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Post by politicidal on Jul 10, 2021 2:26:51 GMT
Best known for his roles in Any Which Way You Can; the villain Anthony Falconetti in the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man; as Conan's father in Conan the Barbarian; and several television appearances.
I also remember him as the villain in this terrible movie called Piranha, Piranha with Ahna Capri.
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Post by petrolino on Jul 10, 2021 2:32:18 GMT
R.I.P.
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Post by OldAussie on Jul 10, 2021 2:38:28 GMT
And a Columbo guest who wasn't killer or victim. Always got a kick out of seeing him in anything.
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Post by Prime etc. on Jul 10, 2021 2:46:19 GMT
And in Kolchak the Night Stalker--he was the rare partner of sorts for Kolchak.
He called Kolchak "Chuck."
Atlantis the Lost Continent--I saw him last.
He did quite a number of blaxploitation and biker movies too.
Piranha, Piranha is mentioned in the Hollywood Reporter obituary.
Darker Than Amber--he has a real fight with Rod Taylor and in Policewoman 1974--a low-budget movie-he gets his ass handed to him.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jul 10, 2021 4:19:59 GMT
The most generic of names was no impediment to making an impression whenever he was onscreen. Here, he's about to get bested by James Garner in The Rockford Files pilot film (courtesy of some liquid hand soap spread across a men's room floor).
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Post by Captain Spencer on Jul 10, 2021 4:26:52 GMT
Had an extremely busy career as a character actor. He was very good as Captain Ripley in Maniac Cop.
R.I.P.
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Post by timshelboy on Jul 10, 2021 9:57:21 GMT
a really memorable hissable old school villain in RICH MAN POOR MAN. I always enjoyed him. RIP
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Post by teleadm on Jul 10, 2021 16:13:13 GMT
Even big men get old and fragile.
My first memory of William was in an episodes of The Rockford Files. Later offcourse as Falconetti in Rich Man Poor Man, both series.
R.I.P. William Smith
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Post by Prime etc. on Jul 10, 2021 18:00:30 GMT
"In this scene no stuntmen were used because of the small room. According to Rod Taylor (5' 10") Will Smith (6'2", 200 lbs, Austrian boxing record 31W-1L, body builder & two time world champion arm-wrestler) forgot the routine and belted Rod, causing blood to splat everywhere. Rod wiped his face and shouted "KEEP THE CAMERAS ROLLING!" and the rest of the fight was adlibbed. Rod ended up breaking three of Smith's ribs (Those pounding body shots at 0.48] and Smith broke Ron's nose. Smith (a veteran of numerous punch-ups) called it "the best fight scene I ever worked on." (Rod Taylor. An Aussie in Hollywood. Vagg, S. Bear Manor Media 2010 )
From William Smith: "The classic fight between Rod Taylor and I in “Darker Than Amber.” That was a different story. Fight choreography and staging went out the window when Rod decided to really hit me. And so the fight was on. That was a real fight with real blood and real broken bones. Rod is a skilled fighter, and, at the same time a real scrapper. Now that was a good fight!"
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Post by movielover on Jul 10, 2021 18:11:07 GMT
He also played the villain in Red Dawn (1984), the cop in Rumble Fish, and the store clerk in The Outsiders who shoots Matt Dillon. He was in so many small roles, but I always recognized him and remembered him.
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Post by snsurone on Jul 10, 2021 21:12:16 GMT
Wasn't he a regular in the western comedy LAREDO?
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