Уильям Эмметт Смит: Жизнь и карьера актера

American actor (1933–2021)

William Emmett Smith (March 24, 1933 – July 5, 2021) was an American actor. In a Hollywood career spanning more than 79 years, he appeared in almost three hundred feature films and television productions in a wide variety of character roles, often villainous or brutal, accumulating over 980 total credits, with his best known role being the menacing Anthony Falconetti in the 1970s television mini series Rich Man, Poor Man. Smith is also known for films like Any Which Way You Can (1980), Conan the Barbarian (1982), Rumble Fish (1983), and Red Dawn (1984), as well as lead roles in several exploitation films during the 1970s and 1990s. While working on his doctorate, Smith was offered a contract with MGM, which would pave his career. From 1961 to 2014, Smith established himself as a highly prolific and profoundly talented character actor with roles in a diverse range of genres. Although often typecast as an anti social personality, he sporadically got the opportunity to prove his effectiveness in other kinds of roles as a law enforcement officer or an anti heroic protagonist. He was a regular on the 1961 ABC television series The Asphalt Jungle, portraying police Sergeant Danny Keller. In 1964, he appeared in the episode "The Rope of Lies" as Bill, a ranch hand from the Shiloh Ranch in the syndicated television series The Virginian. He appeared in the 1964 Wagon Train episode "The Bob Stuart Story" and also gave a moving performance as the orphaned Native American valet who rails against violence opposite Guy Stockwell in "The Richard Bloodgood Story" S8 E10 which aired on 11/28/1964. One of his earliest leading roles was Joe Riley, a good natured Texas Ranger with arms of steel on the NBC western series Laredo (1965–1967). Smith guest starred as Jude Bonner on James Arness's long lived western Gunsmoke in a 1972 episode, "Hostage! "; his character abducts, beats, and apparently rapes (off screen) 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". Smith joined the cast of the final season of Hawaii Five O as Detective James "Kimo" Carew, a new officer in the Five O unit. He had previously appeared with Jack Lord in Stoney Burke. Smith starred in one episode each of the Adam West Batman TV series (in the episode "Minerva, Mayhem and Millionaires" as Adonis, one of the minions of the title guest villainess portrayed by Zsa Zsa Gabor), I Dream of Jeannie (in the episode "Operation: First Couple on the Moon" as Turk Parker), Kung Fu and as The Treybor, a ruthless warlord, in the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode "Buck's Duel to the Death". Smith also made guest appearances opposite James Garner in the 1974 two hour pilot for The Rockford Files (titled "Backlash of the Hunter") and George Peppard in The A Team (in two appearances as different characters, in the first season's "Pros and Cons" and the fourth season's "The A Team Is Coming, The A Team Is Coming"). In the 1976 television miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man, he portrayed Anthony Falconetti, nemesis of the Jordache family, and reprised the role in the sequel, Rich Man, Poor Man Book II. and a staged fight scene became a real fight as the cameras continued to roll. Also in 1970, Smith featured in two biker flicks Nam's Angels (originally released under the title "The Losers") co starring Bernie Hamilton and C. C. and Company, the latter of which was directed by Seymour Robbie and written by Roger Smith. He starred in 1972's Grave of the Vampire as James Eastman and in 1973's Invasion of the Bee Girls, and 1975's The Swinging Barmaids. In 1972 and 1975, respectively, he appeared in two popular Blaxploitation films, Hammer and the controversially titled Boss Nigger, both with Fred Williamson. In 1972, he appeared in a Columbo episode "The Greenhouse Jungle" as Ken Nichols, a handsome swindler who may be a person of interest in Columbo's murder investigation. After that, he appeared as a vindictive sergeant in Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977), as a drag racing legend in Fast Company (1979), as the title character's father in Conan the Barbarian (1982) (a movie in which he was also briefly considered for the lead role), as bad guy Matt Diggs in The Frisco Kid (1979), as Clint Eastwood's bare knuckle opponent Jack Wilson in 1980's Any Which Way You Can and had the top villainous role as a Soviet Spetsnaz commander in 1984's Red Dawn. In 1983, Smith appeared in two films from Francis Ford Coppola in The Outsiders as a store clerk and in Rumble Fish as a police officer. In 1985, he landed the starring role of Brodie Hollister in the short lived Disney Western series Wildside and another role as the bookmaker Dutchman's strongarm enforcer known simply as "Panama Hat", in director Richard Brooks's final movie, Fever Pitch (1985). From the late 80's on and into the new millennium, Smith's icy stare, physique and continuous essaying of scene stealing character villainy continued in a string of B features and direct to video productions. Many were continuing collaborations with filmmakers he had worked with years prior along with other character players whom also achieved cult status in their own right. Such names include Robert Z'Dar, Joe Estevez, Tim Thomerson, James Drury, Lloyd Kaufman, Gary Graver, Wolf Larson and Jürgen Prochnow. In 2002, Smith voiced Draaga, an alien gladiator, in the Justice League episode "War World". Although it was reported that Smith retired in 2014, he made a cameo appearance in Irresistible (2020).

In 2009, Smith published The Poetic Works of William Smith.