Billy Gray (actor)

William Thomas Gray (born January 13, 1938)^[1] is an American actor, competitive motorcycle racer and inventor, known for his role as Bud on the television series Father Knows Best (1954–1960).^[2]

Gray began acting at five years old. He appeared with his mother in the 1949 horror comedy Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (in separated scenes).^[3] He acted in more than 200 movies. He acted with stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Doris Day, Bob Hope, William Holden, Michael Rennie, Judith Anderson, Pat O'Brien and Barbara Stanwyck.^[4] He did not attend school and was educated by teachers hired by the film studios, often having class in tents set up on studio lots.^[5] He portrayed a young Jim Thorpe in Jim Thorpe – All-American , and starred in the science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still . He also portrayed Tagg "Bull's Eye" Oakley, younger brother of Annie Oakley in the pilot episode of Annie Oakley .^[6]

From 1954 to 1960, Gray starred as son Bud Anderson in the television series Father Knows Best , for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He was cast as Plato in Rebel Without a Cause , but had to exit the role when a delay in shooting interfered with his commitment to Father Knows Best. He was arrested for marijuana possession in 1962 and served 45 days in jail.^[2] However, he did reprise his role of Bud Anderson in two Father Knows Best reunion films in 1977.

From 1970 to 1995, Gray was a Class A motorcycle speedway racer and race promoter.^{[2] [7]} He then turned to inventing and entrepreneurship, having invented the F-1 guitar pick. He is also a motorcycle collector and businessman.^[8]

Gray was born in Los Angeles, to William H. Gray (1899–1963) and Beatrice A. Gray (née-Kimbrough; 1911–2009). He lost his father when he was 25.

Gray was married to and divorced from Helena Kallianiotes (1967–1969) and Donna Wilkes (1977–1981).^{[citation needed ]} As of July 2020^[update] , Gray lives in Topanga, California, in the same house he bought in 1957 while working on Father Knows Best.^[9]

• Goldrup, Tom and Jim (2002). Growing Up on the Set: Interviews with 39 Former Child Actors of Film and Television. McFarland & Co. pp. 94–102. ISBN 1476613702.
• Holmstrom, John (1996). The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich: Michael Russell, pp. 206–207.

• Billy Gray at IMDb
• Billy Gray at Rotten Tomatoes

• Living people
• American male child actors
• 1938 births
• American male film actors
• American male television actors
• Businesspeople from Los Angeles
• Male actors from Los Angeles
• People from Topanga, California
• 20th-century American male actors

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