Biography
William Challee (also credited as William John Challee) was an American actor. Born in Chicago, he appeared on Broadway from 1926 and in early Group Theatre productions from 1931. In 1937 he directed a cycle of Eugene O'Neill one-act plays for the Federal Theatre Project.
From the mid-1940s Challee worked in films, usually in supporting or uncredited roles. His credits include Desperate (1947), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), The Cincinnati Kid (1965) and Five Easy Pieces (1970), in which he played Nicholas Dupea. He appeared in numerous television series, among them Bonanza, The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
Challee was married to actress Ruth Nelson, dancer Ella Franklin Crawford and, from 1984, Joan Wheeler Ankrum, with whom he had opened the Ankrum Gallery in Los Angeles in 1960. He died in Woodland Hills, California.
