Bill Williams (actor)

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Bill Williams

in Deadline at Dawn
Born Herman August Wilhelm Katt
May 21, 1915(1915-05-21)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died September 21, 1992(1992-09-21) (aged 77)
Burbank, California, U.S.
Other names Bill MacWilliams
Occupation Actor
Years active 1933–1981
Spouse Barbara Hale (1946–1992) (his death) 3 children

Bill Williams (May 21, 1915 – September 21, 1992) was an American television and film actor. He is best known for his starring role in the early 1950 television show The Adventures of Kit Carson.

Contents

[edit] Career

Williams was born as Herman August Wilhelm Katt in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were German immigrants. He grew up in New York City, calling himself William H. Katt. Tall, handsome, and a natural athlete, Williams became a professional swimmer, performing in underwater shows. He enlisted in the United States Army during World War II, but was discharged before the war's end and became an actor. He made his debut in The Blue Room in 1944, using the professional name Bill Williams.

Williams had appeared in ten films before he landed the lead role in The Adventures of Kit Carson. The show ran for 104 episodes between 1951 and 1955. In 1957, he co-starred with Betty White in television's Date with the Angels. Williams played Federal agent Martin Flaharty in The Scarface Mob (1959), the pilot for The Untouchables. In the series, however, the role went to Jerry Paris. Williams turned down the lead in 1958's Sea Hunt, thinking an underwater show would not work well on television. Lloyd Bridges accepted the part and turned it into a hit. Williams then starred as a former Navy frogman in Assignment: Underwater, which ran for just one season. He played a variety of roles on the Perry Mason show, in which his wife co-starred with Raymond Burr. He also made guest appearances on television and worked in low budget science fiction films until his retirement in the early 1980s.[1]

[edit] Personal life

Williams married actress Barbara Hale in 1946. They had met during the filming of West of the Pecos and would have two daughters (Jodi and Juanita) and a son, actor William Katt.[2]

Bill Williams died of a brain tumor at age 77 in 1992. He is interred in an unmarked grave at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery.[3]

For his contribution to the television industry, Bill Williams has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is at 6161 Hollywood Blvd.

[edit] Acting roles

[edit] Star of his own television series

[edit] Multiple appearances on a television series

Well of Anger (1955)
Angels in the Sky (1956)
The Hastings Secret (1955) Bill Twining
Project 44 (1956) Dr. Arnold Bryan
The Mind Machine (1956) Dr. Alan Cathcart
Jupitron (1956) Dr. John Barlow
Killer Tree (1957) Paul Cameron
Texas John Slaughter:
The Man From Bitter Creek (1959) Paul
The Slaughter Trail (1959) Paul
Gallagher Goes West
Tragedy on the Trail (1967) Joe Carlson
Trial by Terror (1967) Joe Carlson
Chester, Yesterday’s Horse (1973) Ben Kincaid
The Flight of the Grey Wolf, Parts 1 and 2 (1976) The Sheriff
The Kathy Munson Story (1956) Donald Abbott
Millionaire Martha Halloran (1959) Clint Halloran
The Untouchables, Parts 1 and 2 (1959) Martin Flaherty
The Case of the Crippled Cougar (1962) Mike Preston
The Case of the Bluffing Blast (1963) Floyd Grant
The Case of the Murderous Mermaid (1965) Charles Shaw
The Case of the 12th Wildcat (1965) Burt Payne
Fine Finny Fiends (1966)
Multimillionaire-Batman Makes the Scenes (1966)
Climb the Mountain Slowly (1964) Vince
Lassie and the Buffalo (1966) Jed Bingham
The Runaways (1968) David Warren
The Lost Man (1974) Crawford
Nightmare Trip (1972) Lt. Dacker
The Rolling Y (1975) Sheriff Callahan
Pick-Up (1971) William Taylor (his wife, Barbara Hale, also appeared in the episode)
Routine Patrol: The Drugstore Cowboys (1974) Fred Wheeler
Three Hours to Kill (1973) Captain Fin Whitfield
Get Ryker (1973) Captain Fin Whitfield
Something Less Than a Man (1974) Captain Johnson
The End Game (1974) Lt. Graumann
Sarah Who? (1976) Captain

[edit] Miscellaneous television appearances

[edit] Theatrical film

  • King Kong (1933)
  • Murder in the Blue Room (1944) Larry Dearden
  • He Forgot to Remember to Forget (1944) Mac, the Policeman
  • Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) Bud Felton
  • Zombies on Broadway (1945) Sailor/Smuggler
  • Those Endearing Young Charms (1945) Jerry
  • The Body Snatcher (1945) Survis, medical student
  • Back to Bataan (1945)
  • West of the Pecos (1945) Tex Evans, stage guard
  • Johnny Angel (1945) Big Sailor
  • Sing Your Way Home (1945) Officer
  • Deadline at Dawn (1946) Alex Winkley
  • Till the End of Time (1946) Perry Kincheloe
  • A Likely Story (1947) Bill Baker
  • A Woman's Secret (1949) Lee Crenshaw
  • The Stratton Story (1949) Eddie Dibson
  • The Clay Pigeon (1949) Jim Fletcher
  • Fighting Man of the Plains (1949) Marshal Johnny Tancred
  • A Dangerous Profession (1949) Claude Brackett
  • Blue Grass of Kentucky (1950) Lin McIvor
  • Operation Haylift (1950) Bill Masters
  • The Cariboo Trail (1950) Mike Evans, Redfern's Partner
  • Rookie Fireman (1950) Joe Blake
  • California Passage (1950) Bob Martin
  • Blue Blood (1951) Bill Manning
  • The Great Missouri Raid (1951) Jim Younger
  • The Last Outpost (1951) Sgt. Tucker
  • Havana Rose (1951) Tex Thompson
  • Rose of Cimmaron (1952) George Newcomb
  • The Pace That Thrills (1952) Richard L. 'Dusty' Weston
  • Son of Paleface (1952) Kirk
  • Torpedo Alley (1952) Lt. Tom Graham
  • Racing Blood (1954) Tex
  • Outlaw’s Daughter (1954) Jess Raidley aka Big Red
  • Hell's Horizon (1955) Paul Jenkins
  • Apache Ambush (1955) James Kingston
  • Wiretapper (1955) Jim Vaus Jr.
  • The Wild Dakotas (1956) Jim Henry
  • The Broken Star (1956) Deputy Marshal Bill Gentry
  • The Halliday Brand (1957) Clay Halliday
  • The Storm Rider (1957) Sheriff Pete Colton
  • Pawnee (1957) Matt Delaney
  • Slim Carter (1957) Frank Hanneman
  • Space Master X-7 (1958) John Hand
  • Legion of the Doomed (1958) Lt. Smith
  • Alaska Passage (1959) Al Graham
  • A Dog’s Best Friend (1959) Wesley 'Wes' Thurman
  • Oklahoma Territory (1960) Temple Houston
  • Hell to Eternity (1960) Leonard
  • The Sergeant Was a Lady (1961) Col. House
  • Tickle Me (1965) Deputy Sturdivant
  • A Letter to Nancy (1965) George Reed
  • The Hallelujah Trail (1965) |Lt. Brady
  • Space Flight IC-1: An Adventure in Space (1965) Capt. Mead Ralston
  • Buckskin (1968) Frank Cody
  • Lady Godiva Rides (1969)
  • Rio Lobo (1970) Blackthorne Sheriff Pat Cronin
  • Scandalous John (1971) Sheriff Hart
  • The Phantom of Hollywood (1974) Fogel
  • The Giant Spider Invasion (1975) Dutch
  • Moon Over the Alley (1976) Sherry
  • 69 Minutes (1977)
  • A Fire in the Sky (1978) Dale Turner
  • Night of the Zombies (1981)
  • Goldie and the Boxer Go To Hollywood (1981) Cowboy Bob

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.nndb.com/people/068/000108741/
  2. ^ http://www.nndb.com/people/068/000108741/
  3. ^ "Bill Williams, 77, Actor Who Played Kit Carson on TV". The New York Times. 1992-09-25. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/25/obituaries/bill-williams-77-actor-who-played-kit-carson-on-tv.html. Retrieved 2009-07-23. 

[edit] External links

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