Billy Chapin

William McClellan Chapin (December 28, 1943 – December 2, 2016) was an American child actor, known for a considerable number of screen and TV performances from 1943 to 1959 and best remembered for both his roles as the "diaper manager" Christie Cooper in the 1953 family feature The Kid from Left Field and little John Harper in Charles Laughton's 1955 film noir movie The Night of the Hunter.

Chapin was the brother of former child actors Lauren Chapin, known as Kathy "Kitten" Anderson from the TV series Father Knows Best and of Michael Chapin, another child performer of the 1940s and 1950s. In her own biography, Chapin's sister Lauren describes Chapin as having had alcohol and drug problems in his twenties and thirties.: 91–92  Billy Chapin served in the United States Marines, achieved a college education and went into private industry. He married and had three children. In his later years, he was plagued by health problems.Chapin died December 2, 2016, after a long illness, twenty-six days away from his 73rd birthday. He died of lung cancer while suffering from dementia, having previously had a stroke.