Old Bill (cartoon character)

Old Bill
Old Bill
First appearance	1914–1915
Created by	Bruce Bairnsfather
Comic strip	Fragments from France

Old Bill is a fictional character created in 1914–15 by cartoonist Bruce Bairnsfather. Old Bill was depicted as an elderly, pipe-smoking British "tommy" with a walrus moustache. The character achieved a great deal of popularity during World War I where it was considered a major morale booster for the British troops. Old Bill and his younger troopmate little Alphie were private infantrymen in the British Expeditionary Force.

Many claims have been put forth as being the model for "Old Bill" but the most likely appears to be Thomas Henry Rafferty, a lance corporal from Birmingham in Bairnsfather's regiment, the Royal Warwickshires, who was killed in the same action that invalided Bairnsfather in April 1915. Rafferty was featured in the Weekly Dispatch in 1917, referred to as "Old Bill," along with a photograph taken by Bairnsfather.

In 1917, a successful musical based on the character, The Better 'Ole, opened in London at the Oxford Music Hall, where it ran for over 800 performances, starring Arthur Bourchier as Old Bill. It later also ran successfully on Broadway, where Charles Coburn starred as Old Bill. The success of the piece led to a West End sequel, Old Bill, M.P., which opened at the Lyceum Theatre, London on 12 July 1922. Old Bill was played by Edmund Gwenn, and Bairnsfather appeared as himself. Unlike The Better 'Ole, the later piece was not a musical. It ran until 11 November 1922.

Two film adaptations of The Better 'Ole were made during the silent era. The first, a 1919 British version, starred Charles Rock as Bill. The second version was a 1926 Warner Bros. production. This film—the second feature to use the Vitaphone sound process—starred Syd Chaplin as Old Bill.

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