Billie Bird

Acting

Born February 28, 1908, 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)

Filmography

• George & Leo
• 1995Jury Duty — Rose
• 1993Dennis the Menace — Edith Butterwell
• 1990Home Alone — Woman in Airport
• 1990The End of Innocence — Mrs. Yabledablov
• 1989Police Academy 6: City Under Siege — Mrs. Stanwyck
• 1989That's Adequate — Lillian Darling
• Dear John — Margie Philbert
• 1988Ernest Saves Christmas — Mary Morrissey
• Murphy Brown
• The Wonder Years — Woman
• Max Headroom
• 1987Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol — Mrs. Feldman
• The Bronx Zoo
• The Charmings
• 1986Help Wanted: Kids — Bea
• 1986One Crazy Summer — Grandma
• 1986Ratboy — Psychic
• Starman
• Hunter — Marie Watson
• 1984Sixteen Candles — Dorothy Baker
• Who's the Boss? — Tessie
• Goodnight, Beantown
• 1983Max Dugan Returns — Older Woman
• Cheers — Lillian Miller
• It Takes Two — Mama
• Newhart — Ella Hayes
• Remington Steele — Anna Dix
• 1982Young Doctors in Love — The Hospital Staff - Flower Lady
• Benson — Rose Cassidy
• Knots Landing — Sheila
• The Facts of Life
• Apple's Way
• Happy Days
• 1972Stand Up and Be Counted — uncredited
• The Waltons — Mrs. Cox, Shirley
• 1970Getting Straight — Landlady
• Adam-12 — Winnie Goodrich
• 1968The Odd Couple — Chambermaid (uncredited)
• 1967Barefoot in the Park — Drunken Neighbor (uncredited)
• Ironside
• 1966Las Vegas Hillbillys
• 1966This Property Is Condemned — Party Guest (uncredited)
• The Young Marrieds — Mrs. Gubbins
• 1961The Cat Burglar — Mrs. Prattle
• 1960Too Soon to Love — Mrs. Jefferson
• 1959Blue Denim — Woman (uncredited)
• 1959Born to Be Loved — Drunk's Wife
• 1958Unwed Mother — Gertie
• 1957The Joker is Wild — Ticket Seller / Cashier (uncredited)
• Gunsmoke — Old Woman
• Letter to Loretta — Mrs. Shubb
• 1952Just Across the Street — Pearl
• 1952My Wife's Best Friend — Katie
• 1952Somebody Loves Me — Essie
• 1951Darling, How Could You! — Rosie
• 1951Journey Into Light — Gertie
• 1951Rhubarb — Mona Lizzie (uncredited)
• 1951The Lemon Drop Kid — Racetrack Bettor on Iron Bar (uncredited)
• 1951The Mating Season — Mugsy