William Bakewell
William Robertson Bakewell was an American actor. He achieved his greatest fame as one of the leading juvenile performers of the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Early years
Bakewell was a native of Los Angeles, where he attended the Harvard School for Boys and Page Military Academy.
Career
Bakewell began his film career as an extra in the silent movie Fighting Blood and appeared in some 170 films and television shows. He had supporting roles at the end of the silent era and reached the peak of his career around 1930. He is perhaps best remembered for playing German soldier Albert Kropp in All Quiet on the Western Front and Rodney Jordan, Joan Crawford's brother, in Dance, Fools, Dance. He also co-starred in Gold Diggers of Broadway.
In 1933, Bakewell contributed to the founding of the Screen Actors Guild, and was the 44th of the original 50 members. He never achieved stardom after the Depression years, although he became familiar in dozens of films, including his short appearance as a mounted soldier in Gone with the Wind whom Scarlett O'Hara asks when the Yankee soldiers are coming to Atlanta.
During World War II, Bakewell served in the U.S. Army with the rank of second lieutenant. He was stationed at the 73rd Evacuation Hospital and at the Radio Section of the Special Service Division as the post intelligence officer. He also worked under the department that handled distribution of recorded programs to overseas station circuits.
He starred in the Columbia Pictures serial Hop Harrigan, where he played a top Air Corps pilot. He also portrayed Major Tobias Norton and a Keelboat Race Master of Ceremonies in the phenomenally popular Disney series Davy Crockett.
In the 1960s, he guest-starred in numerous sitcoms, including Guestward, Ho!, The Tab Hunter Show, Pete and Gladys, Bringing Up Buddy, Mister Ed, Leave It to Beaver, The Jack Benny Program, Petticoat Junction , and Hazel. He also was cast in episodes of Peter Gunn, Sea Hunt, Wagon Train, The Roaring 20s, The Virginian, Arrest and Trial, and 87th Precinct. He played the Virginia statesman George Wythe in the episode "George Mason" in the 1965 NBC documentary series Profiles in Courage. His last film appearance was in The Strongest Man in the World. He spent most of the last half of his life as a successful realtor in California.
Bakewell served on the board of the Motion Picture & Television Fund for four decades.
Book
Bakewell's autobiography, Hollywood Be Thy Name: Random Recollections of a Movie Veteran from Silents to Talkies to TV, which chronicled his long screen career, was published in 1991.
Death
On April 15, 1993, Bakewell died of leukemia in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 84.
Partial filmography
Fighting Blood - Minor Role A Regular Fellow The Last Edition - 'Ink' DonovanThe Gilded Butterfly - Party Guest The Waning Sex - Minor Role Whispering Wires - Old Ironsides - Young Philadelphian Bertha, the Sewing Machine Girl The Heart Thief - VictorMother - Jerry EllisThe Magic Flame The Shield of Honor - Jerry MacDowellWest Point - 'Tex' McNeilThe Latest from Paris - Bud DolanThe Devil's Trademark - Tom BentonHarold Teen - PercivalThe Battle of the Sexes - Billy JudsonAnnapolis - SkippyLady of the Pavements - A PianistThe Iron Mask - Louis XIV / Twin BrotherHot Stuff - Mack MoranOn with the Show - Jimmy/Performer in 'Bicycle Built for Two' NumberGold Diggers of Broadway - WallyLummox - Paul CharvetPlaying Around - JackAll Quiet on the Western Front - Albert KroppThe Bat Whispers - BrookPaid - CarneyReducing - Tommy HaverlyThe Great Meadow - Jack Jarvis Dance, Fools, Dance - Rodney JordanDaybreak - OttoA Woman of Experience - Count Karl RunyiPolitics - Benny EmersonGuilty Hands - Tommy OsgoodThe Spirit of Notre Dame - Jim StewartCheaters at Play - Maurice PerryWhile Paris Sleeps - Paul RenoirBack Street - Richard Saxel - Walter's SonThe Secret of Madame Blanche - Minor Role Lucky Devils - Slugger JonesThree-Cornered Moon - Douglas RimplegarA Man of Sentiment - John RussellStraightaway - Billy DawsonYou Can't Buy Everything - Donny 'Don' Bell as a manThe Quitter - Russell TilfordSpeed Wings - JerryGreen Eyes - Cliff MillerStraight Is the Way - Dr. WilkesThe Party's Over - ClayThe Curtain Falls - Barry GrahamCrimson Romance - AdolphSons of Steel - Roland ChadburneLaddie - Robert PryorOn Probation - Bill ColemanStrangers All - Dick CarterManhattan Butterfly - Stevens aka Stephen CollierTogether We Live - BillyHappiness C.O.D. - Ken SherridanLady Luck - Dave HainesSea Spoilers - Lieut. Commander MaysQuality Street - Lt. Spicer Mile-a-Minute-Love - Bob JacksonDangerous Holiday - Tom WilsonJungle Menace - Tom BanningTrapped by G-Men - Dick WithersExiled to Shanghai - AndrewThe Higgins Family - Eddie DavisThe Duke of West Point - Committee CaptainKing of the Turf - InternHotel Imperial - Cadet Zenobia - Townsman at Zeke's Recitation Those High Grey Walls - Kibitzer Gone with the Wind - Mounted OfficerBeyond Tomorrow - David ChadwickThe Saint Takes Over - Shipboard Card Player Seven Sinners - EnsignCheers for Miss Bishop - Jim Forbes Dr. Kildare's Victory - Mr. HubbellThe Dawn Express - Tom FieldingI Live on Danger - MacThe Postman Didn't Ring - Robert Harwood Jr.The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe - Hugh PleasantKing of the Mounties - Cpl. Hall RossSubmarine Alert - Agent Pomeroy - Fleming's Aide Yanks Ahoy - Ens. Crosby Hop Harrigan America's Ace of the Airways - Hop HarriganThe Fabulous Dorseys - EddieThe Farmer's Daughter - WindorThe Trespasser - Bruce Coleman, the Literary EditorThe Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer - WintersMessenger of Peace - Pastor Willie von AdelKing of the Bandits - Captain Frank MasonArthur Takes Over - Lawrence WhiteSo This Is New York Romance on the High Seas - DudleyNight Wind - Capt. Kingston Miraculous Journey - You Gotta Stay Happy - Dick HebertThe Capture - TolinOh! Susanna - Lieutenant Wells Fargo Gunmaster - Charlie LannonWhen the Redskins Rode - ApplebyCome Fill the Cup - Hal OrtmanRadar Men from the Moon - Ted RichardsRoom for One More - Milkman So This Is Love - Charles, Waiter Lucky Me - Jaguar Owner Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier - Maj. Tobias Norton Official Detective - Sam GravesHell's Five Hours - Minor Role Johnny Rocco - Joe, Police Scientist Sea Hunt - Episode Monte Cristo The Big Fisherman - Minor Role Not with My Wife, You Don't! - Brig. Gen. Swift Bonanza - Henshaw / Slatter That Girl - Mr. Macintosh The Strongest Man in the World - Professor