Biography
William Bakewell began playing film juveniles at the age of 17. Bakewell enjoyed a flurry of activity in the early talkie era, with substantial roles in such major films as
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). By the end of the 1930s, his career had by-and-large diminished to minor roles, such as the chivalrous mounted officer in the evacuation scenes in
Gone With the Wind (1939). During the next decade, Bakewell fluctuated between one-scene bits and stuffed-shirt character parts, notably James Stewart's rival for the affections of Lana Turner in
You Gotta Stay Happy (1948). The baby-boomer generation will always remember Bakewell as Tobias Norton in Disney's ratings-grabbing
Davy Crockett episodes of the 1950s; he also played the condescending stage manager on the prime-time version of The Pinky Lee Show (1950). William Bakewell spent most of the last half of his life as a successful California Realtor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide