Bill Williams

Herman August Wilhelm Katt (May 15, 1915 – September 21, 1992), known professionally as Bill Williams, was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of the titular character in the western series The Adventures of Kit Carson, which aired in syndication from 1951 to 1955.

Life and career Herman August Wilhelm Katt was born on May 15, 1915 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 Murder 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 the apparent victim/murderer Burt Payne in "The Case of the 12th Wildcat". Williams appeared with his son, William Katt, 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.

Personal life and death Williams married the actress Barbara Hale on June 22, 1946. They met during the filming of West of the Pecos and had two daughters, Jodi and Juanita, and a son, the actor William Katt.

Bill Williams died of a brain tumor at age 77 in 1992 and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).

For his contributions to television, Bill Williams has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is at 6145 Hollywood Boulevard.

Acting roles

Star of his own television series The Adventures of Kit Carson TV series (1951–1955) as Kit Carson, 105 episodes Date with the Angels (1957–1958) as Gus Angel, 33 episodes Assignment: Underwater (1960–1961) as Bill Greer, 39 episodes

Multiple appearances on a television series

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars Well of Anger (1955) Angels in the Sky (1956) Science Fiction Theatre The Hastings Secret (1955) as Bill Twining Project 44 (1956) as Dr. Arnold Bryan The Mind Machine (1956) as Dr. Alan Cathcart Jupitron (1956) as Dr. John Barlow Killer Tree (1957) as Paul Cameron Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color Texas John Slaughter: The Man From Bitter Creek (1959) as Paul The Slaughter Trail (1959) as Paul Gallagher Goes West Tragedy on the Trail (1967) as Joe Carlson Trial by Terror (1967) as Joe Carlson Chester, Yesterday's Horse (1973) as Ben Kincaid The Flight of the Grey Wolf, Parts 1 and 2 (1976) as The Sheriff The Millionaire The Kathy Munson Story (1956) as Donald Abbott Millionaire Martha Halloran (1959) as Clint Halloran Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse The Untouchables, Parts 1 and 2 (1959) as Martin Flaherty Perry Mason The Case of the Crippled Cougar (1962) as Mike Preston The Case of the Bluffing Blast (1963) as Floyd Grant The Case of the Murderous Mermaid (1965) as Charles Shaw The Case of the 12th Wildcat (1965) as Burt Payne Batman Fine Finny Fiends (1966) as Multimillionaire Multimillionaire-Batman Makes the Scenes (1966) as Multimillionaire Lassie Climb the Mountain Slowly (1964) as Vince Lassie and the Buffalo (1966) as Jed Bingham The F.B.I. The Runaways (1968) as David Warren The Lost Man (1974) as Crawford Ironside Nightmare Trip (1972) as Lt. Dacker The Rolling Y (1975) as Sheriff Callahan Adam-12 Pick-Up (1971) as William Taylor (his wife, Barbara Hale, also appeared in the episode) Routine Patrol: The Drugstore Cowboys (1974) as Fred Wheeler The Rookies Three Hours to Kill (1973) as Captain Fin Whitfield Get Ryker (1973) as Captain Fin Whitfield Something Less Than a Man (1974) as Captain Johnson Police Woman (1974) The End Game (1974) as Lt. Graumann Sarah Who? (1976) as Captain "Guns" (1977) Captain Williams "Blind Terror" (1978) as Captain Miller

Miscellaneous television appearances

Adventures in Jazz (1949) as Host The Bigelow Theatre, Make Your Bed (1951) Dragnet, The Big Pug (1954) The Red Skelton Show, Deadeye vs. The Lone Ranger (1955) as Kit Carson Studio 57, Young Couples Only (1955) as Rick Thompson Damon Runyon Theater, Miracle Jones (1956) as Andy Gubbins M Squad, Girl Lost (1958) as Jerry Langdon Yancy Derringer, Ticket to Natchez (1958) as Duke Winslow General Electric Theater, The Flying Wife (1959) as Stewart Davidson Bachelor Father, East Meets West (1959) as Rock Randall Men into Space, Asteroid (1959) as Dr. Stacy Croydon Laramie, Man of God (1959) as Charlie Root The Investigators, New Sound For the Blues (1961) Hawaiian Eye, Location Shooting (1962) as Norman Ayres Lawman, Get Out of Town (1962) Target: The Corruptors!, Goodbye Children (1962) as Walter Parker 77 Sunset Strip, The Snow Job Caper (1962) as Steve Moran Law of the Lawless (1964) as Silas Miller Rawhide, The Lost Herd (1964) The Wild Wild West, Night of the Casual Killer (1965) as Marshal Kirby Dragnet 1967, The Big Frustration (1967) as Sgt. Bill Riddle Daniel Boone, The Spanish Horse (1967) Insight, A Thousand Red Flowers (1969) as Pop Marcus Welby, M.D., To Carry the Sun in a Golden Cup (1970) as Lynch O'Hara, U.S. Treasury, Operation Smokescreen (1972) as Willoughby Emergency!, Body Language (1973) as Pete Dusty's Trail, Then There Were Seven (1973) as The Sheriff Gunsmoke, Talbott (1973) as Red The Streets of San Francisco, The Unicorn (1973) as Burt Logan The Quest, Seminole Negro Indian Scouts (1976) B. J. and the Bear, Odyssey of the Shady Truth (1979) as Seth 240-Robert, Stuntman (1979) as Harry Phillips

Theatrical films

King Kong (1933) as Theatre Usher (uncredited) Murder in the Blue Room (1944) as Larry Dearden (credited as Bill MacWilliams). He Forgot to Remember to Forget (1944) as Mac, the Policeman (uncredited) Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) as Bud Felton Zombies on Broadway (1945) as Sailor / Smuggler (uncredited) Those Enduring Young Charms (1945) as Jerry The Body Snatcher (1945) as Survis, medical student (uncredited) Back to Bataan (1945) (uncredited) West of the Pecos (1945) as Tex Evans, stage guard (uncredited) Johnny Angel (1945) as Big Sailor (uncredited) Sing Your Way Home (1945) as Officer (uncredited) Deadline at Dawn (1946) as Alex Winkley Till the End of Time (1946) as Perry Kincheloe A Likely Story (1947) as Bill Baker A Woman's Secret (1949) as Lee Crenshaw The Stratton Story (1949) as Eddie Dibson The Clay Pigeon (1949) as Jim Fletcher Fighting Man of the Plains (1949) as Marshal Johnny Tancred A Dangerous Profession (1949) as Claude Brackett Blue Grass of Kentucky (1950) as Lin McIvor Operation Haylift (1950) as Bill Masters The Cariboo Trail (1950) as Mike Evans, Redfern's Partner Rookie Fireman (1950) as Joe Blake California Passage (1950) as Bob Martin Blue Blood (1951) as Bill Manning The Great Missouri Raid (1951) as Jim Younger The Last Outpost (1951) as Sgt. Tucker Havana Rose (1951) as Tex Thompson Rose of Cimarron (1952) as George Newcomb The Pace That Thrills (1952) as Richard L. "Dusty" Weston Son of Paleface (1952) as Kirk Torpedo Alley (1952) as Lt. Tom Graham Racing Blood (1954) as Tex The Outlaw's Daughter (1954) as Jess Raidley, a.k.a. Big Red Wiretapper (1955) as Jim Vaus, Jr. Apache Ambush (1955) as James Kingston Hell's Horizon (1955) as Paul Jenkins The Wild Dakotas (1956) as Jim Henry The Broken Star (1956) as Deputy Marshal Bill Gentry The Halliday Brand (1957) as Clay Halliday The Storm Rider (1957) as Sheriff Pete Colton Pawnee (1957) as Matt Delaney Slim Carter (1957) as Frank Hanneman Space Master X-7 (1958) as John Hand Legion of the Doomed (1958) as Lt. Smith Alaska Passage (1959) as Al Graham A Dog's Best Friend (1959) as Wesley "Wes" Thurman Oklahoma Territory (1960) as Temple Houston Hell to Eternity (1960) as Leonard The Sergeant Was a Lady (1961) as Col. House Law of the Lawless (1964) as Silas Miller A Letter to Nancy (1965) as George Reed Tickle Me (1965) as Deputy Sturdivant Spaceflight IC-1 (1965) as Capt. Mead Ralston Buckskin (1968) as Frank Cody Lady Godiva Rides (1969) Rio Lobo (1970) as Blackthorne Sheriff Pat Cronin Scandalous John (1971) as Sheriff Hart The Phantom of Hollywood (1974) as Fogel The Giant Spider Invasion (1975) as Dutch Moon Over the Alley (1976) as Sherry 69 Minutes (1977) A Fire in the Sky (1978) as Dale Turner Night of the Zombies (1981) Goldie and the Boxer Go To Hollywood (1981) as Cowboy Bob (final film role)