Billie Bird

Acting

Billie Bird

Born 1908-02-28 · Pocatello, Idaho, USA

Vaudeville comedienne Billie Bird Sellen was discovered at an orphanage at the age of eight years and hired to tour theater circuits with a vaudeville troupe. During the Vietnam War she accompanied 12 USO tours entertaining the troops in the war zone in the 1960s and 1970s. She had worked as recently as 1995 when she appeared in Jury Duty (1995), starring Pauly Shore. Other notable performances were in Dennis the Menace (1993) and Home Alone (1990). One of her best-known film appearances was in the 1968 movie The Odd Couple (1968). Her last appearance was a cameo in 1997 in the short-lived television comedy George & Leo (1997) with Judd Hirsch and Bob Newhart. She had also been a regular from 1988-1992 in the sitcom Dear John (1988), and in a series of performances as a cheerful and sassy senior citizen in such productions as Ernest Saves Christmas (1988) and Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987). Date of Death: 27 November 2002, Granada Hills (Alzheimer's disease)

Acting credits

Dennis the Menace poster
5.9

Mr. Wilson's ever-present annoyance comes in the form of one mischievous kid named Dennis. But he'll need Dennis's tricks to uncover a collection of gold coins that go missing when a shady drifter named Switchblade Sam comes to town.

Dennis the Menace

1993

Sixteen Candles poster
6.7

With the occasion all but overshadowed by her sister's upcoming wedding, angst-ridden Samantha faces her 16th birthday with typical adolescent dread. Samantha pines for studly older boy Jake, but worries that her chastity will be a turnoff for the popular senior. Meanwhile, she must constantly rebuff the affections of nerdy Ted, who is unfortunately the only boy in school who seems to take an interest in her.

Sixteen Candles

1984

Jury Duty poster
4.4

When jobless Tommy Collins discovers that sequestered jurors earn free room and board as well as $5-a-day, he gets himself assigned to a jury in a murder trial. Once there, he does everything he can to prolong the trial and deliberations and make the sequestration more comfortable for himself.

Jury Duty

1995

Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol poster
5.5

A new batch of recruits arrives at Police Academy, this time a group of civilian volunteers who have joined Commandant Lassard's new Citizens on Patrol program. Although the community relations project has strong governmental support, a disgusted Captain Harris is determined to see it fail.

Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol

1987

Max Dugan Returns poster
6.6

An English teacher and struggling single mother has her life disrupted when the father who abandoned her as a child comes back into her life.

Max Dugan Returns

1983

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege poster
5.1

Our favourite police men are called together to deal with a gang who rob banks and jewelers. Using their various talents as well as their extraordinary luck, the crooks stand no chance against our men and women in blue.

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege

1989

Young Doctors in Love poster
5.3

An 'Airplane!'-style spoof of hospital soap operas—a brilliant young trainee can't stand the sight of blood; a doctor romances the head nurse in order to get the key to the drugs cabinet; and there's a mafioso on the loose disguised as a woman.

Young Doctors in Love

1982

One Crazy Summer poster
6.0

An aspiring teenage cartoonist and his friends come to the aid of a singer trying to save her family property from developers.

One Crazy Summer

1986

The Odd Couple poster
7.4

In New York, Felix, a neurotic news writer who just broke up with his wife, is urged by his chaotic friend Oscar, a sports journalist, to move in with him, but their lifestyles are as different as night and day are, so Felix's ideas about housekeeping soon begin to irritate Oscar.

The Odd Couple

1968

Barefoot in the Park poster
7.1

In this film based on a Neil Simon play, newlyweds Corie, a free spirit, and Paul Bratter, an uptight lawyer, share a sixth-floor apartment in Greenwich Village. Soon after their marriage, Corie tries to find a companion for mother, Ethel, who is now alone, and sets up Ethel with neighbor Victor. Inappropriate behavior on a double date causes conflict, and the young couple considers divorce.

Barefoot in the Park

1967

That's Adequate poster
4.1

This mockumentary about fictional movie studio Adequate Pictures boasts an interesting cast. Tony Randall hosts, and James CoCo (practically on his deathbed) stars as head of the studio. Includes parodies of everything from silent comedies to porn, including an ultra violent "three stooges" style comedy team who put a new spin on the eye poking gag.

That's Adequate

1989

This Property Is Condemned poster
6.4

Owen Legate, a railroad official, comes to Dodson, Mississippi to shut down the local railway - the town's main income. But Owen unexpectedly finds love with Dodson's flirt and main attraction, Alva Starr.

This Property Is Condemned

1966

Ernest Saves Christmas poster
5.4

When Santa Claus decides to retire and pass on his magic bag of Christmas surprises to a new Saint Nick, he enlists the aid of a hilarious assortment of characters. A perky teen runaway and hapless taxi driver Ernest P. Worrell must convince a skeptical kiddie-show host to take over the post of Father Christmas.

Ernest Saves Christmas

1988

Home Alone poster
7.5

Eight-year-old Kevin McCallister makes the most of the situation after his family unwittingly leaves him behind when they go on Christmas vacation. When thieves try to break into his home, he puts up a fight like no other.

Home Alone

1990

Las Vegas Hillbillys poster
4.0

A Hillbilly hits the big time in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas Hillbillys

1966

Getting Straight poster
6.3

Graduate student Harry Bailey was once one of the most visible undergraduate activists on campus, but now that he's back studying for his master's, he's trying to fly right. Trouble is, the campus is exploding with various student movements, and Harry's girlfriend, Jan, is caught up in most of them. As Harry gets closer to finishing his degree, he finds his iconoclastic attitude increasingly aligned with the students rather than the faculty.

Getting Straight

1970

Somebody Loves Me poster
8.8

Backstage musical biography of nightclub star Blossom Seeley that charts her rocky relationship with vaudeville singer Benny Fields.

Somebody Loves Me

1952

The Joker is Wild poster
8.1

A Prohibition-era nightclub crooner has his career is cut short when his throat is slashed by a mob boss.

The Joker is Wild

1957

The Lemon Drop Kid poster
6.5

When the Lemon Drop Kid accidentally cheats gangster Moose Moran out of his track winnings, the Kid promises to repay Moose the money by Christmas. Creating a fake charity for "Apple Annie" Nellie Thursday, the Kid tricks his gang into donning Santa suits and "collecting dough for old dolls" like Nellie who have nowhere to live.

The Lemon Drop Kid

1951

Ratboy poster
3.9

A failed window dresser exploits a being with rat-like features in an effort to make money.

Ratboy

1986

Just Across the Street poster
4.5

A plumber's secretary poses as the daughter of a prominent society couple.

Just Across the Street

1952

Journey Into Light poster
6.5

John Burrows, an ordained minister from a small village in the East, envisions himself with a larger congregation. He is mortified when his wife drunkenly interrupts a sermon, then despondent after her suicide. Burrows travels to Los Angeles for a fresh start, but takes to the bottle himself and ends up arrested for public intoxication. A skid-row con man, Gandy, finds him a bed at a flop house, while a street preacher, Doc Thorssen, and daughter Christine take him to a local mission. Christine is blind. She falls in love with Burrows, enjoying his discussions of the spirit and the soul but knowing little of his past. One day she is struck by a streetcar and knocked unconscious, causing Burrows to once again question his faith. He ultimately accepts the Lord's will and is offered a better place to live and preach. Burrows decides he is better suited to the mission, with Christine by his side.

Journey Into Light

1951

The Mating Season poster
6.6

Ellen McNulty leaves her New Jersey hamburger stand and heads west to pay a surprise visit to her son and his new bride. When Ellen arrives, her daughter-in-law mistakes her for the maid she has hired for a big party they are throwing. Rather than cause any embarrassment, Ellen goes along with the charade, which leads to many complications.

The Mating Season

1951

Rhubarb poster
5.8

Rich, eccentric T.J. Banner adopts a feral cat who becomes an affectionate pet he names Rhubarb. Then T.J. dies, leaving to Rhubarb most of his money and a pro baseball team, the Brooklyn Loons. When the team protests, publicist Eric Yeager convinces them Rhubarb is good luck. But Eric's fiancée Polly seems to be allergic to cats, and the team's success may mean new hazards for Rhubarb.

Rhubarb

1951