Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Billy Halop

Billy Halop began his career as a juvenile as a juvenile actor in the Broadway production of "Dead End" in 1935. He went to Hollywood to appear in the movie version in 1937, and was known as one of the "Dead End Kids", a group which also included Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall. Future roles generally typecast him as a street-wise character who'd be on the wrong side of the law.

He continued acting on many tv shows into the 1970s. One of his last roles was as 'Bert Munson', a taxi-driving friend of 'Archie Bunker' on the 1970s sitcom "All in the Family".

Mr. Halop died in 1976, and I'd never written to him for a photo.

In 1989, through the same reliable dealer from whom I'd purchased autographs previously, I bought the photo shown below. It's a post card photo, postmarked on the back "Los Angeles, Calif. - June 8, 1940". The postage stamp was 1 cent, but the photo cost me $3.

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