Ronnie Williams

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ronnie Williams (Ronald Clive Williams) (29 March 1939 - 28 December 1997) was a Welsh actor and comedian.

Williams struggled with his choice of an acting career, making an isolated television appearance in The Wednesday Play in 1966. He worked as a bus conductor before finding fame with his appearances on Welsh language television, working as a continuity announcer and newsreader for BBC Wales. In 1970 he teamed up with Ryan Davies, and they enjoyed a successful comedy series, Ryan & Ronnie, first on BBC Wales and later, in English, on BBC1. Although Davies was seen as the more talented member of the duo, Williams made a major contribution to the writing of the series. The break-up of the partnership in 1975 was put down to Ronnie's ill-health (he was suffering from severe depression), but it was Davies who died suddenly in 1977. In the 1970s, Williams also owned the White Lion pub at Cerrigydrudion, Clwyd.

He continued to appear on Welsh-language TV and was one of the stars of the film, Twin Town (1997). He also starred in Crime Pays (Mae'n Talu Withe), a bilingual S4C film, directed by Christopher Monger. However, he suffered from alcoholism and eventually committed suicide.