And, although his father was no fan of him riding motorcycles, lucky for the movie industry that didn’t stop him. Dirt bikes, choppers, cruisers, three-wheelers … Only one “actor” legitimately rode them all on screen … William Smith.Ī larger than life figure, standing 6’2” (186cm) with a muscular frame and rugged good looks, Bill exemplified power and danger, and by all accounts, suited what motorcycle films needed. But, motorcycles hadn’t yet used an actor to their advantage. Actors had used motorcycles on film to their advantage and audiences responded. By the closing of the 1960s, biker-era audiences had seen it all when it came to motorcycles in film. They were used by actors like Marlon Brando to create drama and suspense, and they were used by screen legends such as Steve McQueen to create action and thrills. Bikes were used by comedians such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin to make people laugh. Since the early days of films, motorcycles have played an important role. Here are excerpts freom an article Joe wrote for us last year:īill’s profession as an actor and his early association with motorcycles catapulted him to biker stardom for several reasons, but the basic explanation is that there simply wasn’t anyone like him. He wrote about Smiths life in his 168-page biography, The Words and Images of a Hollywood Legend: William Smith. It got to a point that if you were watching a biker movie in the early part of the 1970s, then most likely, William Smith was in it, says American freelance writer Joe Zimmerman. With a rumoured budget of around $85,000 and a two-week production schedule, Run, Angel, Run! grossed an estimated $13 million at the box office, solidifying Bill as the go-to biker guy. However, his claim to fame as the king of the biker films began with the first of many biker films with Run, Angel, Run! in 1969.
His film credits included Conan’s father, Corin, in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movie Conan The Barbarian and Clint Eastwood’s fighting revival in Any Which Way You Can.
WILLIAM SMITH ACTOR GRAVE SERIES
He has performed in TV series such as Perry Mason, Combat, Batman, Hawaii Five-0, I Dream of Jeannie, The Rockford Files, CHiPS, Hunter and Rich Man, Poor Man. They were part of an impressive list of nearly 300 film and television appearances. He had a successful career in television as Joe Riley, on the western comedy TV series Laredo where he rode horses, along with his appearances on Wagon Train and The Virginian. When his family moved to California, the 17-year-old started riding motorcycles which served him well in his career as an actor. By the time he reached his teens he was a skilled rider. Smith III and his daughter Sherri Anne Cervelli.The “king of biker films”, William Smith, has died of natural causes, aged 86, after a long battle with alzheimers disease.īorn on 24 March 24 1933, in Columbia, Missouri, on his family’s ranch, Bill was riding horses before he could walk. He is survived by his wife, his son William E. He was inducted into the Muscle Beach Venice Bodybuilding Hall of Fame in 2010 and became an honorary member of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures in 2000. Smith was also an accomplished athlete, receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Academy of Bodybuilding and Fitness in 1995. He flew on secret missions over the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries, according to a statement shared by his wife. In addition to his acting career, Smith enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean War in 1951 and was recruited by the National Security Agency due to his fluency in multiple languages. Suzzanne Douglas, star of 'The Parent 'Hood' and 'When They See Us,' dead at 64 His last role was in the 2020 film "Irresistible," written and directed by Jon Stewart.
More recently, Smith appeared as a regular on the last season of the original “Hawaii Five-0” from 1979 to 1980 and in the Western series “Wildside” in 1985. The 6-foot-2 actor's career saw him tussle onscreen with some of the most rugged leading men in Hollywood, including Clint Eastwood, Rod Taylor, Richard Harris, Yul Brynner and Nick Nolte. She did not disclose his cause of death.Īccording to IMDb, Smith starred in several films and television series from 1942 to 2020, including 1942's “The Ghost of Frankenstein," 1943's “The Song of Bernadette" and 1982's "Conan the Barbarian." In the 1970s, his fame grew playing the villainous Falconetti in "Rich Man, Poor Man," an early and extremely popular TV miniseries. Joanne Cervelli Smith, his wife of 31 years, confirmed the actor's death to USA TODAY on Friday. William Smith, an action star from classic films like "Any Which Way You Can" and "Red Dawn," died on Monday.
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