Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#17117
of 909177 performers
Top 5%
Billy Bevan works on versatility rather than volume, and the catalogue keeps proving that the quieter choice was the correct one.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Billy Bevan appears in 24 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Billy. Rebecca is the clearest case: a film rated 7.7 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for comedy, family, mystery. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Charles Vidor, Roy William Neill, Clarence Brown and others, Billy Bevan helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Rebecca (1940) as Policeman (uncredited) · Bringing Up Baby (1938) as Joe (uncredited) · Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) as Cabby (uncredited)
Career snapshot
Ranked #17117 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
24
1931–1952
Career length
21 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.7
Rebecca
Average Nutevio score
6.6
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.9
Rebecca
Most frequent director
Alfred Hitchcock
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Alfred Hitchcock
Most common genre
Drama
12 titles
Average runtime
1h 36m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.8
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.5
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
1940s
6.6 average MV
The 1940s are where the work and the material meet. Terror by Night, National Velvet, The Picture of Dorian Gray — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1940s
6.6
Across 14 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1940s
6.7
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1930s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Bringing Up Baby, A Christmas Carol, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.
Most productive era
1940s
14 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.65 films | 6.97 films | — |
| Action | 6.41 film | — | — |
| Thriller | — | 6.63 films | — |
| Comedy | 6.83 films | 6.61 film | 6.31 film |
| Crime | — | 6.51 film | — |
| Romance | 6.84 films | 7.05 films | — |
| Horror | 6.21 film | 6.46 films | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1931Waterloo Bridge
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Soldier on the Make (uncredited).
Highest rated performance · Career peak
1940Rebecca
7.7 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
The current state of the argument, as Town Councilman (uncredited).
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
24 of 24 films
as Policeman (uncredited)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
as Joe (uncredited)
Directed by Howard Hawks
as Cabby (uncredited)
Directed by Frank Capra
as Malvolio Jones
Directed by Albert Lewin
as Ticket Taker (uncredited)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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The defining work
#1
Policeman (uncredited)
Rebecca (1940)
Performance score7.5
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Policeman (uncredited) gives Billy Bevan a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Joe (uncredited)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Performance score7.1
Bringing Up Baby asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Joe (uncredited) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Cabby (uncredited)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Performance score7.0
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Cabby (uncredited) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Malvolio Jones
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
Performance score6.8
The Picture of Dorian Gray asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Malvolio Jones is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Policeman (uncredited)
Start here. Rebecca is the clearest statement of what Billy Bevan does — accessible, 130 minutes, and rated 7.7 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Billy at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Keeps the romance register of Rebecca but asks for a colder reading of it.
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Keeps the romance register of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town but asks for a colder reading of it.
Suspicion (1941)
Keeps the romance register of Bringing Up Baby but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
A deliberate change of key after Suspicion — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
John Ford
Director
2 films together
Notably The Long Voyage Home
Alfred Hitchcock
Director
2 films together
Notably Rebecca
James Whale
Director
1 film together
Notably Waterloo Bridge
Frank Lloyd
Director
1 film together
Notably Cavalcade
Norman Z. McLeod
Director
1 film together
Notably Alice in Wonderland
Jack Conway
Director
1 film together
Notably A Tale of Two Cities
Lambert Hillyer
Director
1 film together
Notably Dracula's Daughter
Frank Capra
Director
1 film together
Notably Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Edwin L. Marin
Director
1 film together
Notably A Christmas Carol
Howard Hawks
Director
1 film together
Notably Bringing Up Baby
Joe May
Director
1 film together
Notably The Invisible Man Returns
Victor Fleming
Director
1 film together
Notably Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
René Clair
Director
1 film together
Notably I Married a Witch
William Wyler
Director
1 film together
Notably Mrs. Miniver
Robert Stevenson
Director
1 film together
Notably Jane Eyre
Lew Landers
Director
1 film together
Notably The Return of the Vampire
Ford Beebe
Director
1 film together
Notably The Invisible Man's Revenge
John Brahm
Director
1 film together
Notably The Lodger
Albert Lewin
Director
1 film together
Notably The Picture of Dorian Gray
Clarence Brown
Director
1 film together
Notably National Velvet
Roy William Neill
Director
1 film together
Notably Terror by Night
Charles Vidor
Director
1 film together
Notably Hans Christian Andersen
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Alfred Hitchcock
Director
2 films together · 7.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
RebeccaJohn Ford
Director
2 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Long Voyage HomeHoward Hawks
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Bringing Up BabyFrank Capra
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mr. Deeds Goes to TownAlbert Lewin
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Picture of Dorian GrayClarence Brown
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
National VelvetRobert Stevenson
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jane EyreWilliam Wyler
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mrs. MiniverEdwin L. Marin
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Christmas CarolRené Clair
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
I Married a WitchJack Conway
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Tale of Two CitiesRoy William Neill
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Terror by NightVictor Fleming
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeJames Whale
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Waterloo BridgeJohn Brahm
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The LodgerCharles Vidor
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hans Christian AndersenJoe May
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Invisible Man ReturnsLew Landers
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Return of the VampireLambert Hillyer
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dracula's DaughterNorman Z. McLeod
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Alice in WonderlandFord Beebe
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Invisible Man's RevengeFrank Lloyd
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CavalcadeSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Rebecca
as Policeman (uncredited)
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Rebecca
as Policeman (uncredited)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Rebecca
as Policeman (uncredited)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Mrs. Miniver
as Bus Conductor (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Rebecca
as Policeman (uncredited)
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Billy Bevan has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
21 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Drama Legend
Awarded
12 catalogue titles in drama, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Rebecca
as Policeman (uncredited)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Rebecca
as Policeman (uncredited)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Jane Eyre
as Bookie (uncredited)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Terror by Night
as Conductor Taking Tickets
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Rebecca
as Policeman (uncredited)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
The Lost Patrol
as Hale
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
as Cabby (uncredited)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Cavalcade
as George Grainger
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: family and comedy
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: family and comedy
Cillian Murphy
Built a career in the same territory: drama and history
Have your say
Community
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Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
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Reference
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