Full Name William Hill. Name Billie Ritchie Cause of death Cancer Role Film actor | Nationality Scottish Died July 6, 1921 Spouse(s) Winifred Monroe | |
Born 14 September 1878 Glasgow, Scotland Children Wyn Ritchie Evans(23 December 1900 - 11 April 2003) | ||
Almost a Scandal (1915)
Billie Ritchie (14 September 1878 – 6 July 1921) was a Scottish comedian who first gained transatlantic fame as a performer for British music hall producer Fred Karno—this, a full decade before Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin took a similar career path. Ritchie is best recalled today for the silent comedy shorts he made between 1914 and 1920 for director/producer Henry Lehrman's L-KO Kompany and Fox Film Sunshine Comedy unit. Variations on Ritchie's "tramp" and "drunk" personae - which Ritchie had developed before and during his Karno years- were introduced to film audiences by Charlie Chaplin in such shorts as the Lehrman-directed Kid Auto Races at Venice (7 February 1914) and Mabel's Strange Predicament (9 February 1914). Ritchie, who - due to a series of on-set injuries, spent his final years relatively inactive- succumbed to stomach cancer in the summer of 1921. Winifred Frances, the comedian's widow, and one-time stage partner, wound up in the employ of Charlie Chaplin. Wyn Ritchie, their daughter, was also a performer, and, in private life, the wife (of 55 years) of songwriter Ray Evans.