The son of singers in the Metropolitan Opera, Billy Gilbert began
performing in vaudeville at age 12. He developed a drawn-out, explosive
sneezing routine that became his trademark (he was the model for, and
voice of, Sneezy in Schneewittchen und die sieben Zwerge (1937)). Gilbert's exquisite comic timing made him
the perfect foil for such comedians as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and he was
especially memorable as the dim-witted process server Pettibone in
Sein Mädchen für besondere Fälle (1940).
