Van Williams

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Van Zandt Jarvis Williams (born February 27, 1934 in Fort Worth , Texas , † November 28, 2016 in Scottsdale , Arizona ) was an American actor .

Life

Williams grew up on a ranch in Texas and studied ranching at Texas Christian University . He then moved to Hawaii , where he worked as a diving instructor . His clients also included the film producer Mike Todd and his then wife Elizabeth Taylor ; Todd recognized his talent and recommended him to pursue a career as an actor. Williams moved to Hollywood and took acting classes. After minor theater roles, including engagements on Broadway , he finally got a contract with the television division of Warner Bros. , and from 1959 played one of the leading roles in the detective series New Orleans, Bourbon Street . Although this was discontinued after the first season, his role as Ken Medison was taken over in the spin-off Surfside 6 . By means of plot overlaps , he also appeared in the same role in several episodes of the series 77 Sunset Strip, also produced by Warner . After four seasons, Surfside 6 was discontinued, whereupon Williams took on one of the leading roles in the sitcom The Tycoon alongside Walter Brennan , which was discontinued after the first season. After his contract with Warner expired, he moved to 20th Century Fox . He played his most famous role as The Green Hornet on the side of Bruce Lee . Although the series was only produced for one season between 1966 and 1967, it stuck in the minds of American television audiences. In addition, three episodes of the series were cut into a feature film, which was also released in German cinemas under the title Bruce Lee - The Secret of the Green Hornet . During the same period he appeared in several episodes of Batman as the Green Hornet .

From the late 1960s, he was mainly seen in guest roles, including series such as Mannix , The Boss and Cobra, Take Over . In 1975 he got a final lead role in a series, but only 13 half-hour episodes were created from the adventure series Westwind . In the late 1970s he retired from show business. His last film appearance was in 1993 in a cameo role as the director of the Green Hornet television series in Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story . There was no cameo in the feature film adaptation The Green Hornet 2010 for health reasons.

Williams died of kidney failure in his hometown.

Filmography (selection)

Broadway

  • 1951-1952: Saint Joan
  • 1955-1957: No Time for Sergeants

Web links

Commons : Van Williams  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Williams, Van
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Williams, Van Zandt Jarvis (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Fort Worth , Texas
DATE OF DEATH November 28, 2016
Place of death Scottsdale , Arizona