https://docdrwho.medium.com/the-all-time-action-star-in-my-opinion-and-my-favorite-all-time-actor-william-smith-4a1bd65d3a01V
fail The all time action star in my opinion and my favorite all time actor-William Smith
For over 70 years this one guy has been entertaining us and having us say I’m glad it’s him(Clint Eastwood, Rod Taylor, Chuck Norris, William Shatner, YUL Brynner ) and not me up on the screen. I just would not want to tangle with William Smith !!!!
The all time action star in my opinion and my favorite all time actor… What follows are excerpts of articles and essays I have written regarding William Smith and his amazing career. William who stands well over 6 feet is a gentle giant. He not only has endured a long active involvement in Film and Television, is considered one of the best “bad guys/villains” on the small or big screen, holds an all time record in arm wrestling plus could curl his own weight...try that on for size. He is able to speak several languages and is what is called a well read “man” or person..then add boxing and weightlifting to his accomplishments as well. His presence is as commanding in a scene as in real life. All this and he writes poetry as well. So sit back and take a journey through the career of William “Falconetti” Smith( 70’s Rich Man,Poor Man mini-series)…
From The Ghost of Frankenstein (age
to Any Which Way You Can to Conan The Barbarian and everything in between….Horror,SCI-FI, Westerns, Biker flicks, and Action he’s done it. Drama & comedy. Whether riding a cycle, a horse or driving a car, in the wild west or the distant future all the way to a another time and place say in the realm of fantasy.
He’s been the hero and tearing it up on covert ops in Vietnam as a leader of an unorthodox the biker/military unity for the ’70s action flick The Losers directed by Jack Starrett (actor,director/stuntman)
*** The Losers almost never happened or at least not with part of the original cast including Smith-actually while in route to location their plane ran in to a major thunderstorm storm. It was touch and go. The plane and the crew trying to maintain control of the aircraft. you can hear details of this as it is a topic of conversation on the audio commentary of Dark Skys’ DVD release. A hard one to track down…but I highly recommend…
and bringing dudes to justice in the final 79–80 Television season of the original Hawaii Five 0.\Below-Season 12 opening with William Smith as Kimo.
Before a run of roles where Smith played the antagonist or bad guy he was gracing the small screen in the still burgeoning land of Television…what we may call the silver age-late ’50s and ’60s. Starting with 1961’s The Asphalt Jungle. William was brought on to play Sergeant Danny Keller opposite Jack Warden as Captain Gus Hornochek. They reported directly to the Gov. It was one of first 60 minute “cop” shows. Ran one season.
The next 7 years brought William not only national recognition but international fame as he starred in not one but 2 very popular, hit series…the first was a unique 30 minute series called Zero One. A code name for a special branch of International Air Security. William(credited as Bill Smith)starred with British actor-Nigel Patrick for 3 seasons-62–65. Great writing allowed for full story lines with excellent character development. Hard to do on a short format. Credit to the script writers and the actors. Their job was to stop Jet Age crime. Guests included world renown actress Margret Rutherford and David Hedison (Irwin Allen’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TV & The Fly) … The series was broadcast in many European countries and beyond.
Then came Laredo a 2 season run … featuring a fun cast of characters and actors… 1965–1967
Below- a full episode showing that not all days as a Texas Ranger is gunfights and brawls… it’s saving lives and providing quality of life…including life lessons…
cast Neville Brand,Peter Brown, William Smith & Phillip Carey(in order as they appear in the photo-left to right)
2nd season — 1966–67- added a new Ranger to the cast —
William played Texas Ranger Joe Riley….
When you make to the cover of TV Guide you know you have been noticed
Above- TV Guide June 25th 1966
Left- Dell comic book — possibly no 1 issue
you know you have a hit show when the show has been published as a comic book …
CC and Company
Above fun times on the set.-CC and Company
*** My first introduction to William was a broadcast on CBS’s Late Nite Movie-1970’-CC and Company ( Ann Margret and quarterback Joe Namath). I literally did not like William. He was such a good “bad” guy I wanted to have it out with him. I was routing for Joe all the way to beat this guy…Bill played Moon, the leader of a “biker” gang called Head Company.. And he ruled it with an iron fist. It was his way or the highway. But he also could not stand abandoning the group making it on the grid. CC featured the hit song CC Ryder and was also covered by Elvis in his concerts. A cast of ’70s supporting character/exploitation actors graced shared screen time in this fun flick including Bruce Glover( Diamonds Are Forever & Walking Tall)Sid Haig(Coffy/Mary Hartman,Mary Hartman-55 episodes), Greg Mullavey (Centenial & Forever Fernwood) and Jennifer Billingsley (White Lightening with Burt Reynolds).
Left- CC and Company trailer .. featuring a rocking soundtrack with performances by Wayne Cochran and the C C Riders.
T
Left-Best Screen Fight-bare knuckle- Darker Than Amber -starring Rod Taylor vs William…
Not too many actors have a night dedicated to them at the theater however back on Tuesday July 24th of 2019 the New Beverly Theater in LA did just that —
Left -is the ad for that night…
A triple feature with the quintessential of Williams’ various characters that gave the audience a chance to see wide range from bad guy to hero…all in 35 mm. CC and Company, The Losers and The Hollywood Man.
The later film deals with an actor just wanting to get his story up on the big screen and not paying to close attention to the backgrounds of the investors for his project… which has some consequences later on.
Left- Newspaper ad for the Hollywood Man and starring another actor known for his villainous roles-Don Stroud
The most * badass* guy still to this date to ever appear on the big or small screen. I mean who can forget his scary performance as Falconetti in the 1976 TV mini series Rich Man Poor Man(Peter Strauss/Nick Nolte and Ed Asner and a slew of who’s who in Television). I really did not like him. He was so convincing as the villian. William also was the protagonist in Any Which Way You Can (Clint Eastwood) and 1970’s Darker Than Amber( Rod Taylor).
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But William has been known to play against type as a “good” guy. William was hysterical in Policewomen(actually there was really only one main woman) as a karate instructor/trainer for the police , a small but role but scene stealing performance. The star of the film, Sondra Currie is practicing her martial arts with the karate instructor, who thinks that this small women can’t really do any “damage” to a guy. He keeps throwing her around and giving her the :business” -making her look bad. Well she makes her move and kicks Bill in the mouth. A little blood at first Bill is concerned about a scar. Well one of the officers says I have good news and some bad news… I don’t think it will leave much of scar but she did break your tooth. You then see William’s character start whimpering and he even changed the pitch of his voice to make it sound whiny. Well with a bit of blood trickling down his chin and Bill saying “Well she didn’t have to break my tooth!!! To see this over 6 ft 200 lb well built athlete go running off the mat complaining about his tooth and asking what they are going to do about it … typical cry baby is not expected. It’s all played for laughs. Smith just pulls it off masterfully.
Bill is that good an actor as mentioned above. He has a great sense of humor. It is most refreshing to know a person of his stature has that much self-confidence and esteem in himself. To realize it’s okay to play against type. William has found that he is able to reach other types of audiences and also new fans.
Guest Appearances —
Even while working on Laredo William took time out to do a couple of roles on Batman(66–68)…which we all know was a huge hit and became a permanent fixture in the halls of pop culture. Not just in the US but the world over. He appeared as Adonis, one of Minerva’s (Zsa Zsa Gabor) henchman on the final episode of 67 season which also turned out to be the last of the series. It aired on March 14th 1968. Entitled Minerva, Mayhem & Millionaires.
the ’70s- William was super busy not only in the cinema but on the small screen as well …. one of the most memorable launched the The Rockford Files as he provided the catalyst becoming a private eye and turned in a riveting performance-
Excerpt from a previous article- Regarding Mill Creek Entertainments’ Bluray release of The Rockford Files-
An amazing roster of guest stars and a slew of character actors. Starting with the pilot featuring one of my all time favorite actors who is so talented he can play anything from butt kicking hero to a most diabolical villain -William Smith. This is a guy you would rather have on your side coming in at around 200 lbs and standing over 6 ft he is in many circles considered one of the greatest “BAD GUY” character actors of all time. And his role in the pilot sets the tone of the series…he is a person who really enjoys killing with no regrets.
The ’80s — The A-Team, Knight Rider, The Dukes of Hazard, Airwolf, TJ Hooker, Benson, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, CHIPS , Fantasy Island, The Fall Guy…the list goes on(see IMDB) thin about it ..just about every time you turned the TV on …there was William.
Jumping a couple decades It’s time for icons to meet icons- When Bill made guest appearances on Walker , Texas Ranger(1995 ) and Nash Bridges(1999)…two very popular series in the ’90s. Think of this… Smith appearing alongside Chuck Norris and Don Johnson. All bad asses.
Below- Superman vs William Smith?/Draaga
William has a very distinct voice so why not voice overs. He broke new ground with his portrayal of Draaga on the animated series Justice League in 2002. The episode — War World.This was a two part story…***Guess who else pops up but Eric Roberts( The Expendables 2010/The Dark Knight 2008) no stranger to those glorious, vile villains we so much love to “hate”.
Below-A beautiful, edited video compilation of William Smiths career… Thank you William for the wonderful entertainment you have brought in lives and bless you Joanna for this .. you both are the best…and remember this guy speaks 7 languages .. and has appeared/starred in over 300 films & TV series …😊😎🎥🎙🎞
For me personally thank you Bill. You have entertained us for oh how about a 7 decades. A career spanning 75 years- unheard of in this day and age. Witty and extremely good humored. I have always thought of you as a friend and someone I can go to — go to forget about real life in exchange for reel entertainment. But I have been fortunate enough to have corresponded with you and Joanna , your lovely wife who is your partner and best friend. It is a pleasure and a comfort to know people like yourself personally and to know you are in this world. It is a better place for that .. as always I say the best to you and your family. And again thank you for keeping me company on all those late nite broadcasts of The CBS Late Nite Movie when I was just cutting my teeth on learning what being a teen was all about. Kept me and my buddies out of trouble…
As for me I think I hear The Losers coming on TV ..so good night for now…
Links to:
The Poetic Works of William Smith
Soft cover available-
Actor William Smith | The Official Website | The Poetic Works of William Smith
William Smith is one of the most prolific and popular cult actors of our time and is considered one of the screen's…
www.williamsmith.usInterview with William Smith-
July 24th 2019 @ New Beverly Theater
