William Smithers

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William Smithers (born 10 July 1927 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American actor, perhaps best known for his recurring role in the television series Dallas as Jeremy Wendell. He appeared in the series in 1981 and from 1984 to 1989. He attended Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia and Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

After his freshman year, he was chosen to play the leading role of Thomas Jefferson in the first production of Paul Green's The Common Glory, presented at Williamsburg, VA. NY Times critic Brooks Atkinson called him "worth encouraging."

In 1951, he made his Broadway debut as Tybalt in the Dwight Deere Wiman production of Romeo and Juliet, starring Olivia de Havilland; for this performance he received a Theater World Award. In 1952 he was accepted as a Lifetime Member of the Actors Studio. In 1957 he received an Obie Award for his portrayal of Treplev in Anton Chekhov's The Sea Gull.

His other Broadway plays included Anouilh's Legend of Lovers, Calder Willingham's End As A Man, (begun as a project at the Actors Studio), Carson McCullers's The Square Root of Wonderful and Terence Rattigan's Man and Boy (performed in London and New York). Off-Broadway, he played leading roles in Frank Gilroy's Who'll Save the Plowboy? (Obie Award, Best Drama), Willingham's End As A Man (before the production went to Broadway), Sean O'Casey's Shadow of a Gunman (also begun as a Studio project) and George Bellak's The Troublemakers.

In 1965 he moved to Los Angeles to do the recurring role of David Schuster in the TV series "Peyton Place." He has guest-starred or appeared in nearly 400 television productions and in six feature films, most notably "Attack!" (Lt. Woodruff) and "Papillon" (Warden Barrot).

As the plaintiff in "Smithers vs. MGM," despite being threatened with blacklisting should he pursue the matter, he sued a multi-million-dollar corporation to protect his contractual rights with regard to star billing in the 1976 TV series "Executive Suite." In so doing, he won a case that was appealed all the way to the California Supreme Court. Now taught in entertainment law courses, this case established in law that star billing has monetary value.

He now lives in Santa Barbara, CA with his wife, acting teacher Lorrie Hull Smithers (author of Strasberg's Method: As Taught by Lorrie Hull, and with him co-producer of the training DVD The Method). From 2003-2005, he created, produced and directed the Santa Barbara Theatre of the Air for KCSB radio, broadcasting works of classic and contemporary playwrights.