William Hill, known professionally as Billie Ritchie (5 September 1874 – 6 July 1921), was a Scottish comedian who first gained transatlantic fame as a performer for British music hall producer Fred Karno — a full decade before Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin took a similar career path.

[2] Variations on Ritchie's "tramp" and "drunk" personae – which Ritchie claimed he had developed before and during his Karno years – were introduced to film audiences by Charlie Chaplin in such shorts as the Lehrman-directed Kid Auto Races at Venice (7 February 1914) and Mabel's Strange Predicament (9 February 1914).

Ritchie, who, due to a series of on-set injuries, spent his final years relatively inactive, succumbed to stomach cancer in the summer of 1921.

[1]: 66–67  Winifred Frances, the comedian's widow and onetime stage partner, wound up in the employ of Charlie Chaplin as a wardrobe mistress, suggesting there was no animosity between the two performers.

[1]: 67–68  Wyn Ritchie, their daughter, was also a performer and, in private life, the wife (for 55 years) of songwriter Ray Evans.