CI
Photo of Clarence Williams III

Clarence Williams III

Actor
Died June 4, 2021 (81 years)
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.
Movies & Shows on Plex
  • Deep Cover
  • Maniac Cop 2
  • Deadfall
  • What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
  • American Nightmares
  • A Day in the Life
  • On the Streets of L.A.
  • TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
Known For
  • The Legend of 1900
  • Tales from the Hood
  • Half Baked
  • The General's Daughter
  • Reindeer Games
  • Purple Rain
  • Deep Cover
  • The Brave
  • Hoodlum
  • Maniac Cop 2
  • The Mod Squad
  • Against the Wall
  • American Nightmares
  • 52 Pick-Up
  • The Way of War
  • Mystery Woman: Mystery Weekend
  • Mystery Woman: Snapshot
  • Mystery Woman: Game Time
  • Sugar Hill
  • Mystery Woman: At First Sight
  • Mystery Woman: Vision of a Murder
  • Mystery Woman: Wild West Mystery
  • Mystery Woman: Sing Me a Murder
  • Mystery Woman: In the Shadows

Filmography

2018
2018
2015
Empire (2015) (TV Series) · as Huey Jarvis
2013
The Butler · as Maynard
2010
Memphis Beat (TV Series) · as Leroy Hitch
2010
Justified (TV Series) · as Jones
2009
2009
The Way of War · as Mac
2007
American Gangster · as Bumpy Johnson (uncredited)
2007
Burn Notice (TV Series) · as Jean Pierre's Father
2007
2007
The Blue Hour · as Ridley
2006
2006
2006
2006
2005
Constellation · as Forest Boxer
2005
Everybody Hates Chris (TV Series) · as Tate
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2004
2003
Skin (TV Series) · as Vincent Quordon
2003
Karen Sisco (TV Series) · as Detective Dave Campos
2003
Cold Case (TV Series) · as Henry 'pops' Walters
2003
Mystery Woman · as Man In Jail
2003
Mystery Woman (TV Series) · as Philby
2003
Miracles (TV Series)
2003
The Extreme Team · as Zachary
2002
Fastlane (TV Series) · as Mr. Hayes
2002
2001
Impostor · as Secretary Of Defense (uncredited)
2001
The Legend of Tarzan (TV Series) · as (voice)
2001
Blue Hill Avenue · as Benny
2001
Mindstorm · as Walter Golden
2000
Ali: An American Hero · as Marcellus Clay
2000
Ritual · as Leron Becker
2000
Resurrection Blvd. (TV Series) · as Cast
2000
Civility · as Glitterman
2000
Reindeer Games · as Merlin
1999
Judging Amy (TV Series) · as Joe Mckenzie
1999
The General's Daughter · as Colonel George Fowler
1999
Life · as Winston Hancock
1998
The Legend of 1900 · as Jelly Roll Morton
1998
Shepherd · as Cast
1998
Frogs for Snakes · as Huck Hanley
1998
Starstruck · as Jerry Wallace
1998
Last Rites · as Warden George Pierce
1998
Half Baked · as Samson Simpson
1997
The Love Bug · as Chuck
1997
Hoodlum · as Bub Hewlett
1997
George Wallace · as Archie
1997
The Brave · as Father Stratton
1997
Sprung · as Grand Daddy
1996
1996
Millennium (TV Series) · as Patient Zero
1996
Profiler (TV Series)
1996
The Silencers · as General Greenboro
1996
Encino Woman · as Javier
1996
The Road to Galveston · as Christopher, The Caretaker
1995
The Immortals · as Benny
1995
Tales from the Hood · as Mr. Simms (segment "welcome To My Mortuary")
1994
The Cosby Mysteries (TV Series) · as Eugene Lukes
1994
New York Undercover (TV Series) · as Donald Brooks
1994
Against the Wall · as Chaka
1993
Sugar Hill · as Arthur Romello "a.r." Skuggs
1993
1993
Walker, Texas Ranger (TV Series) · as Deputy Commissioner Luther Dobbs
1993
1993
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series) · as Omet'iklan
1992
1991
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys · as Deputy Sheriff Virgil
1990
Law & Order (TV Series) · as Lateef Miller
1990
Gabriel's Fire (TV Series) · as Patrice White
1990
1990
Twin Peaks (TV Series) · as Fbi Agent Roger Hardy
1990
Nasty Boys (TV Series) · as John Culver
1989
Tales from the Crypt (TV Series) · as Grady
1988
1988
Perfect Victims · as Lt. Kevin White
1987
Jake and the Fatman (TV Series) · as Benjamin Tatsa
1987
The Highwayman (TV Series) · as Jessie
1987
1987
The Last Innocent Man · as D.j. Johnson
1986
52 Pick-Up · as Bobby Shy
1985
Hell Town (TV Series) · as Duval
1984
The House of Dies Drear · as Mayhew Skinner
1984
The Cosby Show (TV Series) · as Mr. Thornehill
1984
Miami Vice (TV Series)
1984
Purple Rain · as Father
1982
T.J. Hooker (TV Series) · as Walker Redding / Martin / Phil Decker
1981
Hill Street Blues (TV Series)
1979
The Littlest Hobo (TV Series) · as David
1979
The Return of Mod Squad · as Lincoln Hayes
1973
Orson Welles' Great Mysteries (TV Series) · as John Cambridge
1972
The ABC Afterschool Special (TV Series) · as Mr. Simpson
1968
The Mod Squad (TV Series)
1967
The Danny Thomas Hour (TV Series) · as Cast
1966
Tarzan (1966) (TV Series)
1966
Daktari (TV Series) · as Robert Oneko
1963
The Cool World · as Blood
1959
Pork Chop Hill · as Message Runner

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