Bill Williams
Acting • Born 1915-05-21 – Died 1992-09-21
Biography
William Herman Katt (born Herman August Wilhelm Katt; May 15, 1915 – September 21, 1992), known as Bill Williams, was an American television and film actor. He is best known for his starring role in the early television series The Adventures of Kit Carson, which aired in syndication from 1951 to 1955. Williams was born in Brooklyn, New York to German immigrant parents. He attended the Pratt Institute, and became a professional swimmer, performing in underwater shows. He landed a walk-on role as a theater usher in King Kong (1933). He enlisted in the United States Army during World War II, but was discharged before the end and became an actor. His credited debut was in The Blue Room in 1944, using the professional name Bill Williams. His first starring role was opposite Susan Hayward in Deadline at Dawn (1946). Williams appeared in ten films before he landed the lead role in television's The Adventures of Kit Carson, which ran for 105 episodes. When the series ended, Williams' star power faded. It was revived in 1957 when he co-starred with Betty White on television in Date with the Angels. Williams portrayed Federal agent Martin Flaherty in The Scarface Mob (1959), the pilot for ABC's The Untouchables. However, when the series was accepted, the role went to Jerry Paris. Williams turned down the lead in Sea Hunt in 1958, believing that an underwater show would not work on television. Lloyd Bridges accepted the part and turned it into a hit. Williams did star as a former Navy frogman in Assignment: Underwater, which ran for just one season. He played a variety of roles on Perry Mason, in which his wife Barbara Hale co-starred as Raymond Burr's secretary Della Street. In a 1962 episode, "The Case of the Crippled Cougar," he played defendant Mike Preston. In 1963, he was murder victim Floyd Grant in "The Case of the Bluffing Blast." In 1965 Williams played murderer Charles Shaw in "The Case of the Murderous Mermaid," and was murderer Burt Payne in "The Case of the 12th Wildcat". Williams appeared with his son in a final season episode of Ironside, bringing him together again with Raymond Burr. He also made numerous guest appearances on television and worked in low-budget science fiction films until his retirement.
Filmography
108 credits
69 Minutes
Movie • 1976
Son of Paleface
Movie • 1952
Kirk
Space Master X-7
Movie • 1958
John Hand
Rio Lobo
Movie • 1970
Blackthorne Sheriff Pat Cronin
The Halliday Brand
Movie • 1957
Clay Halliday
Deadline at Dawn
Movie • 1946
Alex Winkler
The Clay Pigeon
Movie • 1949
Jim Fletcher
The Stratton Story
Movie • 1949
Eddie Dibson
The Giant Spider Invasion
Movie • 1975
Dutch
Tickle Me
Movie • 1965
Deputy Sturdivant
A Dangerous Profession
Movie • 1949
Claude Brackett
125 Rooms of Comfort
Movie • 1974
The Sergeant Was a Lady
Movie • 1961
Col. House
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion
Movie • 1979
Self
A Woman's Secret
Movie • 1949
Lee Crenshaw
A Letter to Nancy
Movie • 1965
George Reed
Till the End of Time
Movie • 1946
Perry Kincheloe
The Pace That Thrills
Movie • 1952
Richard L. 'Dusty' Weston
Oklahoma Territory
Movie • 1960
Temple Houston
Pawnee
Movie • 1957
Matt Delaney
The Last Outpost
Movie • 1951
Sgt. Tucker
The Wild Dakotas
Movie • 1956
Jim Henry
Buckskin
Movie • 1968
Frank Cody
The Storm Rider
Movie • 1957
Sheriff Colton
Operation Haylift
Movie • 1950
Bill Masters
Fighting Man of the Plains
Movie • 1949
Marshall Johnny Tancred
The Cariboo Trail
Movie • 1950
Mike Evans
Rose of Cimarron
Movie • 1952
George Newcomb
Torpedo Alley
Movie • 1953
Tom Graham
Apache Ambush
Movie • 1955
James Kingston
The Broken Star
Movie • 1956
Deputy Marshal Bill Gentry
Alaska Passage
Movie • 1959
Al Graham
Spaceflight IC-1
Movie • 1965
Capt. Mead Ralston
West of the Pecos
Movie • 1945
Tex Evans
Blue Grass of Kentucky
Movie • 1950
Lin McIvor
Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood
Movie • 1981
Cowboy Bob
Legion of the Doomed
Movie • 1958
Wiretapper
Movie • 1955
James Arthur Vaus, Jr.
Slim Carter
Movie • 1957
Frank Hanneman
Murder in the Blue Room
Movie • 1944
Larry (as Bill MacWilliams)
Those Endearing Young Charms
Movie • 1945
Jerry
Scandalous John
Movie • 1971
Sheriff Hart
The Hallelujah Trail
Movie • 1965
Lt. Brady (uncredited)
The Outlaw's Daughter
Movie • 1954
Jess Raidley aka Big Red
The Scarface Mob
Movie • 1959
Martin Flaherty
A Likely Story
Movie • 1947
Bill
The Great Missouri Raid
Movie • 1951
Jim Younger
King Kong
Movie • 1933
Theatre Usher (uncredited)
California Passage
Movie • 1950
Bob Martin
Law of the Lawless
Movie • 1964
Silas Miller
A Dog's Best Friend
Movie • 1959
Wesley 'Wes' Thurman
Hell to Eternity
Movie • 1960
Leonard
Havana Rose
Movie • 1951
Tex Thompson
The Body Snatcher
Movie • 1945
Survis - Medical Student (uncredited)
Back to Bataan
Movie • 1945
(uncredited)
Blue Blood
Movie • 1951
Bill Manning
A Fire in the Sky
Movie • 1978
Dale Turner
Hell's Horizon
Movie • 1955
Paul Jenkins
The Flame and the Arrow
Movie • 1950
Outlaw (uncredited)
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Movie • 1944
Bud Felton
The Flight of the Grey Wolf
Movie • 1976
The Sheriff
Johnny Angel
Movie • 1945
Big Sailor (uncredited)
The Alamo
Movie • 1960
Tennessean (uncredited)
Racing Blood
Movie • 1954
Tex
Stampede at Bitter Creek
Movie • 1962
Paul Forbes
Rookie Fireman
Movie • 1950
Joe Blake
77 Sunset Strip
TV • 1958
B. J. and the Bear
TV • 1979
The Rookies
TV • 1972
The F.B.I.
TV • 1965
David Warren
Batman
TV • 1966
Multimillionaire
The Streets of San Francisco
TV • 1972
240-Robert
TV • 1979
Dragnet
TV • 1951
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Mike Preston
Gunsmoke
TV • 1955
Red
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Stewart Davidson
Emergency!
TV • 1972
Lassie
TV • 1954
Adam-12
TV • 1968
William Taylor
Ironside
TV • 1967
The Wild Wild West
TV • 1965
Rawhide
TV • 1959
Tom Bickle
Police Woman
TV • 1974
Daniel Boone
TV • 1964
Caleb Trevor
The Millionaire
TV • 1955
Donald Abbott
Yancy Derringer
TV • 1958
Duke Winslow
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Ed Sawyer
Men Into Space
TV • 1959
M Squad
TV • 1957
Jerry Langdon
Laramie
TV • 1959
Date with the Angels
TV • 1957
Adventures In Jazz
TV • 1949
The Adventures of Kit Carson
TV • 1951
Assignment: Underwater
TV • 1960
Bill Greer
Music at the Meadowbrook
TV • 1953
Primus
TV • 1971
The F.B.I.
TV • 1965
Crawford
Adam-12
TV • 1968
Fred Wheeler
The Millionaire
TV • 1955
Clint Halloran
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Floyd Grant
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Charles Shaw
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Burt Payne
Lassie
TV • 1954
Jed Bingham
77 Sunset Strip
TV • 1958
Henry Cook
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
TV • 1958
Martin Flaherty
The Investigators
TV • 1961