William Smith
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".
226 acting credits · 1 directing credit
Acting · 226
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
Columbo
1971
Perry Mason
1957
Murder, She Wrote
1984
The A-Team
1983
Ironside
1967
Batman
1966
Lassie
1954
Mission: Impossible
1966
Knight Rider
1982
Hawaii Five-O
1968
Wagon Train
1957
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962
The Virginian
1962
The Six Million Dollar Man
1974
Hunter
1984
T. J. Hooker
1982
The Twilight Zone
1985
Due South
1994
Nash Bridges
1996
Airwolf
1984
Combat!
1962
Simon & Simon
1981
I Dream of Jeannie
1965
Daniel Boone
1964
Highway to Heaven
1984
Fantasy Island
1978
Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction
1997
Walker, Texas Ranger
1993
Police Woman
1974
Trapper John, M.D.
1979
The Fall Guy
1981
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
1983
CHiPs
1977
Gunsmoke
1955
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
1979
Matt Houston
1982
Vega$
1978
Kraft Suspense Theatre
1963
Hardcastle and McCormick
1983
Alias Smith and Jones
1971
Benson
1979
The Mod Squad
1968
Laredo
1965
Felony Squad
1966
Justice League
2001
Police Story
1973
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
1974
The Guns of Will Sonnett
1967
B. J. and the Bear
1979
Mr. Lucky
1959
Stoney Burke
1962
Code Red
1981
Julia
1968
Search
1972
Bronk
1975
Shades of L.A.
1990
Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II
1976
Conan the Barbarian
1982
The Outsiders
1983
Planet of the Apes
1974
The Wonderful World of Disney
1954
Here Come the Brides
1968
Masquerade
1983
Rich Man, Poor Man
1976
Logan's Run
1977
The Second Hundred Years
1967
Custer
1967
City of Angels
1976
Movin' On
1974
Any Which Way You Can
1980
Maverick
1994
The Yellow Rose
1983
The Master
1984
The Asphalt Jungle
1961
The Oregon Trail
1977
Death Valley Days
1952
Red Dawn
1984
Supercarrier
1988
Maniac Cop
1988
American Me
1992
Gilda
1946
Rumble Fish
1983
Irresistible
2020
Wildside
1985
Zero One
1962
Vinnie & Bobby
1992
Meet Me in St. Louis
1944
The Rebels
1979
Going My Way
1944
Never So Few
1959
36 Hours
1964
The Ed Wynn Show
1958
The Mean Season
1985
The Frisco Kid
1979
The Ghost of Frankenstein
1942
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
1945
Kung Fu
1972
Invasion of the Bee Girls
1973
The Ultimate Warrior
1975
Boss Nigger
1975
Twilight's Last Gleaming
1977
The Over the Hill Gang
1969
Bulletproof
1988
The Gazebo
1959
The Mating Game
1959
Mail Order Bride
1964
Hell Comes to Frogtown
1988
Eye of the Tiger
1986
Atlantis: The Lost Continent
1961
Seven
1979
I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now
1947
The Shooter
1997
Uncle Sam
1996
Zombiegeddon
2003
The Forgotten City of the Planet of the Apes
1980
The Last American Hero
1973
Crowhaven Farm
1970
Hammer
1972
Platoon Leader
1988
The Boy with Green Hair
1948
The Phantom Empire
1987
The Boneyard Collection
2008
Cartel
1990
The Deadly Trackers
1973
Conan Unchained: The Making of 'Conan'
2000
East L.A. Warriors
1989
GetEven
1993
The Colony
1996
Moon in Scorpio
1987
Backtrack!
1969
Ask Any Girl
1959
Instant Karma
1990
Run, Angel, Run!
1969
C.C. and Company
1970
The Man Hunter
1972
Black Samson
1974
L.A. Vice
1989
Tales of the Apple Dumpling Gang
1982
Hollywood Man
1976
The Thing with Two Heads
1972
Commando Squad
1987
Hollywood Cops
1997
The Sex Symbol
1974
Darker Than Amber
1970
Piranha
1972
The Losers
1970
Girls Town
1959
Shadow of the Dragon
1992
Fast Company
1979
Jungle Assault
1989
Terror in Beverly Hills
1989
The Rockford Files: Backlash of the Hunter
1974
Vice
2000
Fever Pitch
1985
Scorchy
1976
Three Guns for Texas
1968
Broken Vessels
1998
Kiss and Be Killed
1991
Doses of Horror
2018
The Jerk, Too
1984
Action U.S.A.
1989
Taken Alive
1994
Grave of the Vampire
1972
B.O.R.N.
1989
Big Sister 2000
1995
Empire of Ash III
1990
Win, Place or Steal
1975
Fall Guy: The John Stewart Story
2007
Prologue to Wounded Knee
1973
Y.M.I.
2004
Doublecross on Costa's Island
1997
Death Among Friends
1975
Memorial Valley Massacre
1988
Deadly Memories
2002
Never Look Back
2000
The Roller Blade Seven
1991
The Vampire Hunters Club
2001
Spirit of the Eagle
1991
Rapturious
2007
Legend of The Roller Blade Seven
1993
Policewomen
1974
Evil Altar
1988
Crackle of Death
1976
Feast
1992
The Swinging Barmaids
1975
The Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula
2001
Neon Signs
1996
Return of the Roller Blade Seven
1993
Deadly Breed
1989
Hell to Pay
2005
Hard Time Romance
1991
The Last Riders
1992
Blood & Guts
1978
Blackjack
1978
Raw Energy
1996
God Has a Rap Sheet
2003
Sweet Jesus, Preacherman
1973
Runaway, Runaway
1971
Slow Burn
1989
Forgotten Heroes
1990
The Final Sanction
1990
Dr. Minx
1975
Dark Secrets
1992
Heat of Las Vegas
1998
Debbie Does Damnation
1999
Red Nights
1988
Voices from the Graves
2006
Hell on the Battleground
1987
Chrome and Hot Leather
1971
Rock n' Roll Cops Lite
2014
Merchant of Evil
1991
Manosaurus
1994
The Rock 'n Roll Cops
2003
Angels Die Hard
1970
Emperor of the Bronx
1990
Cybernator
1991
Wasteland Justice
1999
Blood of His Own
1998
Inner Rage
2006
Eagle's Law
1988
A Mission to Kill
2003
The Badd One
1987
Killer Story
2004
A Taste of Hell
1973
