Van Williams

You could shoehorn actor Van Williams right in there between the other tall, dark and drop-jaw gorgeous heartthrobs Tom Tryon and John Gavin of the late 1950s/early 1960s who conveyed a similar bland, heroic image. All three were too often given colorless heroes to play on film and/or TV -- roles that played off their charm but seldom tested their talent. Born on February 27, 1934 as Van Zandt Jarvis Williams, he was the son of a cattle rancher. He majored in animal husbandry and business at Texas Christian University but moved to Hawaii which changed the course of his life. While operating a salvage company and a skin-diving school during the mid-1950s, he was approached by Elizabeth Taylor and husband/producer Mike Todd, who were filming there. Encouraged by Todd to try his luck, Van arrived in Hollywood with no experience. Todd perished in a plane crash before he was able to help Van, but the young hopeful ventured on anyway, taking some acting/voice lessons, and was almost immediately cast in dramatic TV roles. Warner Brothers had a keen eye for this type of photogenic hunk and smartly signed Van. Fitting in perfectly, he was soon showing just how irresistible he was as a clean-cut private eye on the series "Bourbon Street Beat (1959)". Although the show lasted only one season, Warners carried his Kenny Madison character into the more popular adventure drama Surfside 6 (1960) opposite fellow pin-up / blond beefcake bookend Troy Donahue. Series-wise, Van tried comedy next opposite "Walter Brennan in The Tycoon (1964)". After his contract expired at Warners, 20th Century-Fox handed him his most vividly recalled role, that of the emerald-suited superhero "The Green Hornet (1966)" with the late Bruce Lee as his partner Kato. The show, inspired by the huge cult hit "Batman (1966)" enjoyed a fast start but, like its predecessor, met an equally untimely finish. Never a strong draw in films, Van revealed quite a bit of himself (literally) in his debut in "Tall Story (1960)" coming out of a shower. He was handed a typically staid second lead in "The Caretakers (1963)". Continuing well into the 1970s to guest sporadically on the TV scene in classics like "The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)", "Love, American Style (1969)", "Mission: Impossible (1966)", "The Big Valley (1965)", "Nanny and the Professor (1970)", "Barnaby Jones (1973)", and "The Rockford Files (1974)". Another starring series attempt with "Westwind (1975)" failed to make the grade and he soon let his career go. Van went on quite successfully in business with telecommunications, real estate and law enforcement supplies among his ventures. With his glossy, pretty-boy years far behind him, he has not felt the need to look back except for an occasional autograph convention. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Known For: Acting

Born: Fort Worth, Texas, USA, 1934-02-27

Died: 2016-11-28

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1962	Red Nightmare	Air Force Sergeant	60
2	1963	The Caretakers	Dr. Larry Denning	62
3	1966	Batman	President Lyndon B. Johnson (voice) (uncredited)	64
4	1974	The Green Hornet	Britt Reid / The Green Hornet	68
5	1975	The Runaways	Joe Ringer	0
6	1976	Fury of the Dragon	Britt Reid	52
7	1978	Colorado C.I.	Capt. Cochran	0
8	1979	The Night Rider	Jim Hollister	35
9	1993	Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story	Green Hornet Director	69
10	1998	The GREATEST : Bruce Lee	Comentador	77
11	2005	The Green Hornet	Britt Reid / The Green Hornet	0
12	2020	Batman '66 Meets the Green Hornet	Green Hornet / Britt Reid	80

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1951	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Exton's Servant	86
2	1955	Gunsmoke	Quincy	66
3	1955	Cheyenne	Ray Masters	58
4	1958	Lawman		56
5	1958	77 Sunset Strip		67
6	1958	77 Sunset Strip	Ken Madison	67
7	1959	Bourbon Street Beat	Kenny Madison	50
8	1959	Hawaiian Eye		52
9	1960	Surfside 6	Ken Madison	50
10	1961	The Dick Van Dyke Show		75
11	1962	The Beverly Hillbillies		69
12	1963	Temple Houston	Joey Baker	57
13	1965	The Big Valley	Sheriff Dave Barrett	61
14	1966	Batman	The Green Hornet	73
15	1966	The Green Hornet	Britt Reid / The Green Hornet	71
16	1966	Mission: Impossible	Arnold Sanders	76
17	1967	Ironside		68
18	1967	Mannix		67
19	1969	Love, American Style	Bill	61
20	1970	Nanny and the Professor		60
21	1972	The Streets of San Francisco		69
22	1972	The Streets of San Francisco	Officer Morton	69
23	1973	Barnaby Jones	Munson	69
24	1974	The Manhunter		50
25	1974	The Rockford Files	Lt. Dwayne Kefir	75
26	1975	Westwind		50
27	1977	Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected		60
28	1977	How the West Was Won	Captain MacAllister	69
29	1979	Mrs. Columbo	Fielding	61

Van Williams

Film

Television