Deadpan vaudeville days, Buster Keaton developed his deadpan expression. Keaton realized that audiences responded better to his stony expression than when he smiled, and he carried this style into his silent film career. The 1980 film "Airplane!" was performed almost entirely in deadpan. Many popular American sitcoms use deadpan expressions to deliver dry humor, including "Curb Your Enthusiasm", "Arrested Development", and "My Name Is Earl". More recent examples are Andre Braugher as Captain Raymond Holt from the TV show "Brooklyn Nine-Nine", Jennette McCurdy as Sam Puckett in "iCarly", and Louis C.K. in "Louie". Another example is the comedy of Steven Wright.
Billy West (silent film actor) Billy West (silent film actor) Billy West (September 22, 1892 – July 21, 1975) was a film actor, producer and director of the silent film era. He is best known as a Charlie Chaplin impersonator. Born Roy B. Weissburg (or "Weissberg") in the Russian Empire to a Jewish family, West emigrated to Chicago with his family aged two. He appeared in many short films, first in "Apartment No. 13" in 1912. In 1917 movie theaters could not get enough Charlie Chaplin comedies, and an enterprising producer hired West, who had been doing comic pantomimes on the vaudeville stage, to make