This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2009) |
Bill Williams | |
---|---|
![]() Williams in The Pace That Thrills (1952) | |
Born | Herman August Wilhelm Katt May 15, 1915 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
Died | September 21, 1992 77) Burbank, California, U.S. | (aged
Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, California, U.S. |
Other names | Bill MacWilliams |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1933–1981 |
Spouse | |
Children | 3, including William Katt |
William Herman Katt (born Herman August Wilhelm Katt; [1] May 15, 1915 – September 21, 1992), known as Bill Williams, was an American television and film actor. He is best known for his starring role in the early television series The Adventures of Kit Carson , which aired in syndication from 1951 to 1955.
Williams was born in Brooklyn, New York [1] to German immigrant parents. He attended the Pratt Institute, and became a professional swimmer, performing in underwater shows. He landed a walk-on role as a theater usher in King Kong (1933). He enlisted in the United States Army during World War II, but was discharged before the end and became an actor. His credited debut was in Murder in the Blue Room in 1944, using the professional name Bill Williams. His first starring role was opposite Susan Hayward in Deadline at Dawn (1946).
Williams appeared in ten films before he landed the lead role in television's The Adventures of Kit Carson, which ran for 105 episodes. When the series ended, Williams' star power faded. It was revived in 1957 when he co-starred with Betty White on television in Date with the Angels . Williams portrayed Federal agent Martin Flaherty in The Scarface Mob (1959), the pilot for ABC's The Untouchables . However, when the series was accepted, the role went to Jerry Paris. Williams turned down the lead in Sea Hunt in 1958, believing that an underwater show would not work on television. Lloyd Bridges accepted the part and turned it into a hit. Williams did star as a former Navy frogman in Assignment: Underwater , which ran for just one season. He played a variety of roles on Perry Mason , in which his wife Barbara Hale co-starred as Raymond Burr's secretary Della Street. In a 1962 episode, "The Case of the Crippled Cougar," he played defendant Mike Preston. In 1963, he was murder victim Floyd Grant in "The Case of the Bluffing Blast." In 1965 Williams played murderer Charles Shaw in "The Case of the Murderous Mermaid," and was murderer Burt Payne in "The Case of the 12th Wildcat". Williams appeared with his son in a final season episode of Ironside , bringing him together again with Raymond Burr. He also made numerous guest appearances on television and worked in low-budget science fiction films until his retirement.
Williams married actress Barbara Hale on June 22, 1946. [2] They met during the filming of West of the Pecos and had two daughters, Jodi and Juanita, and a son, actor William Katt.
Bill Williams died of a brain tumor at age 77 in 1992 [3] and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills). [4]
For his contributions to television, Bill Williams has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is at 6161 Hollywood Blvd.
Lawrence Neville Brand was an American soldier and actor. He was known for playing villainous or antagonistic character roles in Westerns, crime dramas, and films noir, and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for his performance in Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954).
Denver Dell Pyle was an American film and television actor and director. He was well known for a number of TV roles from the 1960s through the 1980s, including his portrayal of Briscoe Darling Jr. in several episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, as Jesse Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard from 1979 to 1985, as Mad Jack in the NBC television series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, and as the titular character's father, Buck Webb, in CBS's The Doris Day Show. In many of his roles, he portrayed either authority figures, or gruff, demanding father figures, often as comic relief. Perhaps his most memorable film role was that of Texas Ranger Frank Hamer in the movie Bonnie and Clyde (1967), as the lawman who relentlessly chased down and finally killed the notorious duo in an ambush.
Whitner Nutting Bissell was an American character actor.
Roy Roberts was an American character actor. Over his more than 40-year career, he appeared in more than nine hundred productions on stage and screen.
Trevor Bardette was an American film and television actor. Among many other roles in his long and prolific career, Bardette appeared in several episodes of Adventures of Superman and as Newman Haynes Clanton, or Old Man Clanton, in 21 episodes of the ABC/Desilu western series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.
Don Haggerty was an American actor of film and television.
John Arthur Doucette was an American character actor who performed in more than 280 film and television productions between 1941 and 1987. A man of stocky build who possessed a deep, rich voice, he proved equally adept at portraying characters in Shakespearean plays, Westerns, and modern crime dramas. He is perhaps best remembered, however, for his villainous roles as a movie and television "tough guy".
Dan White was an American actor, well known for appearing in Western films and TV shows.
Robert Joseph Wilke was an American film and television actor noted primarily for his roles as villains, mostly in Westerns.
John M. Pickard was an American actor who appeared primarily in television westerns.
Phillip Pine was an American film and television actor, writer, film director, and producer. Despite incorrect biographical information repeated on many entertainment sites, he was not related to Robert Pine or Chris Pine.
Myron Daniel Healey was an American actor. He began his career in Hollywood, California during the early 1940s and eventually made hundreds of appearances in movies and on television during a career spanning more than half a century.
Douglas Richards Kennedy was an American supporting actor originally from New York City who appeared in more than 190 films between 1935 and 1973.
Hugh Howard Sanders was an American actor, probably best known for playing the role of Dr. Reynolds in the movie To Kill a Mockingbird.
Walter Sande was an American character actor, known for numerous supporting film and television roles.
Larry Taylor was an English actor and stuntman. He spent a dozen years in the army before World War II. After demobilization he got a job in the film industry. He was the father of Rocky Taylor. Taylor mainly played villainous supporting roles in dozens of UK films and television episodes from the 1950s until the early 1970s, when he moved to South Africa in the mid-1970s, and from then on he appeared in a mixture of international movies filmed there and domestic South African films and television episodes.
James Harlee Bell was an American film and stage actor who appeared in about 150 films and television shows through 1964.
Francis M. Gerstle was an American character actor who appeared in supporting roles in numerous films, radio programs and TV shows following World War II.
Robert Samuel Carson was an American actor noted for dozens of supporting roles in films and television series during a career that spanned three and a half decades. He was also occasionally billed as Bob Carson or Robert S. Carson.
Robert C. Foulk was an American television and film character actor who portrayed Sheriff H. Miller in the CBS series Lassie from 1958 to 1962.