Mills except the jail. Another said that the initial thrill of local people with the stars and the technicians and the vehicles wore off. They disliked the actors "parading around in outlandish costumes and makeup and introducing their large snorting automobiles to the quiet village", not leaving room for the horse and buggies. An article stated that because of this he was run out of town—moving to nearby Newport, New Hampshire. Long and varied stage career In the vaudeville days of his career, Van often performed with the Beaumont Sisters, Rose and Nellie. These were also then well-known vaudeville and variety show performers. For a while he had a company by the name of Billy B. Van and The Beaumont Sisters Co. In 1910 they appeared at the Manhattan Opera House in a variety show; other acts were the Five Juggling Jewels and Dunlap's Educated Horse. In one article it is stated Van had been married to Nellie. A list of the plays in which Van appeared is available in the International Broadway Database (IBDB). With some notations added, these are: 1903: "The Jersey Lily" (Van was in a burlesque scene with a star described as wearing some stunning frocks) 1905: "The Errand Boy" (he appeared with Rose Beaumont and a large force of chorus girls, The New York Times said) 1907: "Patsy in Politics" (a later article raises the question whether the term 'a patsy' came from this play) 1908: "Little Nemo" (Van was listed as the star; ran for 111 performances) 1917: "Have as Heart" (Van played the lead role of Henry; the book by P.G. Wodehouse, music by Jerome Kern. Van was criticized as having an instinct to vaudeville tendencies) 1918: The Rainbow Girl 1923: "Adrienne" 1925: "Artists and Models" (Van opened in this, and it ran some 416 performances) 1925: "Gay Paree" 1926 "Sunny Days" (Jeanette MacDonald was the star) 1928: "Sunny Days" (revival) In some of these Van was the star and in many he was quite popular. Indeed, at one point he was described as one of the most amusing men on the vaudeville stage. One of the most popular plays was "Have a Heart". He sang a song Napoleon, composed by Kern. The soundtrack of Billy V. Van and the Peerless Quartet, 1916, is available on CD collections today; it was a Columbia recording. In addition to acting and singing, Van played the