Cliff Notes – Naked Gun and Father of the Bride actor Ed Williams dies aged 98
- Ed Williams, renowned for his role as a deadpan scientist in Police Squad! and the Naked Gun film series, passed away at the age of 98 on October 2 in Los Angeles.
- Before returning to acting in the early 1980s, Williams taught speech classes at LA City College and was often cast as priests, leading to his role in Father of the Bride.
- He is survived by his wife Nancy, sons Fred and Ian, and grandchildren Stephanie and Maureen, with his granddaughter confirming the news of his death.
Naked Gun and Father of the Bride actor Ed Williams dies aged 98
Ed Williams has died aged 98 (Picture: Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Ed Williams,who was best known for his role in The Naked Gun film series, has died at the age of 98.
His granddaughter Stephanie Williams confirmed the news that the actor had died on October 2 in Los Angeles.
Williams will have been a familiar face to generations of comedy fans, after he first made a name for himself as the deadpan scientist in Police Squad!, the beloved ABC series.
He went on to reprise the role in the Naked Gun film franchise, which most recently earned a modern reboot with Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson.
Williams also played the priest who married Annie Banks (Kimberly Williams) and Bryan MacKenzie (George Newbern) in Father of the Bride, co-starring Steve Martin and the late, great Diane Keaton.
The late actor had put dreams of starring on screen aside for a time and started teaching speech classes at LA City College in the 1950s.
He was best known for playing Ted Olson on the ABC sitcom (Picture: Comedy Central)
Williams said his agent ‘loved’ to send him out for ”priests and ministers (Picture: Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters)
It was not until the early 1980s that he decided to dive back into the rough and tumble of auditioning and got the part to play earnest Ted Olson on Police Squad!
‘I made up for lost time and got a fairly decent part to start coming back into acting,’ Williams said in a 2017 interview with Matthew Worley of the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters.
In the same interview, Williams said his agent at the time ‘loved’ to send him out for ‘priests and ministers’.
‘So I got stuck on a lot of ministers for a long time there,’ he said, although went on to admit it eventually led to Father of the Bride.
He was working as a teacher before he got the part in Police Squad! (Picture: American Broadcasting Companies via Getty Images)
‘I was due to go up to see my mother, had an airplane booked even, and they said, “Oh no, no, you must stay,” and so luckily Southwest was very kind they’ve moved the flight and I read for them and I got the part,’ he said.
Describing his experience on that set, he recalled ‘it was a pleasure doing it’ and he was ‘grateful to be in it.’
As for what it was like working with Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun franchise, Williams said he was ‘a consummate professional’.
‘He really knew how to do it and do it well and I have nothing but respect for him,’ the actor said.
His granddaughter confirmed news of his death to The Hollywood Reporter. He is survived by his wife Nancy, whom he married in 1954, as well as his sons Fred and Ian and grandchildren Stephanie and Maureen.
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