Benny Petti(1892-1955)
- Actor
Benjamin J. Pitti (aka Binnie Petti and Benny Petti) was born on
September 4, 1892 in St. Louis Missouri and passed away on July 26,
1955 in Culver City, Californa. He married Ethel R. De Botto in 1915.
They had two sons, Carl Pitti (1916-2003), who became an actor and
stuntman, and Paul Pitti (1924-2012). Bennie Pitti started his show
business career circa 1910 with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, and
later performed with the Pawnee Bill show, Al G. Barnes Circus, and
others. He was a knife thrower, bronco rider, trick roper and bullwhip
expert, and his first film appearance was in the Tom Mix film "The
Cowboy Millionaire (Selig Polyscope, 1909). Bennie later became a
friend, business associate, and chauffeur to Will Rogers. In 1953, Ben
bought Will Rogers Jr.'s ranch in Baldwin Hills, California.
Subsequently, all three Pitti families moved there. Ben and son Carl
worked with Will Rogers Jr. on two feature films, "The Story of Will
Rogers" (Warners, 1952) and "The Boy From Oklahoma" (Warners, 1954). In
the early 1950s, Ben was with a traveling show, in threatres, that
starred Hopalong Cassidy sidekick Rand Brooks. He was seldom credited
and many of his film roles. at the present time, were in B-westerns and
Columbia short subjects (primarily The Three Stooges,as Moe Howard's
stunt double and henchman roles))and are shown, on site, under a
look-alike actor named Barney Beasley; some of those, pending
corrections, include "Fighting Through (1934)", "Blue Steel (1934),
"Blazing Frontier (1943)", 'Klondike Kate (144) and many others.
