Born in New York City to a Scottish father and an Irish mother, Williams began acting insummer stock as a child. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the United States Air Force, serving from 1948 to 1952, before and during the Korean War. He was discharged as an Air Force staff sergeant. It would seem that Williams attended one or more colleges after his Air Force stint, but the sources are deeply discordant about which. He had, in fact, enrolled in Queens College, Flushing, New York, but cut his attendance short when he enlisted. Among the universities cited by the various sources are: the University of Illinois, City College of New York, Columbia University, and New York University. According to Rual Askew of the Dallas Morning News, who interviewed Williams in March 1957 and published a profile of the actor, Williams earned a B.A. in Journalism from New York University. According to other press sources, Williams obtained a degree in journalism from a correspondence school.
Career
After his Air-Force service, he enrolled at the Actors Studio in New York City under Lee Strasberg. Williams' early theatrical experience was intensive, but, contrary to what several Internet sources have stated, never included Broadway. His work in the theater was all "off-Broadway," at prestigious venues such as the Barter Theatre of Abingdon, Virginia, and the Blackfriars Theatre in New York. Following small roles on television, Williams was spotted by a talent scout on Kraft Television Theater in 1954, and signed with Universal Pictures in March 1955. He made his film debut in Jack Arnold's Red Sundown in March of the following year, in the small but memorable bravura role of hired thug Chet Swann. This film was followed by another picture directed by Arnold, the noir thriller Outside the Law, by the western Showdown at Abilene, by some small uncredited roles, and by the middling CinemaScope romantic comedy Four Girls in Town. In his most memorable role, Williams starred as Scott Carey in his seventh film, the Hugo Award-winning science fiction film The Incredible Shrinking Man, with Randy Stuart playing his wife, Louise. Despite good reviews and the success of the film, his career continued with only lackluster roles. Universal Pictures dropped his contract in 1959, and he signed in 1960 with Warner Brothers, where he had a continuing role as the private detective Greg McKenzie on Hawaiian Eye, co-starring Robert Conrad, Anthony Eisley, and Connie Stevens. Several film and television roles followed, including playing Col. Geo. Custer on the show Yancy Derringer, and the role of the psychopathic killer in Robert Bloch's The Couch, but fame still eluded him. He made two guest appearances on Perry Mason in 1964 as columnist and murderer Quincy Davis in "The Case of the Ruinous Road", and defendant Dr. Todd Meade in the 1965 episode "The Case of the Baffling Bug". He starred as troubled military psychologist Major Douglas McKinnon in The Outer Limits episode "The Brain of Colonel Barham" along with former Hawaiian Eye co-star Anthony Eisley. Also in 1965, Williams played the title character in the Bonanza episode "Patchwork Man," as well as the 1960 episode "Escape to Ponderosa". Williams attempted a comedic role on the radio airwaves in the anthology program Family Theater, and there was some light-heartedness to his delightful role as Mike Carter in the half-hour episode "Millionaire Gilbert Burton" of the series The Millionaire. As his acting career declined, he opened a dramatics school in West Hollywood. According to earlier versions of this article, he also wrote several books on acting, though his acting students never mention them in the extensive interviews included in Stampalia's biography, and there appears to be no trace of their publication. Williams continued to act occasionally in both movies and television, but without much conviction and in inferior products. His last released film appearance was in Doomsday Machine ; however, as it was actually shot in 1969, Brain of Blood was his last acting work for the screen. His last TV appearance was in 1983 on the game show Family Feud along with other former cast members from Hawaiian Eye.
