Post by sliderocker on Jul 14, 2021 22:16:52 GMT -5
One of my personal favorite actors, William Smith, has died at the age of 88. He starred in the 1965-67 western-comedy Laredo and was the last surviving star of that series. He was tall, rugged and handsome. He and his Laredo co-star Peter Brown were lifelong friends.
After the series was canceled by NBC in 1967, Smith would go on to costar in several notable roles. including that of Anthony Falconetti in the 1970s TV miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man, and he was known as primarily a brawler in many of those films. He costarred with his friend Clint Eastwood in the follow up to Every Which Way But Loose, Any Which Way You Can. Smith began his acting career in the 40s as a child actor and was one of the few who made the transition to adult without any problems. He was also born on his mother's 38th birthday.
Smith was the genuine article. He held a black belt in karate and was an eighth degree black belt, I believe. And he spoke several languages and worked for the UN when he was younger. He was a man of great accomplishments besides that of actor.
Appeared in the final episode of Batman (1966), the first episode of The Rockford Files (1974), and although he was in the final season cast, he was not in the final episode of Hawaii Five-O (1968), he received on-screen credit only.
www.nytimes.com/2021/07/11/arts/television/william-smith-dead.html
Among his many notable accomplishmentsand efforts:
Lifetime Achievement Award from Academy of Bodybuilding and Fitness
Being a record-holder for reverse-curling his own body weight was a rumor. The correct weight he reverse-curled was 163 lbs.
Two-time Arm Wrestling World Champion--200-lb. class, Petaluma, CA.
Competed as a downhill skier in AAU events at Mammoth Mountain, CA.
Competed in motocross events with Steve McQueen and doubled as one of the track riders in C.C. & Company (1970).
Had a 31-1 record as an amateur boxer
Held the US Air Force Light-Heavyweight Weightlifting Championship.
Performed over 5,100 continuous sit-ups over a five-hour period.
Played semi-pro football for the Wiesbaden Flyers in Germany.
Won a Muscle Beach contest by performing 35 inverted handstand dips
Honorary member of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures.
Direct descendant of Western figures Kit Carson and Daniel Boone.
Bruce Lee personally offered Smith the co-lead in Enter the Dragon (1973), but another film went over schedule and John Saxon stepped into the role.
Filmed an eight-minute test pilot portraying Caine for the TV series Kung Fu (1972), wearing prosthetic eyepieces to make him appear Chinese. The network wanted Smith for the role, but producer Jerry Thorpe ultimately deemed him too muscular and menacing.
Studied kung fu for eight years with Jimmy Woo and kenpo karate master Ed Parker.
Turned down the role of Tarzan at MGM but later stunt-doubled for former Tarzan Lex Barker while living in France.
Training partner of first Mr. Olympia, Larry Scott.
Fought California wildfires in the early 1950s.
Worked as a lifeguard on the French Riviera.
Worked as a trainer at [XXXXX]'s Hollywood Gym.
Child actor in both "A" and "B" movies of the 1940s. He stated in a horror magazine that during breaks on the set of The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), in which Smith played a village boy, the film's star Lon Chaney Jr., treated all of the children on the set to ice cream.
Threw the discus 151 feet at a time when the top AAU distance was 150.6 feet.
Won the Light-Heavyweight German-Austrian Boxing Championship while in the US Air Force.
His favorite writer is Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Recipient of the 2005 Southern California Motion Picture Council Award and of the 2008 Silver Spur Award.
Inducted into the Venice Muscle Beach Bodybuilding Hall of Fame 2010.
After the series was canceled by NBC in 1967, Smith would go on to costar in several notable roles. including that of Anthony Falconetti in the 1970s TV miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man, and he was known as primarily a brawler in many of those films. He costarred with his friend Clint Eastwood in the follow up to Every Which Way But Loose, Any Which Way You Can. Smith began his acting career in the 40s as a child actor and was one of the few who made the transition to adult without any problems. He was also born on his mother's 38th birthday.
Smith was the genuine article. He held a black belt in karate and was an eighth degree black belt, I believe. And he spoke several languages and worked for the UN when he was younger. He was a man of great accomplishments besides that of actor.
Appeared in the final episode of Batman (1966), the first episode of The Rockford Files (1974), and although he was in the final season cast, he was not in the final episode of Hawaii Five-O (1968), he received on-screen credit only.
www.nytimes.com/2021/07/11/arts/television/william-smith-dead.html
Among his many notable accomplishmentsand efforts:
Lifetime Achievement Award from Academy of Bodybuilding and Fitness
Being a record-holder for reverse-curling his own body weight was a rumor. The correct weight he reverse-curled was 163 lbs.
Two-time Arm Wrestling World Champion--200-lb. class, Petaluma, CA.
Competed as a downhill skier in AAU events at Mammoth Mountain, CA.
Competed in motocross events with Steve McQueen and doubled as one of the track riders in C.C. & Company (1970).
Had a 31-1 record as an amateur boxer
Held the US Air Force Light-Heavyweight Weightlifting Championship.
Performed over 5,100 continuous sit-ups over a five-hour period.
Played semi-pro football for the Wiesbaden Flyers in Germany.
Won a Muscle Beach contest by performing 35 inverted handstand dips
Honorary member of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures.
Direct descendant of Western figures Kit Carson and Daniel Boone.
Bruce Lee personally offered Smith the co-lead in Enter the Dragon (1973), but another film went over schedule and John Saxon stepped into the role.
Filmed an eight-minute test pilot portraying Caine for the TV series Kung Fu (1972), wearing prosthetic eyepieces to make him appear Chinese. The network wanted Smith for the role, but producer Jerry Thorpe ultimately deemed him too muscular and menacing.
Studied kung fu for eight years with Jimmy Woo and kenpo karate master Ed Parker.
Turned down the role of Tarzan at MGM but later stunt-doubled for former Tarzan Lex Barker while living in France.
Training partner of first Mr. Olympia, Larry Scott.
Fought California wildfires in the early 1950s.
Worked as a lifeguard on the French Riviera.
Worked as a trainer at [XXXXX]'s Hollywood Gym.
Child actor in both "A" and "B" movies of the 1940s. He stated in a horror magazine that during breaks on the set of The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), in which Smith played a village boy, the film's star Lon Chaney Jr., treated all of the children on the set to ice cream.
Threw the discus 151 feet at a time when the top AAU distance was 150.6 feet.
Won the Light-Heavyweight German-Austrian Boxing Championship while in the US Air Force.
His favorite writer is Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Recipient of the 2005 Southern California Motion Picture Council Award and of the 2008 Silver Spur Award.
Inducted into the Venice Muscle Beach Bodybuilding Hall of Fame 2010.