Ed Williams, the actor best known for his roles in the “Police Squad!” TV show and the original “Naked Gun” films, has died. He was 98.
The late star’s granddaughter confirmed that Williams passed away in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 2, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Born Edwin Wallace Williams in San Jose, California, on Nov. 26, 1926, Williams served in the US Navy before moving to Hollywood with his wife, Nancy, in 1955, per the outlet.
Although he started out performing in plays, Williams temporarily put his acting career aside and began teaching broadcasting at the Don Martin School of Radio and Television Arts and Sciences following his move to LA.
“I do not approve of professors that go out and moonlight and make a lot of money on the side and neglect their classes,” Williams said in a 2017 interview with Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters. “That used to make me mad to hear that.”
But years after moving to LA City College in 1961, Williams once again began auditioning for roles and ultimately landed the role of lab scientist Ted Olson opposite Leslie Nielsen’s Det. Frank Drebin in “Police Squad!” in 1982.
“I made up for lost time and got a fairly decent part to start coming back into acting,” Williams joked during his chat with Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters eight years before his death.
Despite only lasting six episodes, the show later found new life at Paramount Pictures and moved to the big screen.
Both Williams and Nielsen returned for three movies, including “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!” (1988), “The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear” (1991) and “Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult” (1994).
They were the only two actors to appear in both the original series and films.
With the exceptions of “Police Squad!” and the “Naked Gun” movies, Williams often portrayed reverends, priests and ministers.
He appeared in the Steve Martin and Diane Keaton classic “Father of the Bride” (1991) as the priest who weds Annie Banks (Kimberly Williams) and Bryan MacKenzie (George Newbern).
After starring in an episode of the CBS series “Crazy Like a Fox,” Williams went on to appear in several projects throughout the 80s and 90s, including “Ratboy” (1986), “Nickel & Dime” (1992), “High Strung” (1992) and “Carnosaur” (1993).
The late actor continued working until years before his death, and one of his final-ever credits includes a role in the popular medical drama “House” alongside Hugh Laurie.
“I felt like the [guy] who’s been trained to be a surgeon, but he didn’t quite get in the operating room,” Williams once said regarding his nearly 25-year break from acting. “I wanted to get in the operating room.”