Billy Gray (actor)
American actor (born 1938)
title: "Billy Gray (actor)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["living-people", "american-male-child-actors", "1938-births", "american-male-film-actors", "american-male-television-actors", "businesspeople-from-los-angeles", "male-actors-from-los-angeles", "entertainers-from-topanga,-california", "20th-century-american-male-actors"] description: "American actor (born 1938)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Gray_(actor)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American actor (born 1938) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Billy Gray |
| image | Billy Gray 1977.jpg |
| caption | Gray in 1977 |
| birth_name | William Thomas Gray |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| occupation | Actor, businessman |
| yearsactive | 1943–1980 |
| spouse | {{plainlist |
| * {{marriage | Helena Kallianiotes |
| * {{marriage | Donna Wilkes |
| :: |
| name = Billy Gray | image = Billy Gray 1977.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Gray in 1977 | birth_name = William Thomas Gray | birth_date = | birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = Actor, businessman | yearsactive = 1943–1980 | spouse = {{plainlist|
William Thomas Gray (born January 13, 1938){{cite news |last=Rose |first=Mike |date=January 13, 2023 |title=Today's famous birthdays list for January 13, 2023 includes celebrities Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Trace Adkins |url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2023/01/todays-famous-birthdays-list-for-january-13-2023-includes-celebrities-julia-louis-dreyfus-trace-adkins.html |access-date=January 13, 2023 |newspaper=The Plain Dealer |location=Cleveland |quote=Actor Billy Gray (“Father Knows Best”) is 85
Career
Gray began acting at five years old. He appeared with his mother in the 1949 horror comedy Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (in separated scenes). He acted in more than 200 movies. He acted with stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Doris Day, Bob Hope, William Holden, Michael Rennie, Judith Anderson, Pat O'Brien and Barbara Stanwyck. He did not attend school and was educated by teachers hired by the film studios, often having class in tents set up on studio lots. He portrayed a young Jim Thorpe in Jim Thorpe – All-American, and starred in the science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. He also portrayed Tagg "Bull's Eye" Oakley, younger brother of Annie Oakley in the pilot episode of Annie Oakley.
From 1954 to 1960, Gray starred as son Bud Anderson in the television series Father Knows Best, for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He was cast as Plato in Rebel Without a Cause, but had to exit the role when a delay in shooting interfered with his commitment to Father Knows Best. He was arrested for marijuana possession in 1962 and served 45 days in jail. However, he did reprise his role of Bud Anderson in two Father Knows Best reunion films in 1977. He was Alan in an Adventures of Superman episode, Shot In The Dark, in 1953.
From 1970 to 1995, Gray was a Class A motorcycle speedway racer and race promoter. He then turned to inventing and entrepreneurship, having invented the F-1 guitar pick. He is also a motorcycle collector and businessman.
Personal life
Gray was born in Los Angeles, to William H. Gray (1899–1963) and Beatrice A. Gray (née-Kimbrough; 1911–2009). He lost his father when he was 25.
Gray was married to and divorced from Helena Kallianiotes (1967–1969) and Donna Wilkes (1977–1981). , Gray lives in Topanga, California, in the same house he bought in 1957 while working on Father Knows Best.
Filmography
Film
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | Man of Courage | Mike Wilson | |
| 1946 | Suspense | Little Boy at Zoo | Uncredited |
| 1948 | Fighting Father Dunne | Chip | |
| 1949 | Bad Men of Tombstone | Willie Stover | |
| Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff | Boy with Bow and Arrow | ||
| 1950 | Father Is a Bachelor | Feb Chalotte | |
| Singing Guns | Albert | ||
| In a Lonely Place | Boy seeking autograph | Uncredited | |
| Mister 880 | Mickey | Uncredited | |
| Sierra Passage | Young Johnny York | ||
| 1951 | Jim Thorpe – All-American | Young Jim Thorpe | |
| On Moonlight Bay | Wesley Winfield | ||
| The Day the Earth Stood Still | Bobby Benson | ||
| 1952 | Talk About a Stranger | Robert 'Bud' Fontaine Jr. | |
| 1953 | All I Desire | Ted Murdoch | |
| By the Light of the Silvery Moon | Wesley Winfield | ||
| The Girl Next Door | Joe | ||
| 1954 | The Outlaw Stallion | Danny Saunders | |
| 1955 | The Seven Little Foys | Bryan Lincoln Foy | |
| 1961 | The Explosive Generation | Bobby Herman Jr. | |
| 1966 | The Navy vs. the Night Monsters | CPO Fred Twining | |
| 1971 | Dusty and Sweets McGee | City Life | |
| Werewolves on Wheels | Pill | ||
| 1979 | Love and Bullets | Officer Durant | |
| 1980 | Porklips Now | Dullard | |
| :: |
Television
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | The Gene Autry Show (TV series) | Jimmy Foster | Season 1 Episode 5: "The Star Toter" |
| 1950 | The Gene Autry Show (TV series) | Eddie Baker | Season 1 Episode 17: "Twisted Trails" |
| 1953 | Adventures of Superman | Young Alan Harper | Season 2 Episode 5: "Shot in the Dark" |
| 1954–1960 | Father Knows Best | James "Bud" Anderson Jr. | 200 episodes |
| 1957 | The Thin Man | Mike Edwards | Episode: "Come Back Darling Asta" |
| 1960 | Stagecoach West | 'Frankie Niles' | Season 1 Episode 3: "Dark Return" |
| Peter Gunn | 'Eric Thorwald' | Season 2 Episode 34: "The Semi-Private Eye" | |
| Bachelor Father | David Ross | Season 4 Episode 15: "Ginger's Big Romance" | |
| 1961 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Perry Hatch | Season 7 Episode 1: “The Hat Box” |
| The Deputy | Johnny Blatner | Season 2 Episode 24: "Two-Way Deal" | |
| 1964 | The Greatest Show on Earth | Nick | Season 1 Episode 16: "Corsicans Don't Cry" |
| Arrest and Trial | Colin Martin | Season 1 Episode 26: "Tigers Are for Jungles" | |
| 1965 | Rawhide | Lindsay McCullers | Season 7 Episode 17: "Moment in the Sun" |
| 1966 | Combat! | Candell | Season 5 Episode 2: "The Losers" |
| 1967 | Custer | Billy Nixon | Season 1 Episode 9: "Desperate Mission" |
| 1969 | Medical Center | Student at Party | Season 1 Episode: "Operation Heartbeat" (uncredited) |
| 1970 | The Bold Ones: The Protectors | Morgan Vontz | Season 1 Episode 6: "Memo from the Class of '76" |
| 1977 | The Father Knows Best Reunion | James "Bud" Anderson Jr. | Television film |
| Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas | Television film | ||
| :: |
References
Bibliography
- Holmstrom, John (1996). The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich: Michael Russell, pp. 206–207.
References
- (17 February 2021). "'Father Knows Best' star Billy Gray reflects on child stardom, 1962 pot bust: 'I don't have time for regrets'".
- Smith, Edward Torchy. "Billy Grey, better known as Bud from Father Knows Best". Baby Boomers Talk Radio.
- "Billy Gray".
- (2015). "Growing Up on the Set: Interviews with 39 Former Child Actors of Classic Film and Television". McFarland.
- Terrace, Vincent. (January 10, 2014). "Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010". McFarland.
- (15 May 1977). "Keeping Up With 'Father Knows Best'". [[The New York Times]].
- Hall, Ken. "Billy Gray, Bud from ''Father Knows Best'', Collects Racing Motorcycles".
- Uhler, Steve. (July 23, 2020). "My Visit With Bud From 'Father Knows Best'".
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