William Smith obit

 

William Smith, Action Actor and Star of ‘Laredo’ and ‘Rich Man, Poor Man,’ Dies at 88

The legendary tough guy appeared in biker movies and blaxpoitation pics and went toe-to-toe with Clint Eastwood in 'Any Which Way You Can' and Rod Taylor in 'Darker Than Amber.'

 He was not on the list.

William Smith, the rugged actor who starred on television on Laredo, Rich Man, Poor Man and Hawaii Five-O and went toe-to-toe with Clint Eastwood and Rod Taylor in two of the more remarkable brawls in movie history, has died. He was 88.

Smith died Monday at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his wife, Joanne Cervelli Smith, told The Hollywood Reporter. She did not want to reveal the cause of death.

The 6-foot-2 Smith, who was a champion discus thrower at UCLA, an arm-wrestling champion and a black belt in the martial arts, had 18-inch biceps and could do 5,100 continuous sit-ups and reverse curl 163 pounds. As prolific as he was strong, he had a whopping 289 credits on IMDb, seemingly in everything from the ’60s onward.

Smith starred with fellow bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan the Barbarian (1982) and spoke fluent Russian as a general in Red Dawn (1984) — both those films were directed by John Milius — and, as a gang leader named Carrot, battled Yul Brynner with a ball and chain in The Ultimate Warrior (1975).

He was a go-to-guy when casting for biker films, starring in director Jack Starrett’s Run, Angel, Run! (1969) and The Losers (1970); in Angels Die Hard (1970), from Roger Corman’s New World Pictures; in C.C. and Company (1970), starring Joe Namath and Ann-Margret; in Chrome and Hot Leather (1971), opposite Marvin Gaye; and in Gentle Savage (1973) and Eye of the Tiger (1986).

On NBC’s Laredo, Smith starred as gunfighter turned Texas Ranger Joe Riley during that Western’s two seasons (1965-67), and he joined CBS’ original Hawaii Five-O for its final year (1979-80) to portray Det. James “Kimo” Carew.

ABC’s Rich Man, Poor Man, which premiered in February 1976, was the first miniseries broadcast on American television (it preceded Roots by 11 months) and was an adaptation of the Irwin Shaw novel about two German-American brothers (Peter Strauss and Nick Nolte) and their lives after World War II.

Smith appeared late in a vicious turn as the hired thug Anthony Falconetti, then returned the following year for the sequel.

As a sadistic bodybuilder in Darker Than Amber (1970), he participated in a violent free-for-all with Taylor that is regarded as one of the most realistic of all time. Taylor broke three of Smith’s ribs and Smith busted Taylor’s nose during the scene.

“Fight choreography and staging went out the window when Rod decided to really hit me,” Smith remembered in a 2010 interview. “And so the fight was on. That was a real fight with real blood and real broken bones. Rod is a skilled fighter and at the same time a real scrapper. Now that was a good fight!”

 

After they healed, they worked again in the Western The Deadly Trackers (1973).

 

In Any Which Way You Can (1980), Smith’s Jack Wilson squares off with Clint Eastwood’s Philo Beddoe in a long bare-knuckle bout through the streets and restaurants of Wyoming. The trailer called it “the most knuckle-busting, gut-wrenching, brain-scrambling, butt-bruising, lip-splitting brawl of all time.”

 

“It has to be one of the longest two-man fights ever done on film without doubles,” Smith said in an interview for Louis Paul’s 2014 book Tales From the Cult Film Trenches. “We shot it in Jackson, Wyoming, which is about 8,000 feet high in altitude, and I was smoking so hard at the time.”

 

Speaking of smoking, Smith was the last “Marlboro Man” in commercials before cigarette advertising was discontinued.

Born on a cattle ranch in Columbia, Missouri, on March 24, 1933, Smith and his family moved to Southern California after the Dust Bowl. He was an uncredited child extra on set with Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr. in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) and showed up in The Song of Bernadette (1943), Going My Way (1944), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945).

Smith enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1951, won a boxing championship and served in the Korean War. Fluent in Russian, German, French and Serbo-Croatian, he caught the eye of the CIA and NSA, which gave him a teaching position within the agencies. But while working on his doctorate in foreign-language studies, he landed an acting contract at MGM.

In 1961, he starred on the studio’s ABC police drama The Asphalt Jungle opposite Jack Warden. Two years later, he worked on the BBC series Zero One (its title was the call-sign of the International Air Security Agency) with Nigel Patrick.

An inductee into the Muscle Beach Venice Bodybuilding Hall of Fame, Smith was perfect for the role as Adonis, a henchman for Zsa Zsa Gabor’s evil Minerva on Batman. On the ABC show’s final episode in 1968, he was on the receiving end of a Whamm!!, Zowie!, Splatt!, Crash! and Sock! from Batman, Robin and Batgirl.

He also was unforgettable in the blaxploitation films Hammer (1972), Black Samson (1974) and Boss Nigger (1975).

Smith used a ball-and-chain belt on Brynner in the climax of The Ultimate Warrior, and his character ends up falling down a chute filled with rodents. (They smeared Karo syrup and peanut butter on his face to keep the critters in the shot.)

He also played the father of the title character in Conan the Barbarian, writing his own lines for his monologue that opens the film. “No one, no one in this world can you trust … not men, not women, not beasts … this you can trust,” he says pointing to the movie’s iconic steel sword.

Smith remembered besting Schwarzenegger in an arm-wrestling contest and never working with him again. “As he walked out my front door, he turned around and said in German, ‘I will be a movie star,’ and was and is — and now so much more!

“The one thing about Schwarzenegger that I will never forget is that nobody could double him, be his stunt double, because of the shape he was in. He did all his own stunts. He worked 12 hours a day and then he walked two miles. Then he would work out for two hours.”

Smith appeared in the cult movies Piranha (1972), where he said his stunt with a very large anaconda almost cost him his life, as an FBI agent in Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973), and as a drag racer in David Cronenberg’s Fast Company (1979).

He was a spiteful sergeant in Twilight’s Last Gleaming (1977), a con man in Robert Aldrich’s The Frisco Kid (1979) and a cop in Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumble Fish (1983).

In addition to his wife of 31 years, survivors include his children, William E. Smith III and Sherri Anne Cervelli.

For all the toughness he demonstrated onscreen, Smith showed off a softer side in his 2009 book, The Poetic Works of William Smith. In an excerpt from “The Reaper,” he wrote:

 

“You’ve done some bad and you’ve done some good

You wouldn’t change things even if you could

‘Cause through the years you’ve run a good race

The Reaper chased and couldn’t keep your pace

So toast those that live and those that die

And while you can, spit in the Reaper’s eye.

Selected filmography

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1942      The Ghost of Frankenstein           Village Boy in Courtroom              Uncredited

1964      Combat!               German Sergeant             Episode: "Eyes of the Hunter"

1964      36 Hours              Guy        Uncredited

1968      Batman                Adonis Episode: "Minerva, Mayhem and Millionaires"

1970      C.C. and Company            Moon   

1972      Grave of the Vampire     James Eastman

1973      Invasion of the Bee Girls                Neil Agar             

1974      Planet of the Apes           Tolar      Episode: "The Gladiators"

1979-80               Hawaii Five-O    Det. James 'Kimo' Carew               19 Episodes

1980      Any Which Way You Can               Jack Wilson                         1981      Dukes of Hazzard              Jason Steele      

1982      Conan the Barbarian       Conan's Father

1983      Rumble Fish        Patterson the Cop           

1983      The A-Team        Jase Tataro          Episode: "Pros and Cons"

1986      The Twilight Zone             Guard    Segment "Shadow Play"

1986      The A-Team        Dimitri Shasta Kovich      Episode: "The A-Team Is Coming, the A-Team Is Coming"

1988      Maniac Cop        Captain Ripley  

1989      L.A. Vice               Capt. Joe Wilkes              

1996      Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny             Sable man           Voice, Uncredited

2002      Justice League   Draaga[7]            Voice, Episode: "War World" Parts I & II

2005      Hell to Pay           Emil Brax            

2009      Wanted: Weapons of Fate                            Voice, Video game

2014      Rock n' Roll Cops Lite      Rinaldi Archive Footage

Island of Witches              Vladislav Titov  

 

    The Song of Bernadette (1943) as Townsman (uncredited)

    Going My Way (1944) as Choir Member (uncredited)

    Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) as Little Boy (uncredited)

    A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) as Boy (uncredited)

    Gilda (1946) as Man (uncredited)

    I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1947) as Young Boy (uncredited)

    The Boy with Green Hair (1948) as Boy (uncredited)

    Saturday's Hero (1951) (uncredited)

    High School Confidential (1958) as Minor Role (uncredited)

    The Mating Game (1959) as Barney

    Ask Any Girl (1959) as Young Man (uncredited)

    Girls Town (1959) as Man (uncredited)

    Never So Few (1959) as MP Officer #1 (uncredited)

    The Gazebo (1959) as Actor (uncredited)

    Go Naked in the World (1961) as Minor Role

    Atlantis, the Lost Continent (1961) as Captain of the Guard

    Mail Order Bride (1964) as Lank

    Three Guns for Texas (1968) as Texas Ranger Joe Riley

    The Banditos (1968)

    Run, Angel, Run! (1969) as Angel

    Nam's Angels (1970) as Link Thomas

    Angels Die Hard (1970) as Tim

    Darker than Amber (1970) as Terry

    C.C. and Company (1970) as Moon

    Summertree (1971) as Draft Lawyer

    Chrome and Hot Leather (1971) as T.J.

    The Thing with Two Heads (1972) as Hysterical Condemned Man

    Grave of the Vampire (1972) as James Eastman

    Hammer (1972) as Brenner

    Piranha, Piranha (1972) as Caribe

    Runaway, Runaway (1972) as Frank

    Gentle Savage (1973) as Camper John Allen

    Sweet Jesus, Preacherman (1973) as Martelli

    Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973) as Neil Agar

    The Last American Hero (1973) as Kyle Kingman

    The Deadly Trackers (1973) as Schoolboy

    A Taste of Hell (1973) as Jack Lowell

    Policewomen (1974) as The Karate Instructor / Karate Instructor

    Black Samson (1974) as Johnny Nappa

    Win, Place or Steal (1974) as Tom

    ”The Rockford Files” (1974) ‘Backlash of the Hunter’ as Jerry Grimes

    Boss Nigger (1975) as Jed Clayton

    The Swinging Barmaids (1975) as Lt. Harry White

    The Ultimate Warrior (1975) as Carrot

    Dr. Minx (1975) as Gus Dolan

    Scorchy (1976) as Carl Henrich

    Hollywood Man (1976) as Rafe Stoker

    Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977) as Hoxey

    Blood and Guts (1978) as Dan O'Neil

    Blackjack (1978) as Andy Mayfield

    Fast Company (1979) as Lonnie 'Lucky Man' Johnson

    The Frisco Kid (1979) as Matt Diggs

    Seven (1979) as Drew Savano

    The Cop Killers (1981)

    The Outsiders (1983) as Store Clerk

    Red Dawn (1984) as Strelnikov

    Wildside (1985, TV Series) as Brodie Hollister

    The Mean Season (1985) as Albert O'Shaughnessy

    When Nature Calls (1985) as The Husband ("Gena's Story" trailer)

    Fever Pitch (1985) as "Panama Hat"

    Eye of the Tiger (1986) as Blade

    Commando Squad (1987) as Morgan Denny

    Moon in Scorpio (1987) as Burt

    The Badd One (1987) as Badd

    Bulletproof (1988) as Russian Major

    Hell Comes to Frogtown (1988) as Captain Devlin / Count Sodom

    Platoon Leader (1988) as Major Flynn

    Hell on the Battleground (1988) as Col. Meredith

    Evil Altar (1988) as Reed Weller

    The Kill Machine (1988) as Boris Katunik

    Jungle Assault (1989) as General Mitchell

    Slow Burn (1989) as Antonio Scarpelli

    Action U.S.A. (1989) as Conover

    Empire of Ash III (1989) as Lucas

    Terror in Beverly Hills (1989) as President

    Memorial Valley Massacre (1989) as Gen. Mintz

    East L.A. Warriors (1989) as Martelli

    B.O.R.N. (1989) as Dr. Farley

    Deadly Breed (1989) as Captain

    Instant Karma (1990) as Pop

    Emperor of the Bronx (1990) as Fitz

    Cartel (1990) as Mason

    Chance (1990) as Captain Joe Wilkes

    The Final Sanction (1990) as Maj. Galashkin

    Highway Warrior (1990)

    Forgotten Heroes (1990) as General Gregori Zelenkov

    Spirit of the Eagle (1991) as Hatchett

    The Roller Blade Seven (1991) as Pharaoh

    Merchant of Evil (1991) as Victor Fortunetti

    Kiss and Be Killed (1991) as Det. Murdoch

    Hard Time Romance (1991)

    Cybernator (1991) as Colonel Peck

    Feast (1992) as Det. George Bordelli

    The Last Riders (1992) as Hammer

    American Me (1992) as Deacon

    Shadow of the Dragon (1992) as Eric Brunner

    The Legend of the Roller Blade Seven (1992) as Pharaoh

    Legend of Skull Canyon (1992) as Conchos Charlie

    Feast (1992) as Det. George Bordelli

    Dark Secrets (1992) as Robert

    A Mission to Kill (1992) as Boris Catuli

    Return of the Roller Blade Seven (1993) as Pharaoh

    Road to Revenge (1993) as Normad

    Maverick (1994) as Riverboat Poker Player

    Manosaurus (1994) as Sheriff Todd

    Taken Alive (1995) as L.E.

    Raw Energy (1995) as Sam Stompkins

    Judee Strange (1995) as Judee

    Big Sister 2000 (1995) as The Man

    Uncle Sam (1996) as Major

    Neon Signs (1996) as Clyde

    Hollywood Cops (1997) as Rinaldi

    The Shooter (1997) as Jerry Krants

    Interview with a Zombie (1997) as Zombie

    Ground Zero (1997)

    Doublecross on Costa's Island (1997) as L. E.

    Broken Vessels (1998) as Bo

    Warriors of the Apocolypse (1998) as Moon

    No Rest for the Wicked (1998) as Frank Love

    Blood of His Own (1998)

    Wasteland Justice (1999) as Moon

    Vice (2000) as Spooky Harlow

    Plastic Boy and the Jokers (2000) as Doctor Taylor

    Never Look Back (2000)

    The Elite (2001) as Colonel Shaw

    Body Shop (2002) as Sheriff Taggart

    God Has a Rap Sheet (2003) as Lucifer

    Y.M.I. (2004) as Cal

    Killer Story (2004) as Monty – 'The Wrap'

    Voices from the Graves (2006) as Lester Jiggs

    Inner Rage (2006) as Sam

    Rapturious (2007) as Sheriff

    The Boneyard Collection (2008)

    Tiger Cage (2012) as Katulic

    Irresistible (2020)