A look at Billy Halop

Billy Halop began acting on Broadway as Tommy Gordon in Sidney Kingsley's Dead End in 1935. When Samuel Goldwyn produced the film version of the play in 1937, Halop and the rest of the Dead End Kids were brought to Hollywood to reprise their roles. Halop played the character of Tommy, a gang leader, in a series of films featuring the Dead End Kids, later renamed the Little Tough Guys.


He also appeared alongside James Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces (1938). He played the character of Harry Flashman, a bully who spoke with an English accent, in the 1940 film Tom Brown's School Days, opposite Cedric Hardwicke and Freddie Bartholomew.

Halop claimed that he was paid more than the other Dead End Kids, which caused tensions within the group, and that he grew tired of the name "Dead End Kids."

After serving in the US Army Signal Corps during World War II, Halop found that he was too old for the types of roles that had made him famous. He even starred in a low-budget imitation of the East Side Kids called Gas House Kids (1946) when he was just 26 years old. Unfortunately, his career began to decline due to a lack of film work, marital problems, and alcoholism.


Billy Halop experienced a career resurgence in the 1970s with his role as Bert Munson, a cab driver and close friend of Archie Bunker on the popular television series, All in the Family. He appeared in ten episodes between 1971 and 1975, including the famous "Sammy's Visit" episode from the second season in 1972, which featured Sammy Davis, Jr.