A Brace of Boxing Billy Sullivan

I first became aware of Billy Sullivan (William Arthur Sullivan, 1891-1946) through my investigation of boxing movies in this post. His association with the genre, and the fact that he was from Worcester may be why some have said that was the nephew of John J. Sullivan, the Boston Strong Boy, but it wants corroboration. In films he was billed in every possible permutation of his name: Billy Sullivan, Bill Sullivan, William Sullivan, William A. Sullivan, W.A. Sullivan, and Arthur Sullivan. Eat your heart out, Raymond J. Johnson Jr! And what a name! I can’t help associating him with Sir Arthur Sullivan, Arthur Jefferson, Billy Mason, Billy Watson, Billy Parsons, Billy Bevan,Billy Glason, Billy Gilbert, Billy Quirk, Billy West, Billy Armstrong, Billy Franey,Billy Bletcher, Billie Ritchie and about three dozens others. There are also the stage actors William H. Sullivan and William Bourke Sullivan to be reckoned with.

Thanks to this web site we know that Sullivan was in vaudeville, could play ragtime piano, could soft shoe, clog, and buck and wing, and was for a time partnered with Gordon Hollingshead, a cousin of Gene Tierney’s, who later produced the “Joe McDoakes” series, as well as scores of other shorts and a few features. Sullivan started out in films at the Thanhouser studio based out of New Rochelle, playing a minor role in the Million Dollar Mystery serial (1914) starring Florence La Badie and James Cruze. In addition to appearing in Thanhouser films, for a time (1916) he assistant directed and second-unit directed films in their Falstaff series of comedies. By 1917 he was playing supporting roles on features starring the likes of Gladys Hulette,Warner Oland, and George Walsh.

Sullivan replaced Reginald Denny in the 1922 boxing series The Leather Pushers and this is what brought him to leading man status for the rest of the silent era, albeit it was the Rayart Pictures, forerunner to the low-budget Monogram. He was best known for starring in pictures like The Patent Leather Pug (1926) and One Punch O’Day (1926). In addition to the numerous boxing pictures, he also starred in films with other settings such as Speed Cop (1926) in which he played the titular highway officer, and Stick to Your Story (1926) in which was an intrepid reporter. He also supported stars like William Desmond in westerns and other films. He had a bit part in the Rupert Julian–Cecil B. DeMille feature Walking Back (1928) starring Sue Carol, one of his last silents.

A supporting role in the Eddie Quillan comedy Sweepstakes (1931) was Sullivan’s first talkie. His roles were fairly tiny after this, though he did appear in some well known movies like Broadway Thru a Keyhole (1933), Murder By Television (1935), Public Hero #1 (1935), and Big Brown Eyes (1936), his last. When Sullivan passed away a decade later he was living in Great Neck, New York. He left behind a legacy of around 100 film credits.

For more on vaudeville, please see No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous,and for more on silent movies read  Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube.