Guy Williams (actor) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Guy Williams
|
|
|---|---|
Williams at his arrival in Argentina, April 1973
|
|
| Born |
Armando Joseph Catalano
January 14, 1924 |
| Died | April 30, 1989 (aged 65) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1947–1973 |
| Spouse(s) |
Janice Cooper
(m. 1948; div. 1983) |
| Children | 2 |
Armando Joseph Catalano (born January 14, 1924 – died April 30, 1989) was an American actor. Most people knew him as Guy Williams. He was famous for playing brave action heroes in TV shows and movies during the 1950s and 1960s.
His most famous roles were Zorro in the TV series of the same name. He also played the dad, Professor John Robinson, in the popular sci-fi show Lost in Space.
In the 1970s, Guy Williams often visited and worked in Argentina. People there loved him very much. He stopped acting in the early 1980s and lived in Buenos Aires. He passed away there in 1989.
Contents
About Guy Williams
His Early Life
Guy Williams was born Armando Joseph Catalano on January 14, 1924. He grew up in New York City. His parents were from Sicily, an island in Italy.
He went to Public School 189, where he was very good at math. Later, he attended George Washington High School. He also worked at a soda fountain. He then went to Peekskill Military Academy, where he enjoyed playing American football and chess.
Starting His Acting Career
Guy Williams always wanted to be an actor. He was tall, at 6 feet 3 inches, and had a good appearance. His mother hoped he would become an insurance broker like his father. But Guy decided to follow his dream.
Before acting, he worked as a welder and helped inspect aircraft parts during World War II. After the war, he worked as a salesman. He then sent his photos to a modeling agency. He quickly became a successful model, appearing in magazines and on billboards.
In the 1940s, he changed his name to Guy Williams. His agent suggested it because a director thought his original name, Guido Armando, sounded "too foreign."
In 1946, Williams signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), a big movie studio. He moved to Hollywood. He appeared in a few films, but soon returned to New York.
In 1948, Guy met Janice Cooper, a model, during a photo shoot for cigarettes. They fell in love and got married on December 8. They had two children, Guy Steven and Antoinette, who also became actors.
By 1950, Williams was in some of the first TV commercials in the U.S. In 1952, he got another contract with Universal-International and moved back to Hollywood. He also appeared in an episode of The Lone Ranger.
Early Hollywood Roles (1951–1957)
Guy Williams had small roles in several films. Some of these included:
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
- Bonzo Goes to College (1952)
- The Mississippi Gambler (1953)
- The Golden Blade (1953)
- The Man from the Alamo (1953)
- Take Me to Town (1953)
- Highway Patrol (1955)
- I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)
In 1953, he had a serious accident. He fell from a horse and was dragged a long way, leaving a scar on his shoulder. Because of this, he went back to New York to act and model there for a while. He then became a freelance actor, working for different studios.
Becoming Zorro (1957–1961)
In early 1957, Guy Williams appeared in the TV series Men of Annapolis. He also appeared in State Trooper.
Around this time, Walt Disney was looking for an actor to play Zorro. This TV series was based on a character created in 1919. Zorro was a young nobleman named Don Diego de la Vega who fought for justice as a masked hero. The actor chosen needed to be handsome and good at fencing.
Walt Disney met Guy Williams and told him to grow a mustache. Williams signed a special contract that paid him a very good salary. He trained in fencing with a famous Belgian champion named Fred Cavens. He also took guitar lessons.
Guy Williams first appeared as Zorro on a Disney TV special. The Zorro series started on ABC on October 10, 1957. It became very popular right away. They made 78 episodes over two seasons. Two movies were also made from the TV episodes: The Sign of Zorro (1958) and Zorro the Avenger (1959). The show's theme song was a big hit.
In 1959, there was a problem between Disney and ABC, which caused Zorro to stop. However, four longer episodes were made later with the original actors. These aired between 1960 and 1961.
In 1962, Williams played Sir Miles Hendon in Walt Disney's movie The Prince and the Pauper, which was filmed in England.
European Films
After his contract with Disney ended, Guy Williams went to Europe to make two more movies:
- Damon and Pythias (1962): He played Damon, a classic Greek hero.
- Captain Sindbad (1962): He played Sindbad the Sailor in this movie based on the Arabian Nights tales.
His Time on Bonanza (1964)
In 1964, Guy Williams returned to Hollywood. He joined the cast of the popular TV series Bonanza. He played Will Cartwright, who was Ben's nephew.
Williams was meant to become one of the main characters. However, his character was written out of the show after only five episodes. This was because the actor who played Adam Cartwright decided to stay on the show longer.
Lost in Space (1965–1968)
In 1965, Guy Williams starred in another weekly TV show, the science-fiction series Lost in Space. He played Professor John Robinson, an expert in space and rocks.
Professor Robinson led a mission on the Jupiter 2 spaceship. He took his family on a journey to explore a star system called Alpha Centauri.
Retirement in Argentina (1979–1989)
After Lost in Space, Guy Williams decided to stop acting. He wanted to enjoy his life and the money he had earned from his investments.
Williams first visited Argentina in 1973. He was amazed by how much the Argentine people admired him, especially as Zorro. He loved the culture and people of Argentina. In the late 1970s, he moved to Recoleta, a nice neighborhood in Buenos Aires. He still made public appearances sometimes.
In the years that followed, Williams even brought some of the original Zorro cast members to Argentina. This included Henry Calvin, who played Sergeant Garcia. Williams also started a circus called Circo Real Madrid with a local fencing champion. They traveled all over South America in 1977.
In 1983, Williams went back to Los Angeles for three final TV appearances. He joined his Lost in Space co-stars for special episodes of Family Feud. He also appeared as a guest on Good Morning America.
His Passing
In 1989, Guy Williams had been living alone in Argentina for some time. When he hadn't been seen, the local police checked his apartment on May 6, 1989. They found his body. Doctors determined he had passed away about a week earlier from a ruptured brain aneurysm.
Because he was so popular in Argentina, his ashes were kept for two years at the Argentine Actors' Society cemetery. In 1991, his ashes were spread over the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, California, as he had wished.
Tributes and Honors
- In 2000, Guy Williams was the first local celebrity to be honored on the Bronx Walk of Fame in New York. His son, Steven Catalano, attended the ceremony.
- On August 2, 2001, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This happened after thousands of his fans asked for it.
- In October 2002, fans and his family dedicated a bench to him in New York's Central Park.
- In August 2003, fans and his family placed a special plaque for him at the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia in California. This is where the Zorro series was filmed.
- In 2011, Williams was named a Disney Legend.
Several books have been written about Guy Williams, especially about his role as Zorro. These include Zorro Television Companion and a biography called Guy Williams: The Man Behind the Mask.
A collection of new Zorro short stories was released in 2008. Some of these stories were inspired by Guy Williams. His son, Guy Williams Jr., wrote an introduction for the book.
