John Williams (actor)
Encyclopedia
John Williams was an English
stage, film and television actor. He is remembered for his role as chief inspector Hubbard in Alfred Hitchcock
's Dial M For Murder
, and as portraying the second "Mr. French" on TV's Family Affair
.
, England, he was educated at Lancing College
and began acting on the Broadway
stage in 1924. He then went on to appear in thirty more Broadway plays over the next four decades. He first acted in Hollywood films in 1930, debuting in director Mack Sennett's
The Chumps. In his career he appeared in more than forty films and also made more than forty guest appearances on television shows. He was part of the regular cast for the 1967 season of the family comedy, Family Affair
.
Outside his film career, Williams gained fame as the star of a television commercial
for 120 Music Masterpieces, a four-LP
set of classical music
excerpts from Columbia Records
. This became the longest-running nationally seen commercial in U.S. television history, for 13 years from 1971 to 1984. It began, "I'm sure you recognize this lovely melody as 'Stranger in Paradise
.' But did you know that the original theme is from the Polovetsian Dance No. 2
by Borodin
?. So many of the tunes of our well-known popular songs were actually written by the great masters--like these familiar themes... "
In 1953 Williams was awarded a Tony Award
for Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic)
for his role as Chief Inspector Hubbard in Dial M for Murder on Broadway. When Alfred Hitchcock
took over the script to make a film of the play in 1954, he cast Williams in the same role. He also appeared in Hitchcock's The Paradine Case
with Gregory Peck
as a barrister, and as an insurance company representative in To Catch a Thief
with Cary Grant
and Grace Kelly
.
Williams played in several episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents
on TV, including "The Long Shot" (1955), "Back for Christmas" (1956), "Whodunit" (1956), "Wet Saturday" (1956), the 3-part episode "I Killed the Count"(1957), and "Banquo’s Chair" (1959). Three of these episodes, "Back for Christmas", "Wet Saturday", and "Banquo’s Chair", were directed by the master of suspense
himself.
One of his last appearances was in Battlestar Galactica
: War of the Gods (1979) alongside Lorne Greene
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
stage, film and television actor. He is remembered for his role as chief inspector Hubbard in Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's Dial M For Murder
Dial M for Murder
Dial M for Murder is a 1954 American thriller film adapted from a successful stage play by Frederick Knott, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, and Robert Cummings. The movie was released by the Warner Bros...
, and as portraying the second "Mr. French" on TV's Family Affair
Family Affair
Family Affair is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis' traditional...
.
Life and work
Born in the Chalfonts in BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, England, he was educated at Lancing College
Lancing College
Lancing College is a co-educational English independent school in the British public school tradition, founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a...
and began acting on the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
stage in 1924. He then went on to appear in thirty more Broadway plays over the next four decades. He first acted in Hollywood films in 1930, debuting in director Mack Sennett's
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett was a Canadian-born American director and was known as the innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the "King of Comedy"...
The Chumps. In his career he appeared in more than forty films and also made more than forty guest appearances on television shows. He was part of the regular cast for the 1967 season of the family comedy, Family Affair
Family Affair
Family Affair is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis' traditional...
.
Outside his film career, Williams gained fame as the star of a television commercial
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
for 120 Music Masterpieces, a four-LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
set of classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
excerpts from Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. This became the longest-running nationally seen commercial in U.S. television history, for 13 years from 1971 to 1984. It began, "I'm sure you recognize this lovely melody as 'Stranger in Paradise
Stranger in Paradise (song)
"Stranger in Paradise" is a popular song from the 1953 musical Kismet and is credited to Robert Wright and George Forrest. Like all the music in that show, the melody was based on music composed by Alexander Borodin, in this case, the "Gliding Dance of the Maidens," from the Polovtsian...
.' But did you know that the original theme is from the Polovetsian Dance No. 2
Polovetsian Dances
The Polovtsian Dances are perhaps the best known selections from Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor . They are often played as a stand-alone concert piece. Borodin was the original composer, but the opera was left unfinished at his death and was subsequently completed by Nikolai...
by Borodin
Alexander Borodin
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five , who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music...
?. So many of the tunes of our well-known popular songs were actually written by the great masters--like these familiar themes... "
In 1953 Williams was awarded a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic)
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. The award has been presented since 1949.-1950s:* 1951: Eli Wallach – The Rose Tattoo* 1952: John Cromwell – Point of No Return...
for his role as Chief Inspector Hubbard in Dial M for Murder on Broadway. When Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
took over the script to make a film of the play in 1954, he cast Williams in the same role. He also appeared in Hitchcock's The Paradine Case
The Paradine Case
The Paradine Case is a 1947 American courtroom drama film, set in England, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by David O. Selznick. The screenplay was written by Selznick and an uncredited Ben Hecht, from an adaptation by Alma Reville and James Bridie of the novel by Robert Smythe Hichens...
with Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
as a barrister, and as an insurance company representative in To Catch a Thief
To Catch a Thief
To Catch a Thief is a 1952 thriller novel by David Dodge. John Robie is a retired American jewel thief, formerly known as Le Chat , who now spends his time tending to the rose garden in his villa on the Côte d'Azur. Following a series of recent jewel robberies on the Riviera that resemble his...
with Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
and Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
.
Williams played in several episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades...
on TV, including "The Long Shot" (1955), "Back for Christmas" (1956), "Whodunit" (1956), "Wet Saturday" (1956), the 3-part episode "I Killed the Count"(1957), and "Banquo’s Chair" (1959). Three of these episodes, "Back for Christmas", "Wet Saturday", and "Banquo’s Chair", were directed by the master of suspense
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
himself.
One of his last appearances was in Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica TV series in 1978, and was followed by a brief sequel TV series in 1980, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games...
: War of the Gods (1979) alongside Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene , was the stage name of Lyon Himan Green, OC, a Canadian actor.His television roles include Ben Cartwright on the western Bonanza, and Commander Adama in the science fiction movie and subsequent TV Series Battlestar Galactica...
.
Filmography
- Mr. Deeds Goes to TownMr. Deeds Goes to TownMr. Deeds Goes to Town is a 1936 American screwball comedy film directed by Frank Capra, and starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur in her first featured role...
(1936) - The Foreman Went to FranceThe Foreman Went to FranceThe Foreman Went to France, also known as Somewhere in France, is a 1942 British World War II war film starring Clifford Evans, Tommy Trinder, Constance Cummings and Gordon Jackson...
(1942) - The Paradine CaseThe Paradine CaseThe Paradine Case is a 1947 American courtroom drama film, set in England, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by David O. Selznick. The screenplay was written by Selznick and an uncredited Ben Hecht, from an adaptation by Alma Reville and James Bridie of the novel by Robert Smythe Hichens...
(1947) - Dial M for MurderDial M for MurderDial M for Murder is a 1954 American thriller film adapted from a successful stage play by Frederick Knott, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, and Robert Cummings. The movie was released by the Warner Bros...
(1954) - SabrinaSabrina (1954 film)Sabrina is a 1954 comedy-romance film directed by Billy Wilder, adapted for the screen by Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor, and Ernest Lehman from Taylor's play Sabrina Fair...
(1954) - To Catch a ThiefTo Catch a Thief (film)To Catch a Thief is a 1955 romantic thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis and John Williams. The movie is set on the French Riviera, and was based on the 1952 novel of the same name by David Dodge...
(1955) - D-Day the Sixth of JuneD-Day the Sixth of JuneD-Day the Sixth of June is a 1956 romantic war film made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Henry Koster and produced by Charles Brackett from a screenplay by Ivan Moffat and Harry Brown, based on the novel, The Sixth of June by Lionel Shapiro....
(1956) - The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956)
- Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
- Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? is a 1957 American satiric comedy film starring Jayne Mansfield and Tony Randall, with Betsy Drake, Joan Blondell, John Williams, Henry Jones, Lili Gentle, Mickey Hargitay, and a cameo by Groucho Marx...
(1957) - The Young PhiladelphiansThe Young PhiladelphiansThe Young Philadelphians is a 1959 drama film starring Paul Newman, Barbara Rush and Alexis Smith, and directed by Vincent Sherman. Robert Vaughn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The film is based on the novel The Philadelphian by Richard P...
(1959) - Midnight LaceMidnight LaceMidnight Lace is a 1960 American mystery-thriller film starring Doris Day and Rex Harrison, directed by David Miller. The screenplay by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts is based on the play Matilda Shouted Fire by Janet Green....
(1960) - Double Trouble (1967)
- The Secret War of Harry FriggThe Secret War of Harry FriggThe Secret War of Harry Frigg is a 1968 comedy film set in World War II. It was directed by Jack Smight and starred Paul Newman.-Plot:Several brigadier generals are unexpectedly taken prisoner by the Italians while in the sauna - which is a public relations disaster. The generals are held in an...
(1968) - The Hound of the BaskervillesThe Hound of the BaskervillesThe Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of four crime novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England's West Country and tells the story of an...
(1972)
Television
- "Wet Saturday", Alfred Hitchcock Presents, hosted by Alfred Hitchcock, with actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke
- "I Killed the Count", Alfred Hitchcock Presents, hosted by Alfred Hitchcock, a 3-part episode running 90 minutes with commercials.
- Family AffairFamily AffairFamily Affair is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis' traditional...
, as Nigel "Niles" French. 9 Episodes. Replaced Sebastian Cabot (Mr. French) while he was recovering from an injury to his wrist. - The Wild Wild WestThe Wild Wild WestThe Wild Wild West is an American television series that ran on CBS for four seasons from September 17, 1965 to April 4, 1969....
, "The Night of the Bleak Island" (1969) - Mission: ImpossibleMission: ImpossibleMission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
, "Lover's Knot" (1970) - Night GalleryNight GalleryNight Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although...
, "The Doll" (1971), with Henry Silva - Columbo "Dagger of the Mind" (1972)
- Commercial for recordings of classical music