Clarence Williams III, Acting - KorPlix:Korean Person Archives

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Clarence Williams III
Acting

Clarence Williams III
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1939-08-21,New York City, New York, USA
Gender
Male
Biography
Clarence Williams III (August 21, 1939 – June 4, 2021) was an American actor. Williams was the son of a professional musician, Clarence "Clay" Williams Jr., and grandson of jazz and blues composer/pianist Clarence Williams and his singer-actress wife, Eva Taylor. Raised by his paternal grandmother, he became interested in acting after accidentally walking onto a stage at a theater below a Harlem YMCA. Williams began pursuing an acting career after spending two years as a U.S. Army paratrooper in C Company, 506th Infantry, of the 101st Airborne Division. He first appeared on Broadway in The Long Dream (1960). Continuing his work on stage, he appeared in Walk in Darkness (1963), Sarah and the Sax (1964), Doubletalk (1964), and King John. His breakout theatrical role was in William Hanley's Slow Dance on the Killing Ground, for which he received a Tony Award nomination. The New York Times drama critic Howard Taubman wrote of his performance, "Mr. Williams glides like a dancer, giving his long, fraudulently airy speeches the inner rhythms of fear and showing the nakedness of terror when he ceases to pretend." He also served as artist-in-residence at Brandeis University in 1966. Williams' breakout television role was as undercover cop Linc Hayes on the popular ABC counterculture police television series The Mod Squad (1968), along with fellow relative unknowns Michael Cole and Peggy Lipton. After the series ended in 1973, he worked in a variety of genres on stage and screen, from comedy (I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Half-Baked) to sci-fi (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), and drama (Purple Rain). Spanning over forty years, his career included the role of Prince's tormented father, who was also a musician, in Purple Rain (1984), A guest appearance in Miami Vice (1985), a recurring role in the surreal TV series Twin Peaks (1990), a good cop in Deep Cover (1992), a rioter in the mini-series Against the Wall (1994), and Wesley Snipes' chemically dependent father in Sugar Hill (1993). His other roles on television include Hill Street Blues, the Canadian cult classic The Littlest Hobo, Miami Vice, The Highwayman, Burn Notice, Everybody Hates Chris, Justified, Cold Case, and Law & Order. He can be seen in films such as 52 Pick-Up, Life, The Cool World, Deep Cover, Tales from the Hood, Half-Baked, King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis, Hoodlum, Frogs for Snakes, Starstruck, The General's Daughter, Reindeer Games, Impostor, and as the early jazz musician Jelly Roll Morton in The Legend of 1900. He also played a supporting role as George Wallace's fictional African-American butler and caretaker in the 1997 TNT film George Wallace. From 2003 to 2007, Williams had a recurring role as Philby Cross in the Mystery Woman film series on the Hallmark Channel. He appeared in all but the first of the eleven films alongside Kellie Martin (J.E. Freeman played Philby in the Mystery Woman first film). In the seventh (Mystery Woman: At First Sight) film, he reunited with his Mod Squad co-star Michael Cole. He played Bumpy Johnson in the film American Gangster. From 2005 to 2007 Williams had another recurring role as the voice of Councilor Andam on the Disney animated series American Dragon: Jake Long. Williams died in Los Angeles, on June 4, 2021, at the age of 81, from colon cancer. He is buried in St Charles Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.

Filmography

5.705

Reindeer Games
2000-02-25

Perfect Victims

4.429

Perfect Victims
1988-08-18

6.483

Hoodlum
1997-08-27

Against the Wall

6.163

Against the Wall
1994-03-26

Tales from the Hood

6.265

Tales from the Hood
1995-05-24

6.304

Half Baked
1998-01-16

5.707

The Love Bug
1997-11-29

6.041

The Brave
1997-07-30

3.9

Mindstorm
2001-02-28

6.698

Purple Rain
1984-07-27

5.632

The Immortals
1995-10-05

5.616

Sugar Hill
1994-02-25

6.057

52 Pick-Up
1986-11-07

Happy Here and Now

4.643

Happy Here and Now
2002-06-08

Mystery Woman: Game Time

6.6

Mystery Woman: Game Time
2005-08-21

Mystery Woman: Redemption

6.7

Mystery Woman: Redemption
2006-11-06

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

6.35

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
1991-03-01

Mystery Woman: Vision of a Murder

5.2

Mystery Woman: Vision of a Murder
2005-06-05

7.314

The Butler
2013-08-16

Mystery Woman: In the Shadows

6.3

Mystery Woman: In the Shadows
2007-01-13

Mystery Woman: Mystery Weekend

7.6

Mystery Woman: Mystery Weekend
2005-01-07

Mystery Woman: Sing Me a Murder

5.8

Mystery Woman: Sing Me a Murder
2005-02-25

Mystery Woman: Oh Baby

6.8

Mystery Woman: Oh Baby
2006-08-18

Father & Son: Dangerous Relations

6.167

Father & Son: Dangerous Relations
1993-04-19

Blue Hill Avenue

6.671

Blue Hill Avenue
2003-09-19

The Last Innocent Man

5.308

The Last Innocent Man
1987-04-19

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis

7.333

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
1970-03-24

Mystery Woman: At First Sight

6.3

Mystery Woman: At First Sight
2006-01-21

4.076

Deadfall
1993-10-08

5.545

The Cool World
1964-04-20

The Legend of 1900

8.235

The Legend of 1900
1998-10-28

6.8

George Wallace
1997-08-24

The General's Daughter

6.41

The General's Daughter
1999-06-18

6.816

Deep Cover
1992-04-15

Ali: An American Hero

5.167

Ali: An American Hero
2000-08-01

The House of Dies Drear

8

The House of Dies Drear
1984-06-01

Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault

7.139

Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault
1996-11-23

4.8

The Silencers
1996-04-23

Frogs for Snakes

3.429

Frogs for Snakes
1998-08-14

5.167

Ritual
2000-07-13

American Gangster

7.596

American Gangster
2007-11-02

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka

6.403

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
1988-11-10

Mystery Woman: Snapshot

6.7

Mystery Woman: Snapshot
2005-01-28

3.6

The Way of War
2009-04-20

5.931

Maniac Cop 2
1990-07-18

Nasty Boys, Part 2: Lone Justice

6.7

Nasty Boys, Part 2: Lone Justice
1990-01-01

Mystery Woman: Wild West Mystery

6.5

Mystery Woman: Wild West Mystery
2006-03-18

A Day in the Life

5.767

A Day in the Life
2009-07-07

Tough Guys Don't Dance

4.718

Tough Guys Don't Dance
1987-09-18

The Return of Mod Squad

7

The Return of Mod Squad
1979-05-18

7.75

Judgement
1995-12-31

6.1

Starstruck
1998-04-18

5.6

Constellation
2007-02-01

5.429

Sprung
1997-05-14

4

Civility
2000-10-08

American Nightmares

4.73

American Nightmares
2018-10-11

6.668

Life
1999-04-16

The Road to Galveston

4.5

The Road to Galveston
1996-01-24

6.1

Impostor
2001-12-03

The Extreme Team

4.5

The Extreme Team
2003-01-01

4.364

Encino Woman
1996-04-20

ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration

8

ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration
2003-05-19

5.75

The Blue Hour
2007-01-01

The Hero Who Couldn't Read

0

The Hero Who Couldn't Read
1984-04-18

6.3

Last Rites
1999-05-20

Everybody Hates Chris

8.07

Everybody Hates Chris
2005-09-22

American Dragon: Jake Long

7.758

American Dragon: Jake Long
2005-01-21

7.5

Judging Amy
1999-09-19

8.1

Miracles
2003-01-27

7.438

Miami Vice
1984-09-16

8.336

Twin Peaks
1990-04-08

6.467

Fastlane
2002-09-18

Tales from the Crypt

7.978

Tales from the Crypt
1989-06-10

The Legend of Tarzan

7.024

The Legend of Tarzan
2001-09-03

Walker, Texas Ranger

7.004

Walker, Texas Ranger
1993-04-21

Hill Street Blues

7.618

Hill Street Blues
1981-01-15

7.034

Profiler
1996-09-21

6.074

The Mod Squad
1968-09-24

7.724

Millennium
1996-10-25

Jake and the Fatman

6.2

Jake and the Fatman
1987-09-26

6.9

Tarzan
1966-09-08

6.4

Nasty Boys
1990-02-22

7

Shades of L.A.
1990-10-10

7.482

Burn Notice
2007-06-28

6.981

The Cosby Show
1984-09-20

7.992

Justified
2010-03-16

The Littlest Hobo

7.5

The Littlest Hobo
1979-10-11

New York Undercover

7.263

New York Undercover
1994-09-08

7.3

Law & Order
1990-09-13

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

7.903

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
1993-01-03

6.536

T. J. Hooker
1982-03-13

The Danny Thomas Hour

6.667

The Danny Thomas Hour
1967-09-11

6.536

T. J. Hooker
1982-03-13

6.536

T. J. Hooker
1982-03-13

7

George Wallace
1997-08-24

7.137

Empire
2015-01-07

Orson Welles' Great Mysteries

6.75

Orson Welles' Great Mysteries
1973-09-01