Biography
Influenced by the refined antics of Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore, and Franklin Pangborn, burlesque clown Billy DeWolfe in turn inspired effeminate performers like Paul Lynde and Charles Nelson Reilly. Billy's entire life was devoted to show business, spanning a five-decade career filled with passion for the stage, from which he was reluctant to part.
Born William Andrew Jones to a Welsh immigrant bookbinder in Massachusetts, his family moved back to Wales shortly after his birth, returning to the U.S. when he was nine. He began in theater as an usher before becoming a dancer with a band. Taking his stage name from theater manager William De Wolfe, Billy developed a comedy-dance act, initially performing in vaudeville duos or trios. After five years in London, where he eventually went solo and performed at the London Palladium, he returned to America in 1939. There, he gained recognition as a radio and nightclub impressionist, often appearing in satirical revues and sometimes in drag to great acclaim.
Billy enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942, shortly after his first film role as a riverboat conman in Paramount’s Dixie (1943). After the war, he resumed his film career at Paramount, providing comic relief in films like Miss Susie Slagle's (1946), Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946), and The Perils of Pauline (1947). He then created his signature suitor character—a fastidious, self-absorbed bore who inevitably loses the girl—most notably in Dear Ruth (1947), one of his biggest successes, which led to two sequels. He thrived in old-fashioned musicals such as Tea for Two (1950) and Lullaby of Broadway (1951), and delivered a memorable performance alongside Ethel Merman in Call Me Madam (1953).
Due to his distinctive mincing mannerisms, which made film roles challenging, Billy focused on the stage. He won the 1954 Donaldson Award for the New York production of John Murray Anderson's Almanac, performed in command appearances in London, and returned to Broadway with the final edition of The Ziegfeld Follies in 1957. His pompous role in the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was particularly well received. On television, he was a moderately popular raconteur on talk shows, and spent his final decade in fussy second-banana roles on comedy series featuring stars like Imogene Coca, Phyllis Diller, and close friend Doris Day.
A lifelong hypochondriac, Billy was set to portray Madam Lucy in the 1973 Broadway revival of Irene but was forced to withdraw before rehearsals due to lung cancer. George S. Irving replaced him and won a Tony Award for his performance. Billy DeWolfe passed away at age 67 in 1974.
