Billy Gilbert Biography

Fast Facts

• Entertained the US Marines stationed Londonderry with the USO in 1943
• Fellow film comic Charley Chase was the best man at his wedding to Ella McKenzie
• Started working in vaudeville when he was 12 years old
• Quote: "People remember me as the comedian with the funny sneeze․ Funny thing is I didn't use it in more than five or six of the films I made, but the way it sticks in people's memories you'd think that was all I ever did․"
• Used his burly frame and gruff voice to play many comic villains
• A comedian and actor, he was known for his comic sneeze routines, which inspired the Sneezy character in Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs․"
• His epitaph reads "He sneezed his way into our hearts․"
• Was born to two opera singers in the dressing room at the Hopkins Opera House in Louisville, Ky
• Competed as a middleweight prizefighter in his youth
• Frequently attended meetings of the Laurel & Hardy fan club in his later years