Billy Franey

William Gerald Franey (June 23, 1889 – December 6, 1940) was an American film actor.^[1]

Billy Franey
Franey in 1922
Born	William Gerald Franey (1889-06-23)June 23, 1889 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	December 6, 1940(1940-12-06) (aged 51) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1914–1940

Biography

Born in Chicago in 1889,^[2] Franey appeared in more than 400 films between 1914 and 1941, mostly playing comedic roles. He was an actor of disheveled appearance and fuzzy mustache, usually in a suit a couple of sizes too big. His late career included numerous uncredited appearances in classics like Bringing Up Baby, and he also appeared as the father-in-law of Edgar Kennedy in several of his series of short comedies.

Franey contracted influenza and died from complications involving the illness in 1940.^[2]

Gale Henry, Vivian Oakland, Milburn Morante, Edgar Kennedy, and Max Asher (actor) attended his funeral.

Partial filmography

Franey at right in Her Naughty Wink (1920)

• The Leak (1917)^[3]
• Skirts (1921)
• Quincy Adams Sawyer (1922)
• A Western Demon (1922)
• The White Panther (1924)
• The Fire Patrol (1924)
• With Kit Carson Over the Great Divide (1925)
• Manhattan Madness (1925)
• S.O.S. Perils of the Sea (1925)
• The Fear Fighter (1925)
• The Great Sensation (1925)
• The False Alarm (1926)
• Moran of the Mounted (1926)
• Señor Daredevil (1926)
• King of the Saddle (1926)
• The Windjammer (1926)
• Code of the Northwest (1926)
• A Desperate Moment (1926)
• Danger Quest (1926)
• The Dead Line (1926)
• The Dangerous Dude (1926)
• The Golden Stallion (1927)
• Out All Night (1927)
• She's a Sheik (1927)
• The Racing Fool (1927)
• King of the Herd (1927)
• The Royal American (1927)
• The Lost Limited (1927)
• Under the Tonto Rim (1928)
• Five and Ten Cent Annie (1928)
• Romance of a Rogue (1928)
• The Glorious Trail (1928)
• Give and Take (1928)
• Cheyenne (1929)
• The Royal Rider (1929)
• Anne Against the World (1929)
• Dumb Dicks (1931) (short)
• Freighters of Destiny (1931)
• Forgotten Women (1931)
• The Sheriff's Secret (1931)
• Partners (1932)
• The Night of June 13 (1932) (uncredited)
• Guests Wanted (1932) (short)
• Ghost Valley (1932)
• War of the Range (1933)
• Somewhere in Sonora (1933)
• The Fiddlin' Buckaroo (1933)
• No More Women (1934)
• Western Racketeers (1934)
• The Star Packer (1934)
• Five Bad Men (1935)
• Dummy Ache (1936) (short)
• Bringing Up Baby (1938)

References

1. Vazzana, Eugene Michael (May 18, 2019). Silent Film Necrology. McFarland. ISBN 9780786410590. Retrieved May 18, 2019 – via Google Books.
2. Wollstein, Hans J. "Billy Franey". AllMovie. Archived from the original on July 21, 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
3. Motography Volume 17, Issue 4 - Page 1019 1917 The Leak (William Franey)

External links

• Billy Franey at IMDb