William Walker (US actor)
Encyclopedia
William Franklin Walker (July 1, 1896 - January 27, 1992) was an American
television and film actor. Walker is best remembered for his role as Reverend Sykes in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird
.
, Walker began his acting in 1946. In a career that spanned four decades, Walked appeared in numerous television shows and films including Goodyear Television Playhouse
, The Twilight Zone
, Rawhide
, Daniel Boone
, Good Times
, Big Jake (film)
, What's Happening!!
, Twilight's Last Gleaming
, Billy Jack Goes to Washington
, Maurie
, A Piece of the Action
, The Girl Who Had Everything
, and The Choirboys
.
actress Peggy Cartwright
, a member of the original silent Our Gang
troupe, in one of the early interracial marriages in Hollywood.
on January 27, 1992. He is buried alongside his wife at Riverside National Cemetery
in Riverside, California
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television and film actor. Walker is best remembered for his role as Reverend Sykes in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird (film)
To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel of the same name directed by Robert Mulligan. It stars Mary Badham in the role of Scout and Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch....
.
Career
Born in Pendleton, IndianaPendleton, Indiana
Pendleton is a town in Fall Creek Township, Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, Walker began his acting in 1946. In a career that spanned four decades, Walked appeared in numerous television shows and films including Goodyear Television Playhouse
Goodyear Television Playhouse
The Goodyear Television Playhouse produced live television dramas from 1951 to 1957 during the "Golden Age of Television".Sponsored by Goodyear, the hour-long anthology series was telecast Sundays at 9pm on NBC...
, The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
, Rawhide
Rawhide (TV series)
Rawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes...
, Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone (TV series)
Daniel Boone is an American action/adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel Boone that aired from September 24, 1964 to September 10, 1970 on NBC for 165 episodes, and was made by 20th Century Fox Television. Ed Ames co-starred as Mingo, Boone's Native American friend, for the...
, Good Times
Good Times
Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer...
, Big Jake (film)
Big Jake (film)
Big Jake is a 1971 Western film, filmed on location in Durango, Mexico, starring John Wayne and directed by George Sherman.Big Jake was released to box-office success and generally-positive critical reviews, despite a mixed reaction by John Wayne fans....
, What's Happening!!
What's Happening!!
What's Happening!! is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from August 5, 1976 to April 28, 1979. The show premiered as a summer series. With good ratings and reviews, and after the failure of several other shows on the network, What's Happening!! returned in November 1976 as a weekly...
, 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...
, Billy Jack Goes to Washington
Billy Jack Goes to Washington
Billy Jack Goes to Washington is a 1977 film starring Tom Laughlin, the fourth film in the Billy Jack series, and although the earlier films saw enormous success, this film did not. The film only had limited screenings upon its release and never saw a general theatrical release, but has since...
, Maurie
Maurie
Maurie is a 1973 American semi-biographical feature film directed by Daniel Mann. Distributed by National General Pictures, the film covers the lives and relationship of two NBA Hall of fame basketball players, the forward Jack Twyman, and his teammate the forward Maurice Stokes.-Plot summary:The...
, A Piece of the Action
A Piece of the Action (film)
A Piece of the Action is a 1977 comedy crime film starring Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby. Poitier also directed the film. This was the third film pairing of Poitier and Cosby following Uptown Saturday Night and Let's Do It Again, and Poiter's last acting role for more than 10 years, as he focused...
, The Girl Who Had Everything
The Girl Who Had Everything
The Girl Who Had Everything is a 1953 film directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Armande Deutsch for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film features William Powell in his last MGM feature and one of his last film roles before retirement. The screenplay was written by Art Cohn, based upon a play by...
, and The Choirboys
The Choirboys (film)
The Choirboys is a 1977 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Aldrich, written by Christopher Knopf and Joseph Wambaugh based on Wambaugh's novel. It features an ensemble cast including Randy Quaid and James Woods...
.
Personal life
Walker was married to CanadianCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
actress Peggy Cartwright
Peggy Cartwright
Peggy Cartwright was a Canadian silent film actress perhaps best known for her short stint as the leading lady of the Our Gang comedies. She appeared in four shorts in 1922 and, possibly, the pilot for the series, Our Gang .Her first husband was Phil Baker with whom she had four children...
, a member of the original silent Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
troupe, in one of the early interracial marriages in Hollywood.
Death
Walker died of cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
on January 27, 1992. He is buried alongside his wife at Riverside National Cemetery
Riverside National Cemetery
Riverside National Cemetery is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers , making it the third-largest cemetery managed by the National Cemetery Administration...
in Riverside, California
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...
.