William Smith (actor)
Encyclopedia
William Smith is an American
actor
who has appeared in almost 300 feature films and television productions.
Smith began his acting career at the age of 8 in 1942. The physically imposing 6'2" actor is a lifelong bodybuilder and has the distinction of being the final Marlboro Man
before the cigarette ads were discontinued on TV.
Smith won the 200 pound (91 kg) arm-wrestling championship of the world multiple times and also won the United States Air Force
weightlifting championship. Smith is a record holder for reverse-curling his own bodyweight. His trademark arms measured 18 and 1/2 inches. Smith held a 31-1 record as an amateur boxer
and studied martial arts
with kenpo
instructor Ed Parker
for several years. Smith also played semi-pro football in Germany
and competed in motocross
and downhill skiing events. He entered films stunt doubling for former screen Tarzan
Lex Barker
in a French
film.
Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts
from Syracuse
and a Master's degree
in Russian Studies from UCLA
. He taught Russian
at UCLA before abandoning his Ph.D.
studies for an MGM
contract. He also studied at the Sorbonne
in Paris
and the University of Munich while learning languages through the military. Smith is fluent in Russian
, Serbo-Croatian
, French
and German
. During the Korean War
he was a Russian Intercept Interrogator and flew secret ferret missions over Russia. He had both CIA
and NSA
clearance and intended to enter a classified position with the U.S. government, but his marriage to a French actress meant the loss of security clearance .
One of his earliest leading roles was as Joe Riley, a Texas Ranger
on the NBC
western
series Laredo
(1965–1967). Smith character was good-natured; co-star Peter Brown
's character was a ladies' man, and Neville Brand
portrayed a relentless bumbler. In 1967, Smith guest starred on Wayne Maunder
's short-lived ABC
military-western Custer
. Smith played Jude Bohner in a 1972 two-hour episode of CBS's Gunsmoke
as the "greatest bad-guy character actor
of our time".
Smith was added to the cast on the final season of Jack Lord
's long-running crime drama Hawaii Five-O
. He also starred in one episode of Kung Fu
, and as the Treybor, a ruthless warlord, in the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
episode "Buck's Duel to the Death". Smith has also made guest appearances in numerous TV shows including the 1974 pilot for The Rockford Files
, "Backlash of the Hunter", I Dream of Jeannie
, and two appearances - as different characters - in episodes of The A-Team
(the first season's "Pros and Cons", and season four's "The A-Team Is Coming, The A-Team Is Coming"). In the 1976 television mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man
, Smith portrayed Anthony Falconetti, nemesis to the Jordache family.
On film, Smith played Clint Eastwood
's bare-knuckle nemesis
Jack Wilson in Any Which Way You Can
, as a drag racing legend in 1979's "Fast Company", as the barbarian's father in Conan the Barbarian, bad guy Matt Diggs in The Frisco Kid
, as a Russian commander in Red Dawn
and a vindictive sergeant in Twilight's Last Gleaming
. For fans of John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee novels, Smith did a turn as chief heavy Terry Bartell in Darker Than Amber, opposite Rod Taylor and Theodore Bikel, in 1970. He also played Jed Clayton in Boss Nigger
(1975) a blaxploitation
film from the 70s which also starred Fred Williamson
, and was seen in in Francis Ford Coppola
's classic 1983 films The Outsiders
and Rumble Fish
as a store clerk and a police officer, respectively. But, his starring roles typically had titles such as Grave of the Vampire, Invasion of the Bee Girls
, and The Swinging Barmaids. Smith also played in several biker flicks including C.C. and Co., where he starred as the menacing "Moon", opposite football great Joe Namath
and Ann Margret. He also starred in Nam's Angels
, which is briefly seen on a television in a scene in Quentin Tarantino
's film Pulp Fiction
. Smith played Count Dracula in 'The Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula'.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
who has appeared in almost 300 feature films and television productions.
Smith began his acting career at the age of 8 in 1942. The physically imposing 6'2" actor is a lifelong bodybuilder and has the distinction of being the final Marlboro Man
Marlboro Man
The Marlboro Man is a figure used in tobacco advertising campaign for Marlboro cigarettes. In the United States, where the campaign originated, it was used from 1954 to 1999. The Marlboro Man was first conceived by Leo Burnett in 1954. The image involves a rugged cowboy or cowboys, in nature with...
before the cigarette ads were discontinued on TV.
Smith won the 200 pound (91 kg) arm-wrestling championship of the world multiple times and also won the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
weightlifting championship. Smith is a record holder for reverse-curling his own bodyweight. His trademark arms measured 18 and 1/2 inches. Smith held a 31-1 record as an amateur boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
and studied martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
with kenpo
Kenpo
is the name of several Japanese martial arts. The word kenpō is a Japanese translation of the Chinese word "quánfǎ. This term is often informally transliterated as "kempo", as a result of applying Traditional Hepburn romanization, but failing to use a macron to indicate the long vowel...
instructor Ed Parker
Ed Parker
Edmund Kealoha "Ed" Parker was an American martial artist, promoter, teacher, and author.-Life:Parker was born in Hawaii, and raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He began his training in the martial arts at a young age in judo and later boxing...
for several years. Smith also played semi-pro football in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and competed in motocross
Motocross
Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...
and downhill skiing events. He entered films stunt doubling for former screen Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
Lex Barker
Lex Barker
Lex Barker was an American actor best known for playing Tarzan of the Apes and leading characters from Karl May's novels.-Early life:...
in a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
film.
Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Syracuse
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
and a Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in Russian Studies from UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
. He taught Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
at UCLA before abandoning his Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
studies for an MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
contract. He also studied at the Sorbonne
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and the University of Munich while learning languages through the military. Smith is fluent in Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian language
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. 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 a Russian Intercept Interrogator and flew secret ferret missions over Russia. He had both CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
and NSA
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
clearance and intended to enter a classified position with the U.S. government, but his marriage to a French actress meant the loss of security clearance .
One of his earliest leading roles was as Joe Riley, a Texas Ranger
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series Laredo
Laredo (TV series)
Laredo is an NBC Western television series starring Neville Brand, William Smith, Peter Brown, and Philip Carey as Texas Rangers. The program premiered on September 16, 1965, and the final new episode was broadcast on April 7, 1967. The series was produced by Universal Television.-Synopsis:Laredo...
(1965–1967). Smith character was good-natured; co-star Peter Brown
Peter Brown (actor)
Peter Brown is an American television actor known for his role as Deputy Johnny McKay opposite John Russell in the 1958 Warner Bros. western series Lawman.-Early life:...
's character was a ladies' man, and Neville Brand
Neville Brand
Neville Brand was an American television and movie actor.-Early life:Neville Brand was born in Illinois. He was born to Leo and Helen Brand as one of seven children. Leo, was an electrician and bridge building steel worker in Detroit, where Neville was raised...
portrayed a relentless bumbler. In 1967, Smith guest starred on Wayne Maunder
Wayne Maunder
Wayne E. Maunder is a retired actor, originally from Canada, who starred in three American television series between 1967 and 1974.-Three television series:...
's short-lived 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...
military-western Custer
Custer (TV series)
Custer, also known as The Legend of Custer, is a 17-episode military-western television series which ran on ABC from September 6 to December 27, 1967, with Wayne Maunder in the starring role of then Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. During the American Civil War, Custer had risen to the...
. Smith played Jude Bohner in a 1972 two-hour episode of CBS's Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
as the "greatest bad-guy character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
of our time".
Smith was added to the cast on the final season of Jack Lord
Jack Lord
John Joseph Patrick Ryan , best known by his stage name Jack Lord, was an American television, film, and Broadway actor. He was known for his starring role as Steve McGarrett in the American television program Hawaii Five-O from 1968 to 1980. Lord appeared in feature films earlier in his career,...
's long-running crime drama Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
. He also starred in one episode of Kung Fu
Kung Fu (TV series)
Kung Fu is an American television series that starred David Carradine. It was created by Ed Spielman, directed and produced by Jerry Thorpe, and developed by Herman Miller, who was also a writer for, and co-producer of, the series...
, and as the Treybor, a ruthless warlord, in the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series)
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is an American science fiction adventure television series produced by Universal Studios. The series ran for two seasons between 1979–1981, and the feature-length pilot episode for the series was released as a theatrical film several months before the series aired....
episode "Buck's Duel to the Death". Smith has also made guest appearances in numerous TV shows including the 1974 pilot for The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...
, "Backlash of the Hunter", I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries...
, and two appearances - as different characters - in episodes of The A-Team
The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
(the first season's "Pros and Cons", and season four's "The A-Team Is Coming, The A-Team Is Coming"). In the 1976 television mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man
Rich Man, Poor Man
Rich Man, Poor Man is a novel written by Irwin Shaw in 1969. It is the last of the novels of Shaw's middle period before he began to concentrate, in his last works such as Evening In Byzantium, Nightwork, Bread Upon The Waters, and Acceptable Losses, on the inevitability of impending death...
, Smith portrayed Anthony Falconetti, nemesis to the Jordache family.
On film, Smith played Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
's bare-knuckle nemesis
Archenemy
An archenemy, archfoe, archvillain or archnemesis is the principal enemy of a character in a work of fiction, often described as the hero's worst enemy .- Etymology :The word archenemy or arch-enemy originated...
Jack Wilson in Any Which Way You Can
Any Which Way You Can
* Beers To You** Written by Steve Dorff , John Durrill , Sandy Pinkard and Snuff Garrett ** Sung by Ray Charles and Clint Eastwood* Any Which Way You Can...
, as a drag racing legend in 1979's "Fast Company", as the barbarian's father in Conan the Barbarian, bad guy Matt Diggs in The Frisco Kid
The Frisco Kid
The Frisco Kid is a 1979 movie directed by Robert Aldrich. The movie is a Western comedy featuring Gene Wilder as Avram Belinski, a Polish rabbi who is traveling to San Francisco, and Harrison Ford as a bank robber who befriends him.-Plot:...
, as a Russian commander in Red Dawn
Red Dawn
Red Dawn is a 1984 American war film directed by John Milius and co-written by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. It stars Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen and Jennifer Grey....
and a vindictive sergeant in Twilight's Last Gleaming
Twilight's Last Gleaming
Twilight's Last Gleaming is a 1977 film directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Burt Lancaster and Richard Widmark.Loosely based on a 1971 novel, Viper Three by Walter Wager, it tells the story of Lawrence Dell, a renegade USAF general, who escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo...
. For fans of John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee novels, Smith did a turn as chief heavy Terry Bartell in Darker Than Amber, opposite Rod Taylor and Theodore Bikel, in 1970. He also played Jed Clayton in Boss Nigger
Boss Nigger
Boss Nigger is a 1975 blaxploitation film directed by Jack Arnold. It stars former football player Fred Williamson, who both wrote and co-produced the film. Boss Nigger is the first film for which Williamson was credited as screenwriter or producer....
(1975) a blaxploitation
Blaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
film from the 70s which also starred Fred Williamson
Fred Williamson
Fred "The Hammer" Williamson is an American actor, architect, and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s.-Football career:...
, and was seen in in Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
's classic 1983 films The Outsiders
The Outsiders (film)
The Outsiders is a 1983 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, an adaptation of the novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. The film was released in March 1983...
and Rumble Fish
Rumble Fish
Rumble Fish is a 1983 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on the novel Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton, who also co-wrote the screenplay....
as a store clerk and a police officer, respectively. But, his starring roles typically had titles such as Grave of the Vampire, Invasion of the Bee Girls
Invasion of the Bee Girls
Invasion of the Bee Girls is a 1973 science fiction film. The first film venture for writer Nicholas Meyer, it was directed by Denis Sanders and stars William Smith, Victoria Vetri and Anitra Ford.-Synopsis:...
, and The Swinging Barmaids. Smith also played in several biker flicks including C.C. and Co., where he starred as the menacing "Moon", opposite football great Joe Namath
Joe Namath
Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...
and Ann Margret. He also starred in Nam's Angels
Nam's Angels
Nam's Angels is a 1970 action film, that was filmed in the Philippines. This film was directed by Jack Starrett. This film was originally released with the title, The Losers.-Plot:...
, which is briefly seen on a television in a scene in Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
's film Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...
. Smith played Count Dracula in 'The Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula'.