Billy Halop

William Halop (February 11, 1920 – November 9, 1976) was an American actor.

Billy Halop
Billy Halop
Born
William Halop

(1920-02-11)February 11, 1920
Jamaica, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 9, 1976(1976-11-09) (aged 56)
Brentwood, California, U.S.
Resting placeMount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
OccupationActor, registered nurse
Years active1931–1976
Spouse(s)Helen Tupper (m.1946–1947; divorced)
Barbara Hoon (m.1948–1958; divorced)
Suzanne Roe (m.1960–1967; divorced)

Early life

Halop was born to Benjamin Cohen Halop and Lucille Elizabeth Halop on February 11, 1920. Halop came from a theatrical family; his mother was a dancer, and his sister, Florence Halop,[1] was an actress who worked on radio and in television. Additionally, he had a brother named Joel.[2]

Acting career

In 1933, he was given the lead as Bobby Benson in the popular new radio show The H-Bar-O Rangers.[3][4] From 1934 to 1937, he starred in one of his first radio series, playing Dick Kent, the son of Fred and Lucy Kent, in "Home Sweet Home".[5]

While studying at the Professional Children's School[2] in New York, he was cast as Tommy Gordon in the 1935 Broadway production of Sidney Kingsley's Dead End[6] and traveled to Hollywood with the rest of the Dead End Kids when Samuel Goldwyn produced a film version of the play in 1937. Usually called Tommy in the films, he had the recurring role of a gang leader in a series of films that featured the Dead End Kids, later billed Little Tough Guys. In his later years, he claimed that he was paid more than the other Dead End actors, which had contributed to bad feelings in the group, and that he was tired of the name "Dead End Kids". He played with James Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), and he also played the bully Harry Flashman, speaking with an English accent, in the 1940 film Tom Brown's School Days opposite Cedric Hardwicke and Freddie Bartholomew.

After serving in World War II in the US Army Signal Corps, he found that he had grown too old to be effective in the roles that had brought him fame. At one point, he was reduced to starring in a cheap East Side Kids imitation at PRC studios, Gas House Kids (1946), at age 26. Diminishing film work, marital difficulties, and a drinking problem eventually ate away at his show business career.

In the 1970s, Halop enjoyed a career resurgence playing the character Bert Munson, cab driver and close friend to Archie Bunker on the television series All in the Family. He appeared in 10 episodes from 1971 to 1975, including the famed "Sammy's Visit" episode from the second season in 1972 starring Sammy Davis, Jr.

Personal life

Halop was married at least four times, according to interviews given near the end of his life. Helen Tupper was his first wife from 1946 until their divorce in 1947. On Valentine's Day, 1948, he married Barbara Hoon. Their marriage lasted ten years until their divorce in 1958. His third marriage in 1960 to Suzanne Roe, who had multiple sclerosis, lasted until their divorce in 1967.

The nursing skills he learned while taking care of his third wife led him to steady work as a registered nurse at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. His fourth marriage, to a nurse coworker, whose name has not been publicized, was quickly annulled after she allegedly attacked him. He later moved back in with his second wife Barbara, but they chose not to remarry.

Following two heart attacks, Halop underwent open-heart surgery in the fall of 1971.[1]

He died of a heart attack on November 9, 1976, in Hollywood at the age of 56.[7] He is interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Filmography

Films (partial)

Television
YearSeriesRoleNotes
1951The Bigelow TheatreUnknownEpisode Crossroad
1952Racket SquadSalesmanEpisode Accidentally on Purpose
1952The UnexpectedAnthony 'Tony' O'BrienEpisode Born Again
1953Boston BlackieJohnny EvansEpisode The Heist Job
1953The Cisco KidDr. Jerome Alpers / Cass Rankin2 episodes
1953-1954Your Favorite StoryRandy Warren / Pidge3 episodes
1954Robert Montgomery PresentsUnknownEpisode The Pale Blond of Sand Street
1954The Jack Benny ProgramCall Boy / Delivery Man2 episodes
1955Big TownMarty "Killer" CraigEpisode Egomaniac
1956Steve Donovan, Western Marshal Fred RoweEpisode Stone River
1957Telephone TimeChaplain Raymond HallEpisode Jumping Parson
1958Playhouse 90Fourth CounsellorEpisode Free Weekend
1959The Thin ManAlEpisode The Perfect Servant
1959Colonel Humphrey FlackAmbrosEpisode West of the Weirdos
1959Richard Diamond, Private DetectiveCharlie ColeEpisode Two for Paradise
1959Highway PatrolSteve DornEpisode Desperate Men
1960Wanted: Dead or AliveCashierEpisode Mental Lapse
196177 Sunset StripTim ActonEpisode The Space Caper
196187th PrecinctRichard SamuelsonEpisode Lady Killer
1961OutlawsGradyEpisode The Verdict
1962Wagon TrainMr. BrewsterEpisode The Jeff Hartfield Story
1962The New BreedUnknownEpisode Walk this Street Lightly
1962-1964Perry MasonBarman / Man / Corbett3 episodes
1963I'm Dickens, He's FensterAttendantEpisode Mr. Takeover
1963The Courtship of Eddie's FatherMilkman
1963Going My WayMr. ThompsonEpisode A Tough Act to Follow
1963GlynisRileyEpisode '"Ten Cents a Dance
1963The FugitiveMikeEpisode Terror at High Point
1963, 1965The Andy Griffith ShowTiny / Charlie2 episodes
1963The FugitiveMikeEpisode Terror At High Point
1963-1964The Adventures of Ozzie and HarriettDrive-in ticket clerk / Newspaper Man / Pool Hall Manager3 episodes
1964Vacation PlayhouseSoldier #2Episode Papa G.I.
1965The F.B.I.ManagerEpisode To Free My Enemy
1965, 1968Gomer Pyle: USMCAttendant / Hawkins2 episodes
1966-1967GunsmokeBartender / Barney3 episodes
1969Adam-12Judge George PerkinsEpisode Log 123: Courtroom
1969Land of the GiantsBartender HarryEpisode Our Man O'Reilly
1970JuliaSecurity GuardEpisode Ready, Aim, Fired
1970Bracken's WorldPat, the projectionist2 episodes
1971-1976All in the FamilyBert Munson10 episodes
1971O'Hara, U.S. TreasuryBartEpisode Operation: Bandera
1974The Phantom of HollywoodStudio EngineerTV film

References
  1. "On This Day in History, February 11: Leader of the Dead End Kids". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  2. "BILLY HALOP,56,DIES: LED DEAD END KIDS". The New York Times. 11 November 1976. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  3. "Bobby Benson". www.otrsite.com.
  4. Barnouw, Erik (1996). Media Marathon. Duke University Press. pp. 47–58.
  5. Cox, Jim (17 July 2009), The A to Z of American Radio Soap Operas, p. 103, ISBN 9780810863491
  6. Cody, Gabrielle H.; Sprinchorn, Evert (2007), The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama, Volume 1, p. 334, ISBN 9780231144223
  7. "Billy Halop, 56, dies; led Dead End Kids". The New York Times. November 11, 1976. p. 44. ProQuest 122777538. Retrieved October 21, 2020 – via ProQuest.
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