Clarence Williams III

Clarence Williams III

Clarence Williams III (August 21, 1939 – June 4, 2021) was an American actor. Williams was the son of a professional musician, Clarence "Clay" Williams Jr., and grandson of jazz and blues composer/pianist Clarence Williams and his singer-actress wife, Eva Taylor. Raised by his paternal grandmother, he became interested in acting after accidentally walking onto a stage at a theater below a Harlem YMCA. Williams began pursuing an acting career after spending two years as a U.S. Army paratrooper in C Company, 506th Infantry, of the 101st Airborne Division. He first appeared on Broadway in The Long Dream (1960). Continuing his work on stage, he appeared in Walk in Darkness (1963), Sarah and the Sax (1964), Doubletalk (1964), and King John. His breakout theatrical role was in William Hanley's Slow Dance on the Killing Ground, for which he received a Tony Award nomination. The New York Times drama critic Howard Taubman wrote of his performance, "Mr. Williams glides like a dancer, giving his long, fraudulently airy speeches the inner rhythms of fear and showing the nakedness of terror when he ceases to pretend." He also served as artist-in-residence at Brandeis University in 1966. Williams' breakout television role was as undercover cop Linc Hayes on the popular ABC counterculture police television series The Mod Squad (1968), along with fellow relative unknowns Michael Cole and Peggy Lipton. After the series ended in 1973, he worked in a variety of genres on stage and screen, from comedy (I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Half-Baked) to sci-fi (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), and drama (Purple Rain). Spanning over forty years, his career included the role of Prince's tormented father, who was also a musician, in Purple Rain (1984), A guest appearance in Miami Vice (1985), a recurring role in the surreal TV series Twin Peaks (1990), a good cop in Deep Cover (1992), a rioter in the mini-series Against the Wall (1994), and Wesley Snipes' chemically dependent father in Sugar Hill (1993). His other roles on television include Hill Street Blues, the Canadian cult classic The Littlest Hobo, Miami Vice, The Highwayman, Burn Notice, Everybody Hates Chris, Justified, Cold Case, and Law & Order. He can be seen in films such as 52 Pick-Up, Life, The Cool World, Deep Cover, Tales from the Hood, Half-Baked, King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis, Hoodlum, Frogs for Snakes, Starstruck, The General's Daughter, Reindeer Games, Impostor, and as the early jazz musician Jelly Roll Morton in The Legend of 1900. He also played a supporting role as George Wallace's fictional African-American butler and caretaker in the 1997 TNT film George Wallace. From 2003 to 2007, Williams had a recurring role as Philby Cross in the Mystery Woman film series on the Hallmark Channel. He appeared in all but the first of the eleven films alongside Kellie Martin (J.E. Freeman played Philby in the Mystery Woman first film). In the seventh (Mystery Woman: At First Sight) film, he reunited with his Mod Squad co-star Michael Cole. He played Bumpy Johnson in the film American Gangster. From 2005 to 2007 Williams had another recurring role as the voice of Councilor Andam on the Disney animated series American Dragon: Jake Long. Williams died in Los Angeles, on June 4, 2021, at the age of 81, from colon cancer. He is buried in St Charles Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.
Known For: Acting
Birthday: 1939-08-21
Place of Birth: New York City, New York, USA
Also Known As: Clarence Williams

Movies List of Clarence Williams III

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Reindeer Games

2000 Movie
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Perfect Victims

1988 Movie
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Hoodlum

1997 Movie
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Against the Wall

1994 Movie
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Tales from the Hood

1995 Movie
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Half Baked

1998 Movie
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The Love Bug

1997 Movie
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The Brave

1997 Movie
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Mindstorm

2001 Movie
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Purple Rain

1984 Movie
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The Immortals

1995 Movie
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Sugar Hill

1994 Movie
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52 Pick-Up

1986 Movie
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Happy Here and Now

2002 Movie
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The Butler

2013 Movie
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Blue Hill Avenue

2001 Movie
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The Last Innocent Man

1987 Movie
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Deadfall

1993 Movie
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The Cool World

1963 Movie
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The Legend of 1900

1998 Movie
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George Wallace

1997 Movie
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Deep Cover

1992 Movie
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Ali: An American Hero

2000 Movie
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The Silencers

1996 Movie
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Frogs for Snakes

1998 Movie
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Ritual

2000 Movie
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American Gangster

2007 Movie
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The Way of War

2009 Movie
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Maniac Cop 2

1990 Movie
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A Day in the Life

2009 Movie
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Judgement

1995 Movie
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Starstruck

1998 Movie
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Constellation

2007 Movie
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Sprung

1997 Movie
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Civility

2000 Movie
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American Nightmares

2018 Movie
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Life

1999 Movie
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The Road to Galveston

1996 Movie
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Impostor

2001 Movie
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The X Team

2003 Movie