Victor Buono

Victor Buono died of a heart attack at his ranch in Apple Valley, California. Though this concept was largely discarded, the end of the title track includes a lyric referring to the "one and only Billy Shears," played by Ringo Starr, who sings the lead vocal on the next song, "With A Little Help From My Friends.". "The more you study him," he said, "the greater he grows.". Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band that the Beatles were originally planning to "play" on the album. Buono liked to read and write, and one of his main hobbies was Shakespeare. Pepper, "Billy Shears" is the name of the lead singer for the fictional Sgt. Taft. Also on Sgt.

In the TV miniseries Backstairs at the White House (1979) he portrayed President Taft and delivered a poignant tribute to the late Mrs. Most Canadians would recognize this at first glance. He could also play straight roles. The badge does not contain the lettering "OPD" but rather "OPP". His later roles were more of pompous intellectuals and shady con men. The badge on Paul's arm in the Sgt Pepper's album is that of the Ontario Provincial Police. He was in demand to play villains of various nationalities and ethnic origins on many programs between 1964 and 1970. The letters "OPD," appearing on a costume in a photograph on the Sgt Pepper album were interpreted variously as standing for "Officially Pronounced Dead" and an indication that Billy Campbell had worked in the Ontario Police Department.

Buono had a vast body of work in movies, and among his extensive TV appearances were the recurring roles of the demented Count Manzeppi on the popular (CBS) series The Wild Wild West starring Robert Conrad and Ross Martin, which ran from 1965 to 1969, and King Tut on the (ABC) series Batman with Adam West and Burt Ward, which ran from 1966 to 1968. Beatles fans scoured the Beatles' albums for hidden "clues" confirming this, and, demonstrating the human capacity to find meaning where no meaning exists, located dozens of "confirming" nuggets of information. These morsels were concocted together into one more-or-less cohesive tale: that the real Paul, killed by a banana lorry, had been replaced by an actor named either William Campbell or Billy Shears, who had undergone plastic surgery in order to effect a perfect likeness, and who had previously won a Paul McCartney look-alike contest. He also appeared in such movies as 4 for Texas (1963), Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964), The Silencers (1966), Who's Minding the Mint? (1967), Target: Harry (1969) and Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970). In October 1969, Russ Gibbs, program coordinator for radio station WKNR-FM in Detroit, began a baseless rumor that Paul McCartney had been killed and replaced by a look-alike. Buono played the role of the High Priest Sorak in this story about Jesus. In fact such contests were held, but no William Campbell ever won one. And he appeared in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) starring Max von Sydow, Michael Anderson, Jr. and Carroll Baker, which was produced and directed by George Stevens. According to this urban legend, a William Campbell won a "Paul look-alike" contest in 1966 and was induced to impersonate Paul after Paul died.

He appeared in Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) playing Big Sam Hollis, the father of Bette Davis, who had the title role, which was also directed by Aldrich. William Shears Campbell is a fictional Paul McCartney look-alike whose purported existence arose from the fevered efforts of conspiracy theorists to find significance in album photos and hidden musical messages during the Paul is Dead hoax in the late 1960s. Victor Buono was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. He played the part of the ne'er-do-well musical accompanist, Edwin Flagg. After appearing in a few motion pictures uncredited, he was cast by director Robert Aldrich in the psychological horror movie What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) with screen luminaries Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

Because of his overweight stature, Buono usually played older characters. He also appeared on The Untouchables. Over the next few years he appeared on numerous shows playing menacing heavies in just about every Grade "A" private eye series. He made his first network TV appearance playing the bearded poet Bongo Benny in an episode of 77 Sunset Strip.

saw the heavyset Buono play Falstaff at the Globe and took him up to Hollywood for a screen test. In the summer of 1959, a talent scout from Warner Bros. He received good notices for his various Shakespearean roles and in modern plays such as The Man Who Came To Dinner and Witness For The Prosecution. The director had confidence in Buono and cast him in Volpone, Midsummer Night's Dream and other Globe presentations.

He started appearing on local radio and television stations, and at the age of eighteen he joined the Globe Theater Players in San Diego. He soon forgot about having a medical career. He even played the title role of Hamlet. Buono appeared in three plays a year while attending high school, which included Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp and Shakespearean dramas.

Augustine High School in San Diego cast him as Papa Barrett in the play The Barretts of Wimpole Street. When he was sixteen, Father John Aherne of the St. Even though the young Buono enjoyed the polite applause of those captive audiences, he thought he wanted to be a doctor. When he was a little boy, she taught him songs and recitations and encouraged him to perform for visitors.

His maternal grandmother, Myrtle Glied (April 18, 1886-December 9, 1969), had been a Vaudeville performer on the Orpheum Circuit. He was born Victor Charles Buono in San Diego, California, a son of Victor Francis Buono (May 28, 1907-May 17, 1981) and Myrtle Belle Keller (October 19, 1909 -August 27, 1979). Victor Buono (February 3, 1938 - January 1, 1982) was an American actor. The 1966 Batman TV Villains - Victor Buono (http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/7537/tut.htm).