Guy Williams (actor)

Guy Williams

Williams in 1965
Born Armando Joseph Catalano
(1924-01-14)January 14, 1924
New York, New York, United States
Died April 30, 1989(1989-04-30) (aged 65)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Cause of death Brain Aneurysm
Nationality American
Occupation Actor
Years active 1951–1968
Spouse(s) Janice Cooper
(1948–1983) (divorced)
Children Guy Steven Catalano
Antoinette Catalano

Guy Williams, born Armando Joseph Catalano (January 14, 1924 – c. April 30, 1989[1]) was an Italian-American actor and former fashion model. He usually played swashbuckling action heroes in the 1950s and 1960s, but never quite achieved movie-star status,[2] despite his appearance (including hazel eyes, 6′ 3″ (1m90) height, and 190 lb (86 kg) weight) and charisma, which helped launch his early successful photographic modeling career.

Among his most notable achievements were two TV series: Zorro, in the title role and Lost in Space, as the father of the Robinson family. The sci-fi TV program was popular, noted for the design of the sleek silver spacesuits, which Guy Williams wore in many publicity photos. His hobbies included: astronomy, chess, music (mostly classical), fencing, tropical fish, and sailing: he owned a 40-foot (12m) ketch called The Oceana.

During most of the 1970s Guy Williams frequently visited and worked in television shows in Argentina, where he was most revered.[3] He retired in the early 1980s near Buenos Aires, where he died of a brain aneurysm in 1989.

Biography

Early life

Guy Williams was born of Sicilian parentage on January 14, 1924, as Armand Joseph Catalano in the Washington Heights area of New York City. His parents, insurance broker Attilio and Clare Catalano, were from the Island of Sicily, and were by then living in poverty. He grew up in Brooklyn's Little Italy neighborhood and was called Armando (the Italian version of his name) by his family. Attilio was the son of a wealthy timber grower in Messina who purchased land in New Jersey).

In NYC's Public School 189, Armand stood out in mathematics. Later he attended George Washington High School, where he occasionally worked in its soda fountain. He then left to attend the Peekskill Military Academy where he was an enthusiastic student. His interests included football and chess.

First artistic steps

Armand wanted to be an actor, spurred by his good looks and 6'3" height. When he decided not to continue studying, his mother, who later became an executive of a foreign film company, was disappointed because it was expected that he would follow in his father's footsteps as an insurance broker.

After working as a welder, cost accountant and aircraft-parts inspector during World War II, Armand became a salesman in the luggage department at Wanamaker's. While there, he decided to send his photos to a modeling agency. He quickly found great success with assignments resulting in photographs in newspapers and magazines, including Harper's Bazaar, as well as on billboards and book covers. He was paid well and became famous. He then adopted the name "Guy Williams" (1940s).

In 1946, he signed a single-year contract offered by MGM and moved to Hollywood. Williams had a featured role as a pilot in the film The Beginning or the End (1947), about the first U.S. deployed atom bomb. He appeared in only a few films and soon moved back to New York.

In 1948, to advertise cigarettes while skiing, Williams did an extensive filming trip accompanied by Janice Cooper, a beautiful John Robert Powers model. During the long photographic sessions, they fell in love, marrying on December 8, just after they returned to New York City. They had two children, Guy Steven Catalano (aka Guy Williams, Jr.) and Antoinette Catalano (aka Toni Williams), both became actors.

By 1950, Williams was filming some of the pioneering television commercials in the USA. His father died in 1951, never to witness his son's full rise to fame. In 1952, Williams obtained a new one-year contract with Universal-International and moved to Hollywood.

Early Hollywood (1952–1957)

Guy Williams appeared in small supporting roles in films, including:

In 1953, he suffered a serious accident when he fell from a horse and was dragged over 200 yards, resulting in a long scar on his left shoulder. Because of this he returned to New York to continue acting and modeling there and temporarily abandoned his film career. In 1953, he left Universal and became a freelancer for movies produced by Allied Artists and Warner Brothers.

Zorro (1957–1959, 1960–1961)

Early in 1957, Williams appeared twice in the role of Steve Clay in the syndicated television series, Men of Annapolis, a military drama set at the United States Naval Academy. He also appeared in the Rod Cameron drama State Trooper in the episode "No Fancy Cowboys" about the defrauding of guests at a dude ranch.

About this time, the Walt Disney Company was casting for Disney's Zorro, a new television series based on the character. To play the main character, the chosen actor would have to be handsome and have some experience with fencing. Walt Disney himself interviewed Guy Williams, telling him to start growing a mustache "neither very long or thick." The exclusive contract paid Williams the then very high wage of $2,500 per week, as he had demanded. Williams resumed his professional training in fencing with the Belgian champion Fred Cavens (who also trained Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power), since the show required sword fights in most episodes. He also took guitar lessons with the famous Vicente Gomez.

Williams's first appearance as Zorro was on the Disney anthology television series "The Fourth Anniversary Show", wherein he challenged the notion that Zorro was a "fictional character".

The series of half-hour episodes finally debuted on ABC on October 10, 1957. It was an instant hit in the USA.

Seventy-eight episodes were produced over two seasons (1957–1959), and two movies were edited from TV episodes: The Sign of Zorro (1958) and Zorro the Avenger (1959). The theme song was composed by Norman Foster and George Bruns and performed by The Mellomen; it reached #17 on the Hit Parade. In 1959, a legal dispute arose between Disney and ABC, causing a hiatus and the eventual cancellation of Zorro. However, four hour-long episodes were later produced with the original primary cast, including Williams. These episodes were released as part of the Walt Disney Presents series between October 30, 1960, and April 12, 1961.

On March 5, 1959, as Zorro was ending its original run, Williams was a guest star, along with Sally Brophy and Tom Nolan, on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.[4]

In 1962, Williams played Sir Miles Hendon in the Walt Disney's The Prince and the Pauper, which was shot in England.

After finishing his contract with Disney, Guy Williams went to Europe to film two movies:

Bonanza (1964)

In 1964, Guy Williams returned to Hollywood to resume his career, being added to the cast of the NBC's hit TV series Bonanza as Ben's nephew Will Cartwright. Williams found himself forced out of the series after only five episodes, despite being originally slated to become one of the four permanent leads. He was originally to replace Pernell Roberts (Adam Cartwright), who had planned to leave the show at the end of that season, thus allowing the format with four regular leads to continue.

Roberts decided late in the season to stay for one more year. This, plus the cast's concern that replacement of a regular character might create a threatening precedent, cost Williams the role.

Lost in Space (1965–1968)

Williams and June Lockhart in Lost in Space

In 1965, Guy Williams returned to weekly television in the popular CBS science-fiction family series Lost In Space.

Guy Williams played Professor John Robinson, expert in astrophysics and geology, who commanded the mission of the Jupiter 2 spaceship, taking his family in a voyage to colonize the Alpha Centauri star system.

Retirement in Argentina (1979–1989)

After Lost in Space, Guy Williams decided to retire in order to better enjoy his wealth, which had been largely generated by investments in several businesses, buying and selling on the stock market. When Guy had first visited Argentina in 1973 he was quite taken by the admiration and fascination the Argentine people expressed for him and his character of 'El Zorro'. In return, Guy fell in love with the culture and people of Argentina. In the late 1970s he retired, except for personal appearances, to Recoleta, an upscale neighborhood of Buenos Aires.

In subsequent years, Guy Williams also brought to Argentina some of the original cast members of the Zorro series, including Henry Calvin who played Sergeant Garcia. Williams even formed a circus (Circo Real Madrid) with the local fencing champion -and later actor- Fernando Lupiz, traveling all over South America (1977).

In 1983, Williams returned to Los Angeles for two final television appearances. He joined Lost in Space cast members June Lockhart, Angela Cartwright, Bob May and Marta Kristen for two celebrity episodes of Family Feud, against the casts of Batman and Gilligan's Island respectively.[5][6] He later appeared as a guest on Good Morning America.[7]

Death

Later in 1989, while spending solitary months in Argentina, Williams disappeared. The local police searched his apartment in Recoleta on May 6, 1989,[8] finding his body. Owing to his great popularity in Argentina, his ashes lay for two years at the Argentine Actors' Society cemetery at La Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires. In 1991, in accordance with his wishes, Williams's ashes were spread over the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, California.

Homages

A number of books have been written which feature Williams, particularly in his role as Zorro. This includes the Zorro Television Companion, detailing the making of Disney series,[12] as well as a biography by Antoinette Girgenti Lane, Guy Williams: The Man Behind the Mask (2005).[13]

A collection of original Zorro short stories, some inspired specifically by Guy Williams, was edited by Richard Dean Starr and released in 2008. It includes an introduction by Guy Williams, Jr. (with Matthew Baugh) and an afterword by Isabel Allende.[14] The cover art on the trade paperback edition by Douglas Klauba was an homage to Guy Williams.

References

  1. ↑ "A Brief Biography of Guy Williams". The Guy Williams Webshrine. Retrieved October 17, 2013. His body was found on Saturday May 6, 1989 but he had already been dead for a number of days; he was last seen alive on April 30; his death date has often been reported as May 7, but this was already a day after his body was found, and probably almost a week after he actually died.
  2. ↑ "Guy Williams Filmography". The New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  3. ↑ The final pirouette of the authentic Zorro, by Marcelo Raimon Página/12 (in Spanish)
  4. ↑ "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show". ctva.biz. Retrieved November 25, 2010.
  5. ↑ Family Feud: Batman Vs. Lost in Space YouTube
  6. ↑ Family Feud: Gilligan's Island Vs. Lost in Space YouTube
  7. ↑ "Guy Williams". Actordatabase.com. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  8. ↑ Lee, John H. (May 8, 1989). "Guy Williams, `Zorro' of TV Series, Dies at 65". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  9. ↑ Nina Siegal (May 28, 2000). "Fan of a Masked TV Swashbuckler Makes His Mark". The New York Times. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  10. ↑ Jose Martinez (May 19, 2000). "Zorro Slashes Grand Concourse Walk Of Fame Adds Buy Williams". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  11. ↑ "'Zorro' gets Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame". Telegraph Herald. August 5, 2001. p. 9. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  12. ↑ Dooley, Jerry (2005). The Zorro Television Companion: A Critical Appreciation. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786420588.
  13. ↑ Girgenti Lane, Antoinette (2005). Guy Williams: The Man Behind the Mask. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1593930165.
  14. ↑ Starr, Richard Dean (2008). Tales Of Zorro. Moonstone. ISBN 978-1933076317.
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