Billy Gilbert (September 12, 1894 – September 23, 1971) was a beloved American comedian and character actor, a vaudeville veteran whose explosive, building-to-a-crescendo comic sneeze made him one of the most recognizable and hilarious performers of his era.
Gilbert’s unique sneeze routine made him a star, leading to a prolific career of over 200 film appearances. He is immortalized as the voice of Sneezy in Walt Disney’s animated masterpiece Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). He also had a memorable role as the bumbling, German-gibberish-spouting Field Marshal Herring in Charlie Chaplin’s classic satire, The Great Dictator (1940).
A frequent and welcome presence in comedies, he was a favorite of the legendary duo Laurel and Hardy, famously playing the excitable Professor Theodore von Schwarzenhoffen in their classic film The Music Box (1932) and Mr. Gilbert in Block-Heads (1938). With his portly build and expert comedic timing, Gilbert left a lasting legacy as a master of slapstick and a true original of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
