Grant Williams
Encyclopedia
Grant Williams was an American
film actor
and opera
tic tenor
. He is best remembered for his portrayal of Scott Carey in the seminal science fiction film The Incredible Shrinking Man
(1957), which has since become a cult classic.
to a Scottish father and an Irish mother, Williams began acting in summer stock
as a child. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, serving from 1948 to 1952, before and during the Korean War
. He was discharged as an Air Force staff sergeant. He then attended Queens College, in Flushing, Queens
, New York
, the University of Illinois
, Illinois
, and finally the City College of New York
in New York City
.
. In 1959, he portrayed The Tennore Buffo in the world premiere of Hugo Weisgall
's Six Characters in Search of an Author
. Williams also sang with The Robert Shaw Chorale
and played piano professionally. He then became interested in acting and enrolled at the Actors Studio
in New York City
under Lee Strasberg
. Following several small roles on Broadway and television, he was spotted by a talent scout on Kraft Television Theater in 1954, and signed with Universal Pictures
two years later. He made his film debut in Red Sundown the same year.
In 1957, in his most memorable role, Williams starred as Scott Carey in his seventh film, The Incredible Shrinking Man
, with Randy Stuart
playing his wife, Louise. Despite good reviews and the success of the film, his career continued with only lackluster roles. Universal Pictures
dropped his contract in 1959, and he signed in 1960 with Warner Brothers, where he had a continuing role as the private detective Greg McKenzie in the ABC
television series Hawaiian Eye
, co-starring Robert Conrad
, Anthony Eisley
, and Connie Stevens
. Several film and television roles followed, including the role of the psychopathic killer in Robert Bloch
's The Couch but fame still eluded him.
As his acting career declined, he opened a dramatics school in Hollywood. He also was the author of several books on acting. Williams continued to act occasionally in movies and television. His last released film appearance was in Doomsday Machine (1972 film) but being actually shot in 1969, it made Brain of Blood
(1972) his very last acting job for the screen.
at the age of 53, after being treated for blood poisoning at the Veteran's Administration Hospital
in Los Angeles
. He was buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery
in section 218, space 83. Williams had never married and was survived by a brother. He was a cousin of Scottish opera
singer Mary Garden
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
. He is best remembered for his portrayal of Scott Carey in the seminal science fiction film The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Incredible Shrinking Man is a 1957 science fiction film directed by Jack Arnold and adapted for the screen by Richard Matheson from his novel The Shrinking Man ....
(1957), which has since become a cult classic.
Early life
Born John Joseph Williams in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to a Scottish father and an Irish mother, Williams began acting in summer stock
Summer Stock
For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
as a child. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, serving from 1948 to 1952, before and during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. He was discharged as an Air Force staff sergeant. He then attended Queens College, in Flushing, Queens
Flushing, Queens
Flushing, founded in 1645, is a neighborhood in the north central part of the City of New York borough of Queens, east of Manhattan.Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, the University of Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, and finally the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Career
Williams originally was a singer and performed for five seasons with the New York City OperaNew York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
. In 1959, he portrayed The Tennore Buffo in the world premiere of Hugo Weisgall
Hugo Weisgall
Hugo David Weisgall was an American composer and conductor, known chiefly for his opera and vocal music compositions...
's Six Characters in Search of an Author
Six Characters in Search of an Author (opera)
Six Characters in Search of an Author is an opera in three acts by composer Hugo Weisgall. The work uses an English libretto by Denis Johnston that is based on the play of the same name by Luigi Pirandello. The opera was commissioned by the New York City Opera under the leadership Julius Rudel...
. Williams also sang with The Robert Shaw Chorale
Robert Shaw (conductor)
Robert Shaw was an American conductor most famous for his work with his namesake Chorale, with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Shaw received 14 Grammy awards, four ASCAP awards for service to contemporary music, the first Guggenheim Fellowship...
and played piano professionally. He then became interested in acting and enrolled at the Actors Studio
Actors Studio
The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow who provided...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
under Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
. Following several small roles on Broadway and television, he was spotted by a talent scout on Kraft Television Theater in 1954, and signed with Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
two years later. He made his film debut in Red Sundown the same year.
In 1957, in his most memorable role, Williams starred as Scott Carey in his seventh film, The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Incredible Shrinking Man is a 1957 science fiction film directed by Jack Arnold and adapted for the screen by Richard Matheson from his novel The Shrinking Man ....
, with Randy Stuart
Randy Stuart
Randy Stuart, born as Elizabeth Shaubell , was an American actress whose longest running role was as Louise Baker, the wife of the Cold War spy in the 26-episode adventure television series, Biff Baker, U.S.A., which aired on CBS, with Alan Hale, Jr., as the title character...
playing his wife, Louise. Despite good reviews and the success of the film, his career continued with only lackluster roles. Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
dropped his contract in 1959, and he signed in 1960 with Warner Brothers, where he had a continuing role as the private detective Greg McKenzie in the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television series Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye is an American television series that ran from October 1959 to September 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company television network.-Premise:...
, co-starring Robert Conrad
Robert Conrad
Robert Conrad is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the 1965 CBS television series The Wild Wild West, in which he played the sophisticated Secret Service agent James T. West, and his portrayal of World War II ace Pappy Boyington in the television series Baa Baa Black Sheep...
, Anthony Eisley
Anthony Eisley
Anthony Eisley was born Frederick Glendinning Eisley in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whose father was a general sales manager for a large corporation. Father of Amanda Eisley, Jonathan Eisley, Nan R...
, and Connie Stevens
Connie Stevens
Connie Stevens is an American actress and singer, best known for her roles in the television series Hawaiian Eye and other TV and film work.-Early life:...
. Several film and television roles followed, including the role of the psychopathic killer in Robert Bloch
Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
's The Couch but fame still eluded him.
As his acting career declined, he opened a dramatics school in Hollywood. He also was the author of several books on acting. Williams continued to act occasionally in movies and television. His last released film appearance was in Doomsday Machine (1972 film) but being actually shot in 1969, it made Brain of Blood
Brain of Blood
Brain of Blood , also known as The Creature's Revenge, The Oozing Skull, and The Undying Brain, is an American horror film directed by Al Adamson and starring Grant Williams, Kent Taylor, and Reed Hadley. The film was shot in one go and is the only of Hemisphere Productio's films to be filmed in...
(1972) his very last acting job for the screen.
Personal life
Grant Williams died on July 25, 1985 of peritonitisPeritonitis
Peritonitis is an inflammation of the peritoneum, the serous membrane that lines part of the abdominal cavity and viscera. Peritonitis may be localised or generalised, and may result from infection or from a non-infectious process.-Abdominal pain and tenderness:The main manifestations of...
at the age of 53, after being treated for blood poisoning at the Veteran's Administration Hospital
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the United States government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. He was buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery
Los Angeles National Cemetery
The Los Angeles National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in West Los Angeles, at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard. The cemetery was dedicated in 1889. Interred there are war veterans, from the Spanish-American war, World War I, World War II, Korean War,...
in section 218, space 83. Williams had never married and was survived by a brother. He was a cousin of Scottish opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer Mary Garden
Mary Garden
Mary Garden , was a Scottish operatic soprano with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century...
.
Filmography
- Red Sundown (1956)
- Away All BoatsAway All BoatsAway All Boats is a 1956 American war film produced by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Joseph Pevney and produced by Howard Christie from a screenplay by Ted Sherdeman based on the 1953 novel by Kenneth M. Dodson....
(1956) (uncredited) - Outside the Law (1956)
- Showdown at Abiline (1956)
- Written on the WindWritten on the WindWritten on the Wind is a 1956 American drama film directed by Douglas Sirk. It stars Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone....
(1956) - Four Girls in Town (1957)
- The Incredible Shrinking ManThe Incredible Shrinking ManThe Incredible Shrinking Man is a 1957 science fiction film directed by Jack Arnold and adapted for the screen by Richard Matheson from his novel The Shrinking Man ....
(1957) - The Monolith MonstersThe Monolith MonstersThe Monolith Monsters is a science fiction film directed by John Sherwood and starring Grant Williams and Lola Albright. It is based on a story by Jack Arnold and Robert M...
(1957) - The Lone Texan (1959)
- 13 Fighting Men (1960)
- The Leech WomanThe Leech Woman-Plot:A mysterious old woman approaches Dr. Paul Talbot and promises to reveal to him the secret of eternal youth. Following her to Africa, he and his wife June Talbot witness the secret ceremony that utilizes orchid pollen and a victim's pineal gland secretions...
(1960) - Susan SladeSusan SladeSusan Slade is a 1961 American drama film released by Warner Bros. The film was directed by Delmer Daves and stars Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Dorothy McGuire, Lloyd Nolan, Bert Convy and Grant Williams...
(1961) - The Couch (1962) (screenplay by Robert BlochRobert BlochRobert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
) - PT 109PT 109 (film)PT 109 is a 1963 biographical film which depicts the actions of John F. Kennedy in command of Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 as an officer of the United States Navy during World War II. The movie was adapted by Vincent Flaherty and Howard Sheehan from the book PT 109: John F. Kennedy in World War II by...
(1963) - How's Your Love Life? (1971)
- Brain of BloodBrain of BloodBrain of Blood , also known as The Creature's Revenge, The Oozing Skull, and The Undying Brain, is an American horror film directed by Al Adamson and starring Grant Williams, Kent Taylor, and Reed Hadley. The film was shot in one go and is the only of Hemisphere Productio's films to be filmed in...
(1972) - Doomsday MachineDoomsday MachineDoomsday Machine may refer to:* Doomsday device, a hypothetical weapon which could destroy all life on the Earth* The Doomsday Machine, a 1972 science-fiction film* "The Doomsday Machine" , an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series...
(shot in 1969, completed and released in 1972)