John Williams (April 15, 1903 - May 5, 1983) was a British-born stage, film, and television actor.

Born in The Chalfonts in Buckinghamshire, England, he began acting on the Broadway stage in 1924 and went on to appear in thirty more Broadway plays over the next four decades. He first acted in Hollywood films in 1930, debuting in director Mack Sennett's "The Chumps." In his career he appeared in more than forty movies and also made more than forty guest appearances on television shows. He was part of the regular cast for the 1967 season of the family comedy, Family Affair.

Outside of his movie career, John Williams gained fame as the star of a television commercial for a set of records of classical music. This became the longest running nationally seen commercial in U.S. television history.

In 1953 Williams was awarded a Tony Award for Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for his role as Chief Inspector Hubbard in "Dial M for Murder" on Broadway. When Alfred Hitchcock took over the script to make a movie of the play in 1954, he casted Williams for the same role. It was the only Hitchock-movie in 3-D.

The handicapped Williams also played in several of Hitchcock's TV-shows, so in "Back for Christmas" (1956) [1], "Whodunit" (1956), "Wet Saturday" (1956) and "Banquo’s Chair" (1959).

One of his last appearances was in Columbo: Dagger of the Mind (1972) aside to Peter Falk.

Important movies

• 1936 - Mr. Deeds goes to town
• 1947 - The Paradine Case (Hitchcock-movie)
• 1954 - Dial M for Murder (Hitchcock-movie)
• 1954 - Sabrina (Billy Wilder-movie)
• 1955 - To Catch a Thief (Hitchcock-movie)
• 1957 - Witness for the Prosecution (Billy Wilder-movie)
• 1960 - Midnight Lace
• 1967 - Double Trouble
• 1972 - The Hound of the Baskervilles

External Links

• John Willimas at IMDb