American Nightmares
2018 · Movie
as Roscoe
Clarence Williams III
1939-08-21
•
New York City, New York, USA
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.
Filmography
Empire
2015 · TV Show
as Huey Jarvis
The Butler
2013 · Movie
as Maynard
Justified
2010 · TV Show
as Jones
The Way of War
2009 · Movie
as Mac
A Day in the Life
2009 · Movie
as Sam
Mystery Woman: In the Shadows
2007 · Movie
as Philby
American Gangster
2007 · Movie
as Bumpy Johnson (uncredited)
Constellation
2007 · Movie
as Forest Boxer
The Blue Hour
2007 · Movie
as Ridley
Burn Notice
2007 · TV Show
as Jean Pierre's Father
Mystery Woman: Redemption
2006 · Movie
as Philby
Mystery Woman: Oh Baby
2006 · Movie
as Philby
Mystery Woman: At First Sight
2006 · Movie
as Philby
Mystery Woman: Wild West Mystery
2006 · Movie
as Philby
Mystery Woman: Game Time
2005 · Movie
as Philby
Mystery Woman: Vision of a Murder
2005 · Movie
as Philby
Mystery Woman: Mystery Weekend
2005 · Movie
as Philby
Mystery Woman: Sing Me a Murder
2005 · Movie
as Philby
Mystery Woman: Snapshot
2005 · Movie
as Philby
Everybody Hates Chris
2005 · TV Show
as Tate
American Dragon: Jake Long
2005 · TV Show
Blue Hill Avenue
2003 · Movie
as Benny
The Extreme Team
2003 · Movie
as Zachary
ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration
2003 · Movie
as Self
Miracles
2003 · TV Show
as Dr. Bauer
Happy Here and Now
2002 · Movie
as Bill
Fastlane
2002 · TV Show
as Mr. Hayes
Mindstorm
2001 · Movie
as Walter Golden
Impostor
2001 · Movie
as Secretary of Defense (uncredited)
The Legend of Tarzan
2001 · TV Show
as (voice)
Reindeer Games
2000 · Movie
as Merlin
Ali: An American Hero
2000 · Movie
as Marcellus Clay
Ritual
2000 · Movie
as Leron Becker
Civility
2000 · Movie
as Glitterman
The General's Daughter
1999 · Movie
as Colonel George Fowler
Life
1999 · Movie
as Winston Hancock
Last Rites
1999 · Movie
as Warden George Pierce
Judging Amy
1999 · TV Show
as Joe McKenzie
Half Baked
1998 · Movie
as Samson Simpson
The Legend of 1900
1998 · Movie
as Jelly Roll Morton
Frogs for Snakes
1998 · Movie
as Huck Hanley
Starstruck
1998 · Movie
as Jerry Wallace
Hoodlum
1997 · Movie
as Bub Hewlett
The Love Bug
1997 · Movie
as Chuck
The Brave
1997 · Movie
as Father Stratton
George Wallace
1997 · Movie
as Archie
Sprung
1997 · Movie
as Grand Daddy
George Wallace
1997 · TV Show
as Archie
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault
1996 · Movie
as Coach Pratt
The Silencers
1996 · Movie
as General Greenboro
The Road to Galveston
1996 · Movie
as Christopher, the Caretaker
Encino Woman
1996 · Movie
as Javier
Profiler
1996 · TV Show
as Carl Adler
Millennium
1996 · TV Show
as Patient Zero
Tales from the Hood
1995 · Movie
as Mr. Simms (segment "Welcome to My Mortuary")
The Immortals
1995 · Movie
as Benny
Judgement
1995 · Movie
as Bryant
Against the Wall
1994 · Movie
as Chaka
Sugar Hill
1994 · Movie
as Arthur Romello "A.R." Skuggs
New York Undercover
1994 · TV Show
as Donald Brooks
Father & Son: Dangerous Relations
1993 · Movie
as Raymond
Deadfall
1993 · Movie
as Dean
Walker, Texas Ranger
1993 · TV Show
as Deputy Commissioner Luther Dobbs
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
1993 · TV Show
as Omet'iklan
Deep Cover
1992 · Movie
as Taft
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
1991 · Movie
as Deputy Sheriff Virgil
Maniac Cop 2
1990 · Movie
as Blum
Nasty Boys, Part 2: Lone Justice
1990 · Movie
Twin Peaks
1990 · TV Show
as FBI Agent Roger Hardy
Nasty Boys
1990 · TV Show
as John Culver
Shades of L.A.
1990 · TV Show
Law & Order
1990 · TV Show
as Lateef Miller
Tales from the Crypt
1989 · TV Show
as Grady
Perfect Victims
1988 · Movie
as Lt. Kevin White
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
1988 · Movie
as Kalinga
The Last Innocent Man
1987 · Movie
as D.J. Johnson
Tough Guys Don't Dance
1987 · Movie
as Bolo
Jake and the Fatman
1987 · TV Show
as Benjamin Tatsa
52 Pick-Up
1986 · Movie
as Bobby Shy
Purple Rain
1984 · Movie
as Father
The House of Dies Drear
1984 · Movie
as Mayhew Skinner
No image
The Hero Who Couldn't Read
1984 · Movie
as Mr. Simpson
Miami Vice
1984 · TV Show
as Maximilian 'Legba' Ildefonse
The Cosby Show
1984 · TV Show
as Mr. Thornehill
T. J. Hooker
1982 · TV Show
as Phil Decker, Martin, Walker Redding
Hill Street Blues
1981 · TV Show
The Return of Mod Squad
1979 · Movie
as Lincoln Hayes
The Littlest Hobo
1979 · TV Show
as David
Orson Welles' Great Mysteries
1973 · TV Show
as John Cambridge
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
1970 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
The Mod Squad
1968 · TV Show
as Linc Hayes
The Danny Thomas Hour
1967 · TV Show
Tarzan
1966 · TV Show
The Cool World
1964 · Movie
as Blood
