William Windom

Veteran character lead of theater, film and television since the 1950s, William Windom long excelled at playing harried businessmen, discontented suburbanites, and other middle-class guys under pressure. In his maturity, Windom became comfortably ensconced in roles as venerable authority figures - fathers, judges, clergymen and other professionals. 1960s-era sitcom cultists remember his Emmy-winning portrayal of John Monroe, an anxiety-ridden cartoonist who shifted back-and-forth between the real world and the animated realm of his sketchpad, on "My World... and Welcome to It" (NBC, 1969-1970). This charming show was based on the writings and drawings of humorist James Thurber whom Windom later portrayed on stage in two one-man shows. Windom remained a frequent presence on TV through the decades in guest spots (memorably as a vengeful starship captain in "The Doomsday Machine" episode of "Star Trek"), TV-movies and in the recurring role of Dr. Seth Hazlitt on CBS's long-running mystery hit "Murder, She Wrote."

Windom began acting on stage regularly in the 40s as a member of the American Repertory Company. His subsequent Broadway credits include "Androcles and the Lion," "The World of Suzie Wong," and "Come Blow Your Horn." Windom made his feature debut as the prosecuting attorney in "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962) and went on to alternate between film, TV and theater. His feature credits include "The Detective" (1968) as a closeted, self-hating murderer of gay men, Robert Altman's "Brewster McCloud" (1970), and "Escape From the Planet of the Apes" (1972) as the president. In later years, Windom appeared in supporting roles in two John Hughes comedies, "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" (1987) and "She's Having a Baby" (1988), as well as the Jodie Foster/Richard Gere drama "Sommersby" (1993).