---
name: "William Challee"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/william-challee"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "6 April 1904"
died: "11 March 1989"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T21:20:15.205780+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# William Challee

Actor. Born 6 April 1904 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Died 11 March 1989.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 6 April 1904, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- **Died:** 11 March 1989
- **Also known as:** William John Challee, William Chalee, William Challe, Bill Challee

## 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.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Five Easy Pieces* (1970), Fi1m 88, as Nicholas Dupea — [page](https://film.one/film/five-easy-pieces.md)

## Also known for

- *Bonanza* (1959), Jake, Stableman
- *The Cincinnati Kid* (1965), Old Man (uncredited)
- *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* (1955), Barney Welch, Petrie
- *Seven Days in May* (1964), Gen. Riley (uncredited)
- *The Andy Griffith Show* (1960), Townsman, Checker Player
- *The Glenn Miller Story* (1954), Dispatch Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
- *Hawaii Five-O* (1969), Murphy (uncredited)
- *On Dangerous Ground* (1951), Thug (uncredited)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/william-challee