Van Williams

Van Williams was an American actor born on February 27, 1934 in Fort Worth, Texas. After attending Texas Christian University and studying animal husbandry and business, Williams moved to Hawaii. There, he was working as a diving instructor when he was discovered by producer Mike Todd, who was then married to Elizabeth Taylor.

Todd urged Williams to move to Hollywood and take up acting, which he did. He made his television and professional acting debut in the TV movie "King Richard II" (NBC, 1954) as an uncredited servant. After building a number of brief TV credits, Williams joined the main cast of a TV show, playing Ken Madison on detective series "Bourbon Street Beat" (ABC, 1959-1960), then a version of the same character on "Surfside 6" (ABC, 1960-62).

Williams acted regularly over the course of the early '60s, popping up in other William T. Orr-created detective shows, and even "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (CBS, 1961-66) and "The Beverly Hillbillies" (CBS, 1962-1971) in 1965. Williams landed the role of his career when he played the title character on pulp hero action show "The Green Hornet" (ABC, 1966-67). He starred alongside an up-and-coming Bruce Lee as sidekick Kato.

He also appeared in a few crossover episodes of ABC hero peer "Batman" (ABC, 1966-68) as the Green Hornet; eventually, he would be neighbors with "Batman" star Adam West in Ketchum, Idaho. After the cancellation of "The Green Hornet," Williams worked less and less, making episodic appearances and starring in the short-lived family series "Westwind" (NBC, 1975-76). He became disillusioned by acting, which he saw as a business move, and retired.

Williams was a Reserve Deputy Sherriff and volunteer firefighter for Los Angeles County, and made his final screen appearance as a director of "The Green Hornet" in the biopic "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" (1993). Williams died from renal failure on November 28, 2016, at age 82, in Scottsdale, Arizona.