Billy Conn (1917 - 1993)

Billy Conn The Conn-Louis fight in 1941 became a part of boxing lore. Conn, who had a reputation for brashness, was leading Louis by a wide margin when he made the mistake that was to haunt him for the rest of his life. He tried to slug it out with the champion. Louis knocked him […]

Billy Curtis (1909 - 1988)

Billy Curtis, born Luigi Curto, (June 27, 1909 – November 9, 1988) was an American film and television actor with dwarfism who had a 50-year career in the entertainment industry. The bulk of his work was in the western and science fiction genres. One of his early roles was uncredited as a Munchkin city father in […]

Billy Daniels (1915 - 1988)

Billy Daniels was born in Jacksonville, Florida, where his father was a postmaster and notary. His mother was a schoolteacher and organist. Daniels had a heritage of Portuguese sailor, Native American (Choctaw), African American, and frontiersman Daniel Boone. In 1935, Daniels moved from Jacksonville to New York to attend Columbia University. He planned to become a […]

Billy Davis (1932 - 2004)

Roquel “Billy” Davis (July 11, 1932 – September 2, 2004), of Detroit, was an American songwriter, record producer, and singer. Davis was also known as a writer/producer of commercial jingles, mostly for Coca-Cola. He was also known as Tyran Carlo on writing credits. Early in his career in Detroit, Billy Davis sang and wrote with an […]

Billy De Wolfe (1907 - 1974)

Actor. Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, his father encouraged him to become a Baptist minister, young William developed an interest in the Arts and Theatre. He changed his name to Billy De Wolfe, and entered vaudeville as a musical comedy performer during his late teen years. Working several nightclub and Broadway revues during the late 1930s […]

Billy DeBeck (1890 - 1942)

Cartoonist. He drew the comic strip “Barney Google” from 1919 to 1942. Another of his well known characters was ‘Snuffy Smith’. (bio by: Ginny M)

Billy Dix (1911 - 1973)

American motion-picture and television actor of the 1940s through the 1960s. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Billy Eckstine (1914 - 1993)

Billy Eckstine’s paternal grandparents were William F. Eckstein and Nannie Eckstein, a mixed-race, married couple who lived in Washington, D.C.; both were born in 1863. William F. was born in Prussia and Nannie in Virginia. His parents were William Eckstein, a chauffeur, and Charlotte Eckstein, a seamstress of note. Eckstine was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; […]

Billy Engle (1889 - 1966)

Actor. Writer of 1 screenplay and actor in 106 films, including: “Million Dollar Legs” in 1932 with W.C. Fields, “Test Pilot” with Clark Gable & Myrna Loy and “Marie Antoinette” with Tyrone Power and Norma Shearer,” both in 1938, “Mrs. Miniver” in 1942 and “The Best Years of Our Lives” in 1946. (bio by: TLS)

Billy Gene Baulch, Jr (1955 - 1972)

Murder victim. He was only 17 years old when he and his 16-year-old friend, Johnny Delome, were abducted and killed by serial killer Dean Corll. The bodies of the two friends were found on High Island Beach, along with 4 others. Two books have been written about the case — “The Man With The Candy” […]

Billy Gilbert (1894 - 1971)

Actor, Comedian. Born William Gilbert Barron in Louisville, Kentucky, he made his vaudeville debut at 12 and began appearing regularly in films in 1929. The son of opera singers, he inherited a massive voice which he used to develop a suspense-filled sneezing routine. Walt Disney created the character Sneezy in “Snow White and the Seven […]

Billy Halop (1920 - 1976)

Billy Halop came from a theatrical family; his mother was a dancer and his sister, Florence Halop, was an actress who worked on radio and in television. In 1933, he was given the lead, Bobby Benson, in the popular new radio show “The H-Bar-O Rangers,” an early credit of Don Knotts as well. From 1934 to […]

Billy Joe Royal (1942 - 2015)

Billy Joe Royal Billy Joe Royal, who scored the 1965 Top Ten single “Down in the Boondocks” and also made frequent appearances on the country chart in the Eighties, died suddenly Tuesday morning at his Marietta, North Carolina home, according to the Tennessean. He was 73 years old. Born April 3, 1942, in Valdosta, Georgia, Royal […]

Billy Joe Shaver (1939 - 2020)

Billy Joe Shaver, the Texas singer-songwriter whose trenchant, vivid compositions helped launch country music’s outlaw movement in the 1970s, died on Wednesday in Waco, Texas. He was 81. His death, in a hospital, was confirmed by his friend Connie Nelson, who said he had recently had a stroke. Mr. Shaver wrote songs for many of […]

Billy Lee Riley (1933 - 2009)

Born in Pocahontas, Arkansas, the son of a sharecropper, Billy Lee Riley learned to play guitar from black farm workers. After four years in the Army, Riley first recorded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1955 before being lured to Sun Studios by Sam Phillips. He recorded “Trouble Bound” for Jack Clement and Slim Wallace. Sam Phillips […]

Billy McCrary (1946 - 1979)

Billy McCrary Born in Hendersonville, North Carolina, he along with his brother Benny, were identical twins. At 743 and 723 pounds and having 84 inch waists, the brothers were discovered by Life Magazine. They entered show business as carnival performers and appeared in Las Vegas, Nevada, where they were in a act playing trumpets and […]

Billy Paul (1934 - 2016)

Billy Paul Billy Paul, a pioneer of the Philadelphia Sound who recorded the 1972 number one hit  “Me and Mrs. Jones,” a smoky ode to an extramarital affair, died Sunday at his home in Blackwood, N.J. He was 80. His co-manager Beverly Gray told the Associated Press that Paul, born Paul Williams in Philadelphia, had been diagnosed […]

Billy Reay (1918 - 2004)

Professional Hockey Player. A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Reay played for teams in the NHL, MJHL, WSRHL, AHA, CCSHL, WHL, QSHL, and the Al-Cup hockey leagues. At 5’07, and 155lbs, Reay played the position of Center for the St. Boniface Seals from 1936 to 1938, Winnipeg Hudson’s Bay from 1937 to 1938, Calgary Stampeders from […]

Billy Rose (1899 - 1966)

William Samuel Rosenberg (later Billy Rose) was born to a Jewish family in New York City. He attended Public School 44, where he was the 50-yard dash champion. While in high school, Billy studied shorthand under John Robert Gregg, the inventor of the Gregg System for shorthand notation. He won a dictation contest using Gregg […]

Billy Sherrill (1936 - 2015)

Billy Sherrill In 1962, Billy Sherrill moved to Nashville, where he was initially hired by Sam Phillips to manage the Nashville studios of Sun Records. When Sun sold its Nashville studio the following year, Sherrill moved to Epic Records, as an in-house producer. Given his limited exposure to country music up to that point, his […]

Billy Vessels (1931 - 2001)

Billy Vessels led the Oklahoma Sooners to the national championship in 1950, scoring 15 touchdowns. In 1952 he won the Heisman Trophy. Playing under the legendary Bud Wilkinson, he became the first of five Sooners, followed by Steve Owens (1969), Billy Sims (1978), Jason White (2003) and Sam Bradford (2008), to win the award. During […]

Billy Walker (1929 - 2006)

Billy Walker American country music singer and guitarist best known for his 1962 hit, “(I’d Like to Be In) Charlie’s Shoes“. Nicknamed The Tall Texan, Walker had more than 30 charted records during a nearly 60-year career; and was a longtime member of the Grand Ole Opry. After a brief attempt at rock ‘n’ roll, […]

Billy Wilder (1906 - 2002)

Billy Wilder From the late 1930s to the early 1960s, Billy Wilder dominated Hollywood’s Golden Age. With over fifty films and six Academy Awards to his credit, he is one of Hollywood’s all-time greatest directors, producers and screenwriters. His films range from stark melodrama, like DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), THE LOST WEEKEND (1945) and SUNSET BOULEVARD […]

Bin Ueda (1874 - 1916)

Linguist. Scholar of the English and French languages. (bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)

Bing Russell (1926 - 2003)

Russell was born Neil Oliver Russell in Brattleboro, Vermont, the son of Ruth Stewart (née Vogel) and Warren Oliver Russell. He always wanted to become an actor and studied drama at Brattleboro High School. As a boy, he was dubbed an unofficial mascot of the New York Yankees, becoming good friends with the likes of […]

Binnie Barnes (1903 - 1998)

Actress. Born in London, England, she was a versatile performer in comedies or dramas. She began appearing in short films in 1929 and made her first full length feature in “A Night in Montmartre” (1931). She remained active for over 40 years appearing in many films to include “The Private Life of Henry VIII” (1934), […]

Birgitte Federspiel (1925 - 2005)

Danish Stage and Screen Actress. She appeared in films such as “Ordet” (1955), “Komtesse” (1961), “Gudrun” (1963), “Z.P.G.” (1972), “Der Korte Sommer” (1976) and “Babettes Gaestebud” (Babette’s Feast) (1987). She also appeared in TV series “Matador.” (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)

BJ Thomas (1942 - 2021)

BJ Thomas B.J. Thomas (born Billy Joe Thomas) straddled the line between pop/rock and country, achieving success in both genres in the late ’60s and ’70s. At the beginning of his career, he leaned more heavily on rock & roll, but by the mid-’70s, he had turned to country music, becoming one of the most […]

Black Bart (2024 - 1888)

Charles Bowles was born in Norfolk, England to John and Maria Bowles (sometimes spelled Bolles). He was the third of ten children, having six brothers and three sisters. When Charles was two years old, his parents emigrated to Jefferson County, New York, where his father purchased a farm, four miles north of Plessis Village in […]

Black Elk (1863 - 1950)

Black Elk was born into an Oglala Lakota family in December 1863 along the Little Powder River (at a site thought to be in the present-day state of Wyoming). According to the Lakota way of measuring time (referred to as Winter counts), Black Elk was born “the Winter When the Four Crows Were Killed on […]