
Movie • 1936
Telegram Delivery Boy
Brenda Starr, Reporter
Movie • 1945
Pesky (uncredited)
Young People
Movie • 1940
Boy (uncredited)
Do You Love Me
Movie • 1946
Singing Western Union Boy (uncredited)
Ghost Chasers
Movie • 1951
Whitey
Ramona
Movie • 1936
Joseph Hyar
That I May Live
Movie • 1937
Kurt Plivens
After the Thin Man
Movie • 1936
Newsboy (uncredited)
Funny Girl
Movie • 1968
Western Union Boy (uncredited)
Tramp Trouble
Movie • 1937
Young Bindlestiff
Pack Up Your Troubles
Movie • 1939
Office Boy
$10 Raise
Movie • 1935
Jimmy
Way Down East
Movie • 1935
Amos
Flying Fists
Movie • 1937
Monk, Tall Kid
Hold That Kiss
Movie • 1938
Delivery Boy
College Scandal
Movie • 1935
'Penny' Parker
Hold That Co-ed
Movie • 1938
Sylvester
Adventures of the Flying Cadets
Movie • 1943
Zombie Parker
King of the Newsboys
Movie • 1938
Squimpy
Newsboys' Home
Movie • 1938
Trouble
I Live on Danger
Movie • 1942
Bellboy (uncredited)
Lover Come Back
Movie • 1961
Musician Exiting Elevator (uncredited)
Crack-Up
Movie • 1936
Bunky, Office Boy (uncredited)
Mr. Muggs Rides Again
Movie • 1945
Skinny
Hollywood Hobbies
Movie • 1939
Tour Guide
Wildcat
Movie • 1942
Bud Smithers
The Pilgrim Lady
Movie • 1947
Bellboy
Young Fugitives
Movie • 1938
Jud (as William 'Billy' Benedict)
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Movie • 1942
Theatre Usher
They Wanted to Marry
Movie • 1937
Freckles
Born Again
Movie • 1978
Leon Jaworski
Computercide
Movie • 1982
Elderly Man
The Country Doctor
Movie • 1936
The Gawker
The Adventures of Nick Carter
Movie • 1972
Newsboy
M'Liss
Movie • 1936
Archer Morpher
The Powers Girl
Movie • 1943
Powers Agency Office Boy (uncredited)
Hello, Dolly!
Movie • 1969
News Vendor (uncredited)
Lucky Losers
Movie • 1950
Whitey
Mr. Hex
Movie • 1946
Whitey (as Billy Benedict)
Frankie and Johnny
Movie • 1966
Bum Sleeping on Bench (uncredited)
Cop on the Beat
Movie • 1975
Lennie
I Met My Love Again
Movie • 1938
Billy (uncredited)
Laughing at Trouble
Movie • 1936
Wilbur
Docks of New York
Movie • 1945
Skinny
Stage to Chino
Movie • 1940
Happy (uncredited)
The Witness Chair
Movie • 1936
Benny Ryan
Hard Boiled Mahoney
Movie • 1947
Whitey
The Killing
Movie • 1956
American Airlines Clerk
Goldie and the Boxer
Movie • 1979
Old Man
The Sting
Movie • 1973
Roulette Dealer
The Ox-Bow Incident
Movie • 1943
Greene (uncredited)
Without Reservations
Movie • 1946
Telegraph Delivery Boy (uncredited)
Million Dollar Kid
Movie • 1944
Skinny
People Are Funny
Movie • 1946
NBC Usher
I Won't Play
Movie • 1944
Florida
Ghosts on the Loose
Movie • 1943
Benny
Spook Busters
Movie • 1946
Whitey (as Billy Benedict)
Doubting Thomas
Movie • 1935
Caddie
That's My Baby!
Movie • 1944
Office boy
Angels' Alley
Movie • 1948
Whitey
Rhythm in the Clouds
Movie • 1937
Bellboy
Sherlock Holmes in New York
Movie • 1976
Telegraph Office Manager
In Fast Company
Movie • 1946
Whitey (as Billy Benedict)
Bowery Bombshell
Movie • 1946
Whitey
Let's Go Navy!
Movie • 1951
Whitey
Follow the Leader
Movie • 1944
Spider O'Brien
Bowery Buckaroos
Movie • 1947
Whitey
Show Them No Mercy!
Movie • 1935
Willie (uncredited)
Libeled Lady
Movie • 1936
Joe
Dressed to Kill
Movie • 1941
Singing Telegram Boy
Legion of the Lawless
Movie • 1940
Eddie
Merton of the Movies
Movie • 1947
Von Strutt's Assistant (uncredited)
Smuggler's Cove
Movie • 1948
Whitey
Trouble Makers
Movie • 1948
Whitey (as Billy Benedict)
Bride of the Monster
Movie • 1955
Newsboy
Little Tough Guys in Society
Movie • 1938
Trouble
They Live in Fear
Movie • 1944
Thomas 'Mack' Knight (uncredited)
The Whistler
Movie • 1944
The Deafmute (Uncredited)
Aerial Gunner
Movie • 1943
Jackson 'Sleepy' Laswell
Perils of Nyoka
Movie • 1942
Red Davis
All by Myself
Movie • 1943
Telegraph Messenger
My Little Chickadee
Movie • 1940
Lem (uncredited)
Adventures of Red Ryder
Movie • 1940
Dan Withers
Junior G-Men of the Air
Movie • 1942
Whitey
Jim Hanvey, Detective
Movie • 1937
Copy Boy (uncredited)
The Hucksters
Movie • 1947
Bellboy at Blue Penguin Inn (uncredited)
Code of the Streets
Movie • 1939
Trouble
And One Was Beautiful
Movie • 1940
Delivery Man
Blonde Dynamite
Movie • 1950
Whitey
Master Minds
Movie • 1949
Whitey
Lucky Partners
Movie • 1940
Delivery Boy (uncredited)
The Mad Doctor
Movie • 1940
Mickey Barnes (Uncredited)
Mr. Muggs Steps Out
Movie • 1943
Pinky
Block Busters
Movie • 1944
Butch
Come Out Fighting
Movie • 1945
Skinny
Bowery Champs
Movie • 1944
Skinny
Rhythm on the River
Movie • 1940
Elevator Boy
Second Chorus
Movie • 1941
Ticket Taker (uncredited)
Hold That Baby!
Movie • 1949
Whitey
Live Wires
Movie • 1946
Whitey (as Billy Benedict)
Melody Ranch
Movie • 1940
Slim
Fighting Fools
Movie • 1949
Whitey
News Hounds
Movie • 1947
Whitey (as Billy Benedict)
Angels in Disguise
Movie • 1949
Whitey
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Movie • 1943
Busboy (uncredited)
The Bowery Boys: Legends of Laughter
Movie • 2020
Himself
Gay Blades
Movie • 1946
Newsboy (uncredited)
Give Us Wings
Movie • 1940
Link (as Billy Benedict)
Tim Tyler's Luck
Movie • 1937
Spud
Never Say Goodbye
Movie • 1946
Messenger Boy (uncredited)
Grand Ole Opry
Movie • 1940
Newsboy (uncredited)
Home in Wyomin'
Movie • 1942
Usher (uncredited)
The Hallelujah Trail
Movie • 1965
Simpson
One More Tomorrow
Movie • 1946
Stinky
Steamboat Round the Bend
Movie • 1935
Breck
Riders of the Pony Express
Movie • 1949
Eddie Lund
In Old Cheyenne
Movie • 1941
Train Vendor
Jesse James at Bay
Movie • 1941
Young Davis
Heart of the Golden West
Movie • 1942
Telegraph Messenger
The Magnetic Monster
Movie • 1953
Albert
Say It in French
Movie • 1938
Midget Car Driver
Your Uncle Dudley
Movie • 1935
Cyril Church
Walking Down Broadway
Movie • 1938
Eddie
Get Hep to Love
Movie • 1942
Soda Jerk
The Great Mr. Nobody
Movie • 1941
Jig
Mr. District Attorney
Movie • 1941
Office Boy
On the Sunny Side
Movie • 1942
Messenger
The Lottery
Movie • 1969
Joe Summers
She Knew All the Answers
Movie • 1941
Singing Telegraph Boy
Janie
Movie • 1944
Soda Jerk (uncredited)
Night Wind
Movie • 1948
Irv Bennett
Jinx Money
Movie • 1948
Whitey (as Billy Benedict)
Adventures of Captain Marvel
Movie • 1941
Whitey Murphy
Fun on a Weekend
Movie • 1947
Hotel Bellboy (uncredited)
There's Always a Woman
Movie • 1938
Bellboy
Whispering Footsteps
Movie • 1943
Jerry Murphy
A Night to Remember
Movie • 1942
Messenger Boy (uncredited)
Big Daddy
Movie • 1969
The Glass Key
Movie • 1942
Farr's Receptionist (uncredited)
3 Kids and a Queen
Movie • 1935
Flash
Story of G.I. Joe
Movie • 1945
Pvt. Whitey (uncredited)
Rings on Her Fingers
Movie • 1942
Road to Utopia
Movie • 1946
Second Newsboy (uncredited)
Hollywood and Vine
Movie • 1945
Joe the Newsboy
Bowery Battalion
Movie • 1951
Whitey
The Hanging Tree
Movie • 1959
Trapper (uncredited)
Cadet Girl
Movie • 1941
Soldier at Camp Show (uncredited)
The Dirt Gang
Movie • 1972
Station Attendant
Call Her Mom
Movie • 1972
Mr. Feigelbaum
The Dead Don't Die
Movie • 1975
Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Dear Heart
Movie • 1965
Stu
Blues Busters
Movie • 1950
Whitey (as William Benedict)
Bowery Boy
Movie • 1940
(uncredited)
Secret Service Investigator
Movie • 1948
Counterman
Moonlight in Vermont
Movie • 1943
Abel
The Over the Hill Gang
Movie • 1969
Joe, the Telegrapher (as Bill Benedict)
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
Movie • 1976
Man on Bus
Mobs, Inc.
Movie • 1956
Telegraph Boy
The Kid from Brooklyn
Movie • 1946
Newsboy (uncredited)
Can This Be Dixie?
Movie • 1936
Shenandoah Peachtree (uncredited)
Bad Boy
Movie • 1935
Grocery Clerk
The Farmer Takes a Wife
Movie • 1935
Boy Announcing Dan's Arrival Before Fight
Lady in a Jam
Movie • 1942
Barker (uncredited)
Two Yanks in Trinidad
Movie • 1942
Messenger (uncredited)
The Secret Sharer
Movie • 1973
Mr. Burns
Follow the Boys
Movie • 1944
Joe (uncredited)
Here's Lucy
TV • 1968
Deliveryman
Little House on the Prairie
TV • 1974
I Dream of Jeannie
TV • 1965
Cleaning Man
The Brady Bunch
TV • 1969
All in the Family
TV • 1971
Jimmy McNab
Quincy, M.E.
TV • 1976
Route 66
TV • 1960
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
TV • 1964
Highway to Heaven
TV • 1984
The Streets of San Francisco
TV • 1972
Alias Smith and Jones
TV • 1971
Land of the Giants
TV • 1968
Villager Peabody
Petticoat Junction
TV • 1963
Willie
Mission: Impossible
TV • 1966
Denver
Mannix
TV • 1967
Hill Street Blues
TV • 1981
Dragnet
TV • 1951
Gunsmoke
TV • 1955
Gus
Emergency!
TV • 1972
Lassie
TV • 1954
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Degnan
The Twilight Zone
TV • 1959
Conklin
Ironside
TV • 1967
The Monkees
TV • 1966
Skywriter
Felony Squad
TV • 1966
The Immortal
TV • 1970
Dennis the Menace
TV • 1959
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
TV • 1956
Hondo
TV • 1967
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
TV • 1951
Navy Log
TV • 1955
Branded
TV • 1965
The Rifleman
TV • 1958
Ellery Queen
TV • 1975
Honey West
TV • 1965
Farley
I'm the Law
TV • 1953
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
TV • 1960
Joe
Matt Helm
TV • 1975
Scavenger
Adam-12
TV • 1968
Bill White
Mayberry R.F.D.
TV • 1968
Uncle Whitmore
Mayberry R.F.D.
TV • 1968
Pet Shop Owner
The Incredible Hulk
TV • 1977
Vic
Police Story
TV • 1973
Prescott
Wagon Train
TV • 1957
Wagon Train Member (uncredited)
Then Came Bronson
TV • 1969
Card Player
The Monkees
TV • 1966
Old Man
The Guns of Will Sonnett
TV • 1967
Telegrapher
Charlie's Angels
TV • 1976
Emmett Winston, Esq.
The Red Skelton Show
TV • 1951
Alias Smith and Jones
TV • 1971
Telegrapher (uncredited)