William Smith was an American film and television actor who appeared in more than 300 feature films and television productions, best known for playing Anthony Falconetti on the TV mini series "Rich Man, Poor Man". He held a BA from Syracuse and an MA in Russian Studies from UCLA.
Born in Columbia, Missouri, Smith began his acting career at the age of eight in 1942; he entered films as a child actor in such films as The Ghost of Frankenstein, The Song of Bernadette and Meet Me in St. Louis.
He was a regular on the 1961 ABC television series The Asphalt Jungle, portraying police Sergeant Danny Keller. One of his earliest leading roles was as Joe Riley, a Texas Ranger on the NBC western series Laredo. In 1967, Smith guest starred as Jude Bonner on James Arness's long-lived western Gunsmoke.
Smith was cast as John Richard Parker, brother of Cynthia Ann Parker, both taken hostage in Texas by the Comanche, in the 1969 episode "The Understanding" of the syndicated television series Death Valley Days, which was hosted by Robert Taylor. In the story line, Parker contracts the plague, is left for dead by his fellow Comanche warriors, and is rescued by his future Mexican wife, Yolanda (Emily Banks).
He played outlaw turned temporary sheriff Hendry Brown in the 1969 episode "The Restless Man". In that story line, Brown takes the job of sheriff to tame a lawless town, begins to court a young woman (again played by Emily Banks), but soon returns to his deadly outlaw ways in search of bigger thrills.
On Gunsmoke, Smith appeared in a 1972 episode, "Hostage!"; his character beats and rapes 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".
Movies
The Outsiders
Store Clerk
Rumble Fish
Patterson the Cop
Red Dawn
Strelnikov
The Ghost of Frankenstein
Boy (uncredited)
L.A. Vice
Capt. Joe Wilkes
Spirit of the Eagle
Hatchett
Jungle Assault
General Mitchell
Hell Comes to Frogtown
Captain Devlin / Count Sodom
The Ultimate Warrior
Carrot
Maverick
Riverboat Poker Player
Conan the Barbarian
Conan's Father
Uncle Sam
Major
Boss Nigger
Jed Clayton
Invasion of the Bee Girls
Neil Agar
Eye of the Tiger
Blade
Zombiegeddon
Lord Zombie
Deadly Memories
Sheriff Taggart
The Phantom Empire
Dr. Chambers
Feast
Det. George Bordelli
The Vampire Hunters Club
Johnny
Rapturious
Sheriff
Grave of the Vampire
James Eastman
The Thing with Two Heads
Hysterical Condemned Man
The Swinging Barmaids
Harry
Atlantis: The Lost Continent
Captain of the Guard
Voices from the Graves
Lester Jiggs
Moon in Scorpio
Burt
Hollywood Cops
Rinaldi
Big Sister 2000
The Man
Hollywood Man
Rafe Stoker
Angels Die Hard
Tim
Fast Company
Lonnie 'Lucky Man' Johnson
The Frisco Kid
Matt Diggs
Any Which Way You Can
Jack Wilson
Darker Than Amber
Terry
Inner Rage
Sam
Chrome and Hot Leather
T.J.
C.C. and Company
Moon
Blackjack
Andy Mayfield (as Bill Smith)
Hammer
Brenner
Black Samson
Johnny Nappa
The Final Sanction
Maj. Galashkin
Twilight's Last Gleaming
Hoxey
Memorial Valley Massacre
Gen. Mintz
Run, Angel, Run!
Angel
Sweet Jesus, Preacherman
Martelli
Action U.S.A.
Conover
Piranha
Caribe
The Roller Blade Seven
Pharoah
Seven
Drew
Scorchy
Carl Henrich
GetEven
Normad
The Losers
Link Thomas
Empire of Ash III
Lucas
Backtrack!
Texas Ranger Joe Riley (archive footage)
Terror In Beverly Hills
President
Conan Unchained: The Making of 'Conan'
Conan's Father (archive footage)
The Deadly Trackers
Schoolboy
Cybernator
Colonel Peck
Mail Order Bride
Lank
Legend of The Roller Blade Seven
Pharoah
Dr. Minx
Gus Dolan
God Has a Rap Sheet
Lucifer
Commando Squad
Morgan Denny
Blood & Guts
Dan O'Neil
Instant Karma
Pop
Bulletproof
Russian Major
Return of the Roller Blade Seven
Pharoah
The Shooter
Jerry Krants
Maniac Cop
Captain Ripley
Hell to Pay
Emil Brax
Never So Few
MP Officer #1
Hell on the Battleground
Colonel Meredith
B.O.R.N.
Dr. Farley
The Mating Game
Barney
Runaway, Runaway
Frank
American Me
Deacon
Taken Alive
L.E.
The Last Riders
Hammer
The Rock 'n Roll Cops
Rinaldi
Deadly Breed
Captain
The Man Hunter
Clel Bocock
Evil Altar
Reed Weller
The Last American Hero
Kyle Kingman
Broken Vessels
Bo
Kiss and Be Killed
Det. Murdoch
Cartel
Mason
Merchant of Evil
Victor Fortunetti
Fall Guy: The John Stewart Story
Man with Machine Gun
Three Guns for Texas
Texas Ranger Joe Riley
Platoon Leader
Major Flynn
Killer Story
Monty
The Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula
Count Dracula
Red Nights
Phillip
Debbie Does Damnation
Shadow of the Dragon
Eric Brunner
Emperor of the Bronx
Fitz
Blood of His Own
The Mean Season
Albert O'Shaughnessy
The Badd One
Badd
Wasteland Justice
Moon
Vice
Spooky Harlow
Never Look Back
Lee Clayton
Heat of Las Vegas
Mario Verelli
Doses of Horror
Neil Agar ("A Dose of Bee Stings" segment) (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Jerk, Too
Suicide
Raw Energy
Sam Stompkins
Tales of the Apple Dumpling Gang
Monk Hardwick
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Boy (uncredited)
Manosaurus
Sheriff Todd
The Boneyard Collection
Bill, the First Director (segment "Her Morbid Desires")
Dark Secrets
Robert
Crackle of Death
Shaman Jim Elkhorn
Doublecross on Costa's Island
L. E.
Irresistible
Hofbrau Bar Fly
Prologue to Wounded Knee
Camper John Allen
Slow Burn
Antonio Scarpelli
The Over the Hill Gang
Amos (as Bill Smith)
The Boy with Green Hair
Boy (uncredited)
A Mission to Kill
Neon Signs
Clyde
Eagle's Law
Fever Pitch
Panama Hat
East L.A. Warriors
Martelli
The Forgotten City of the Planet of the Apes
Tolar
The Sex Symbol
Butch Wischnewski
Rock n' Roll Cops Lite
Rinaldi (archive footage)
Policewomen
Karate Instructor
Win, Place or Steal
Tom
The Colony
Theo Maxwell
Gilda
Man (uncredited)
The Rebels
John Waverly
Meet Me in St. Louis
Little Boy (uncredited)
Going My Way
Choir Member (uncredited)
Y.M.I.
Cal
Girls Town
Man (uncredited)
Forgotten Heroes
General Gregori Zelenkov
36 Hours
Guy (uncredited)
Shows
B. J. and the Bear
Due South
Harold Geiger
Benson
Mr. Lucky
Simon & Simon
Masquerade
Hawaii Five-O
Det. James 'Kimo' Carew
Alias Smith and Jones
Gunsmoke
Jude Bonner
Walker, Texas Ranger
Silas Quint
Perry Mason
Andy Witcoe
Combat!
Richter
Hunter
Sgt. Neville Sigerson
The Fall Guy
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Jim Elkhorn
Lassie
Laredo
Joe Riley
Police Story
Julia
The Virginian
Andy Adams
Here Come the Brides
Kitana
Daniel Boone
Catoga
Logan's Run
Planet of the Apes
Movin' On
Murder, She Wrote
Clyde Thorson
Trapper John, M.D.
Tugwell
T. J. Hooker
Hardcastle and McCormick
Kraft Suspense Theatre
Deputy Raynor
The Twilight Zone
Airwolf
Steele
Batman
Adonis
Knight Rider
Harold T. Turner
Highway to Heaven
The Streets of San Francisco
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
The Mod Squad
Mission: Impossible
Ironside
The A-Team
Jase Tataro
Vega$
The Yellow Rose
Police Woman
City of Angels
Matt Houston
Felony Squad
Search
Supercarrier
The Guns of Will Sonnett
Stoney Burke
Custer
The Oregon Trail
The Asphalt Jungle
Sgt. Danny Keller
Wildside
Shades of L.A.
Bronk
CHiPs
Stan
Columbo
Nichols
Zero One
Jimmy Delaney
Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II
Falconetti
The Rockford Files
Jerry Grimes
Rich Man, Poor Man
Falconetti
Airwolf
Patterson
The A-Team
Dimitri Shasta Kovich
The Six Million Dollar Man
Cmdr. Maxwell
Death Valley Days
Dan Turner
I Dream of Jeannie
Turk
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
The Trebor
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Tommy Lad
Justice League
Draaga (voice)
Hunter
Sgt. Sal Drasso
Combat!
German Sergeant
The Virginian
Bill
The Virginian
Paul Rogers
The Virginian
Joe Riley
Gunsmoke
Latch
Code Red
Daniel Boone
Campuits
Daniel Boone
Amos (uncredited)
Daniel Boone
Amos Martin
Death Valley Days
Marshall Hendry Brown
The Virginian
Spector
Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction
Wes Tronker (segment "Devil's Tattoo")
The Ed Wynn Show
Dink
The Mod Squad
Jack Harper
Mission: Impossible
John Brent
Wagon Train
Thomas Lance
Vinnie & Bobby
Warren Bean
Kung Fu
Capt. Luther Staggers
Ironside
Larry