Billy Chapin
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Billy Chapin (born William McClellan Chapin on 28th December 1943 in Los Angeles, California) is an American former child actor, known for a considerable number of screen- and TV-performances from 1944 to 1959 and best remembered for both his roles as the “Diaper-manager” Christie Cooper in the 1953 family feature The Kid From Left Field, starring Dan Dailey, Anne Bancroft and Lloyd Bridges and little John Harper in Charles Laughton's 1955 Film Noir classic The Night of the Hunter, opposite acting legends Robert Mitchum and Lilian Gish.
Billy is the brother of also former child actors, Lauren Chapin, known as Kathy “Kitten” Anderson from the TV series Father Knows Best (1954-60) and Michael Chapin, likewise successful child performer of the 40s and 50s.
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[edit] Career
Billy Chapin debuted at the age of only some weeks uncredited as the screen Baby Girl in Casanova Brown, 1944, starring Gary Cooper and had just five months later another uncredited baby-role in Marriage Is A Private Affair, starring Lana Turner. [1] Only another small role in The Cockeyed Miracle, 1946 followed before he finally started professional acting in 1951 with his performance in the stage musical Three Wishes For Jamie, which earned him the N.Y. Drama Critics Award as the most promising young actor of the year.[2]
Except for some ensuing smaller screen appearances like the bright grandson of an astro-scientist in the Science-Fiction flick Tobor The Great, 1954 and the young son of historic clergyman Peter Marshall in A Man Called Perter, 1955, his acting career was basically confined to the television, in standard series like Dragnet, Waterfront and various TV-Antholgies and -dramas.
When he was cast for the role of young John Harper in Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter, 1955, he was already considered an “acting technician” among the child performers of his time. Laughton especially appreciated his flexibility and sensitivity.
| “ | "(...) on the strength of his innate ability to understand the construction of a scene, its impact and its importance."[3] | ” |
His final screen attention he won In 1956 as young Jody Burrows in the B-Western classic Tension At Table Rock, starring Richard Egan. His career eventually ended in 1959 in a TV episode of the long-running family series Fury (1955-60).
[edit] Work
[edit] Filmography (in order of release)
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | Casanova Brown | The Brown's Baby Girl | uncredited |
| Marriage Is A Private Affair | The Baby | uncredited | |
| 1946 | The Cockeyed Miracle | Boy | aka The Return Of Mr. Griggs (US promotional title) aka Mr. Griggs Returns (UK) |
| 1953 | Affair With A Stranger | Timmy | |
| The Kid From Left Field | Christie Cooper | ||
| 1954 | Tobor The Great | Brian "Gadge" Robertson | |
| Naked Alibi | Petey | ||
| There's No Business Like Show Business [1] | Steve Donahue, aged 10 | ||
| 1955 | A Man Called Peter | Peter John Marshall | |
| Violent Saturday | Steve Martin | ||
| The Night of the Hunter | John Harper | ||
| 1956 | Tension At Table Rock | Jody Burrows |
[edit] Television (in order of airing)
| Year | Show/Series/Episode | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Calanese Theatre - Episode: On Borrowed Time | Grandson | originally aired on June 25 |
| 1953 | Dragnet (aka Badge 714) - Episode: The Big White Rat | originally aired on September 3 | |
| Dragnet (aka Badge 714) - Episode: The Big Little Jesus | Joseph Hefferman | originally aired on December 24 | |
| 1954 | Dragnet (aka Badge 714) - Episode: The Big Children | unkown | originally aired on February 11 |
| A Letter To Loretta (aka The Loretta Young Show/Theatre) - Episode: The New York Story | Robbie Thorne | originally aired on February 28 | |
| Lux Video Theatre (aka Summer Video Theatre)- Episode: Pick Off The Litter | Jeremy | originally aired on April 8 | |
| Waterfront - Episode: The Rift | Teddy Herrick | originally airing unkown | |
| Waterfront - Episode: Sunken Treasure | Teddy Herrick | originally aired on August 28 | |
| Waterfront - Episode: Capt'n Long John | Teddy Herrick | originally aired on September 19 | |
| 1955 | Stage 7 - The Greatest Man In The World | Todd Jennings | originally aired on March 13 |
| Lux Video Theatre (aka Summer Video Theatre)- Episode: The Last Confession | Gaston | originally aired on September 1 | |
| Celebrity Playhouse - Episode: Day Of The Trial | unkown | originally aired on October 4 | |
| Cheyenne - Episode: Julesburg | Tommy Scott | originally aired on October 11 | |
| General Electric Theatre (aka G.E. Theatre)- Outpost At Home | unkown | originally aired on October 23 | |
| The Millionaire (aka If I Had A Million) - The Tom Bryan Story | Tom Bryan | originally aired on November 2 | |
| My Friend Flicka - Episode: Silver Saddle | unkown | originally aired on December 16 | |
| 1956 | Ford Star Jubilee - Episode: The Day Lincoln Was Shot | unkown | originally aired on February 1 |
| Fury (aka Brave Stallion) - Episode: The Test | unkown | originally aired on March 3 | |
| TV Readers Digest - Episode: Lost, Strayed And Lonely | unkown | originally aired on March 5 | |
| TV Readers Digest - Episode: It's A Wise Father | Christopher | originally aired on March 5 [2] | |
| Climax! (aka Climax Mystery Theatre) - Episode: A Trophy For Howard Davenport | Billy | originally aired on June 28 | |
| Crossroads - Episode: Tenement Saint | Jerry | originally aired on December 14 | |
| 1957 | Billy Curran | originally aired on February 13 | |
| Zane Grey Theatre (aka The Westeners)- Episode: Black Creek Encounter | unkown | originally aired on March 8 | |
| Panic! (aka No Warning - US second season title) - Episode: The Boy | Tommy Williams | originally aired on March 19 | |
| 1958 | The Californians - Episode: The Marshal | Joey | originally aired on March 11 |
| 1959 | Leave It To Beaver - Episode: The Grass Is Always Greener | Chris Fletcher | originally aired on January 8 |
| Frontier Justice - Episode: Black Creek Encounter | Billy Morrison | originally aired on July 27 [3] | |
| Fury (aka Brave Stallion) - Episode: The Rocketeers | Vic Rockwell | originally aired on December 5 |
[edit] References and footnotes
- ^ Literatur - Those Endearing Young Charmes - Child Performers of the Screen - A.S. Barnes and Co. Inc., Cranbury, New Jersey, 1971, - page 30]
- ^ Literatur - Those Endearing Young Charmes - Child Performers of the Screen - A.S. Barnes and Co. Inc., Cranbury, New Jersey, 1971, - page 30]
- ^ Literatur - Those Endearing Young Charmes - Child Performers of the Screen - A.S. Barnes and Co. Inc., Cranbury, New Jersey, 1971, - pages 30-34 and Heaven & Hell To Play With - The Filming of The Night of the Hunter, Limelight Editions, New York, 2002]
[edit] Lterature
(on him or mentioning him significantly)
- Marc Best, Those Endearing Young Charmes - Child Performers of the Screen - A.S. Barnes and Co. Inc., Cranbury, New Jersey, 1971, Thomas Yoseloff Ltd., London, - Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 73-124218 - ISBN 0-498-07729-2 - pages 30-34
- Lauren Chapin, Andrew Collins, Father Does Know Best - The Lauren Chapin Story, Berkley Books, New York, 1989/1990, ISBN 0-425-12101-1 (in some chapters of her biography his sister Lauren is mentioning him in connection with her own life)
- Preston Neal Jones, Heaven & Hell To Play With - The Filming of The Night of the Hunter, Limelight Editions, New York, 2002. ISBN 0-87910-974-2 (on the shooting of The Night of the Hunter, 1955)
[edit] External links
- Billy Chapin at the Internet Movie Database
- Turner Classic Movies - Billy Chapins page
- BFI - Film and TV Database - Billy Chapins page
- TV.com - Billy Chapins page
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