William Smith

Actor · 1933–2021 · Columbia, Missouri, USA

Highest rated as cast or director

Biography

William Smith was an American film and television actor who appeared in more than 300 feature films and television productions, best known for playing Anthony Falconetti on the TV mini series "Rich Man, Poor Man". He held a BA from Syracuse and an MA in Russian Studies from UCLA. Born in Columbia, Missouri, Smith began his acting career at the age of eight in 1942; he entered films as a child actor in such films as The Ghost of Frankenstein, The Song of Bernadette and Meet Me in St. Louis. He was a regular on the 1961 ABC television series The Asphalt Jungle, portraying police Sergeant Danny Keller. One of his earliest leading roles was as Joe Riley, a Texas Ranger on the NBC western series Laredo. In 1967, Smith guest starred as Jude Bonner on James Arness's long-lived western Gunsmoke. Smith was cast as John Richard Parker, brother of Cynthia Ann Parker, both taken hostage in Texas by the Comanche, in the 1969 episode "The Understanding" of the syndicated television series Death Valley Days, which was hosted by Robert Taylor. In the story line, Parker contracts the plague, is left for dead by his fellow Comanche warriors, and is rescued by his future Mexican wife, Yolanda (Emily Banks). He played outlaw turned temporary sheriff Hendry Brown in the 1969 episode "The Restless Man". In that story line, Brown takes the job of sheriff to tame a lawless town, begins to court a young woman (again played by Emily Banks), but soon returns to his deadly outlaw ways in search of bigger thrills. On Gunsmoke, Smith appeared in a 1972 episode, "Hostage!"; his character beats and rapes Amanda Blake's character Miss Kitty Russell and shoots her twice in the back. Smith has been described as the "greatest bad-guy character actor of our time".

Acted in 217

2020s

2020
Irresistible
Hofbrau Bar Fly
54

2010s

2018
Doses of Horror
Neil Agar ("A Dose of Bee Stings" segment) (archive footage) (uncredited)
2014
Rock n' Roll Cops Lite
Rinaldi (archive footage)

2000s

2008
The Boneyard Collection
Bill, the First Director (segment "Her Morbid Desires")
2007
Rapturious
Sheriff
32
2005
Hell to Pay
Emil Brax
2004
Y.M.I.
Cal
2003
The Rock 'n Roll Cops
Rinaldi
A Mission to Kill
Movie
Zombiegeddon
Lord Zombie
31
God Has a Rap Sheet
Lucifer
2002
Deadly Memories
Sheriff Taggart
2001
Justice League
Draaga (voice) · 2 episodes
84
The Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula
Count Dracula
2000
Vice
Spooky Harlow
Conan Unchained: The Making of 'Conan'
Conan's Father (archive footage)
Never Look Back
Lee Clayton

1990s

1999
Debbie Does Damnation
Movie
Wasteland Justice
Moon
1998
Blood of His Own
Movie
Broken Vessels
Bo
Heat of Las Vegas
Mario Verelli
1997
The Shooter
Jerry Krants
50
Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction
Wes Tronker (segment "Devil's Tattoo") · 1 episode
77
Hollywood Cops
Rinaldi
Doublecross on Costa's Island
L. E.
1996
Uncle Sam
Major
51
The Colony
Theo Maxwell
Nash Bridges
Boris Zarkov · 1 episode
67
Neon Signs
Clyde
Raw Energy
Sam Stompkins
1995
Big Sister 2000
The Man
1994
Manosaurus
Sheriff Todd
Due South
Harold Geiger · 1 episode
79
Maverick
Riverboat Poker Player
68
Taken Alive
L.E.
1993
GetEven
Normad
Legend of The Roller Blade Seven
Pharoah
Walker, Texas Ranger
Silas Quint · 1 episode
61
Return of the Roller Blade Seven
Pharoah
1992
Vinnie & Bobby
Warren Bean · 1 episode
American Me
Deacon
71
The Last Riders
Hammer
Feast
Det. George Bordelli
Shadow of the Dragon
Eric Brunner
Dark Secrets
Robert
1991
The Roller Blade Seven
Pharoah
Cybernator
Colonel Peck
Spirit of the Eagle
Hatchett
Kiss and Be Killed
Det. Murdoch
1990
The Final Sanction
Maj. Galashkin
Shades of L.A.
TV · 1 Season · Drama
Empire of Ash III
Lucas
Cartel
Mason
Emperor of the Bronx
Fitz
Instant Karma
Pop
Forgotten Heroes
General Gregori Zelenkov