Willie Best
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William "Willie" Best (May 27, 1913 - February 27, 1962) was an American actor. Best was one of the first well-known African-American film actors, although his work, like that of Stepin Fetchit, is today reviled because he was often called upon to play stereotypically lazy, illiterate, and simple-minded Black characters in films. Best's characterization of the stereotype of the lazy Black man earned him the stage name "Sleep 'n' Eat"; indeed, many of his films bill him under this name, if they billed him at all.
Best, a native of Sunflower, Mississippi, appeared in numerous films throughout the 1930s and 1940s. His best known appearances are in Shirley Temple films such as Little Miss Marker (1934) and The Littlest Rebel (1935), as well as in the all-Black musicals The Green Pastures (1936) and Cabin in the Sky (1943). Best also appeared in General Spanky (1936) with Our Gang, and in several of the Blondie films as well.
Willie Best's career in film ended with guest appearances on the television shows The Stu Erwin Show and My Little Margie in the 1950s. He died on February 27, 1962 in Hollywood, California of cancer, at age forty-eight.
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