Actor
Billy Chapin
Born 28 December 1943 · Los Angeles, California, USA — died 2 December 2016
Billy Chapin (1943–2016) was an American child actor who worked in Hollywood films and television in the 1950s. He is best remembered as John Harper in Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter (1955), a now-celebrated classic. His career faded after his youth.
Key films
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
His best-known role: John Harper, the boy pursued by Robert Mitchum's preacher in Laughton's acclaimed only film as director.
Tobor the Great (1954)
Starred as a boy befriended by a robot in this popular 1950s science-fiction adventure.
Violent Saturday (1955)
Appeared in this CinemaScope crime drama about a bank robbery in a small town.
The Kid from Left Field (1953)
An early lead child role in a baseball comedy-drama.
A Man Called Peter (1955)
Part of the cast of this biographical drama about Scottish-American minister Peter Marshall.
Key awards
No major awards are documented here.
On Cinespective
Full filmography · 8
- 1953Affair with a Stranger · as TimmyActor
- 1953The Kid from Left Field · as Christie CooperActor
- 1954Naked Alibi · as PeteyActor
- 1954Tobor the Great · as Brian 'Gadge' RobertsActor
- 1955The Night of the Hunter · as John HarperActor
- 1955Violent Saturday · as Steve MartinActor
- 1955A Man Called Peter · as Peter John MarshallActor
- 1956Tension at Table Rock · as Jody BurrowsActor
Filmography data from TMDB. The profile text is a draft written for Cinespective.