Biography
William Lanteau was an American character actor. Born William Lanctot on 12 November 1922 in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, he served in the US Army during the Second World War and made his first television appearance in 1954. He worked extensively in theatre, with Broadway credits including Li'l Abner, The Matchmaker and Mr. Roberts.
Lanteau appeared in more than eighty television series, among them The Andy Griffith Show, Wonder Woman, Cheers, The Wonder Years and Murder, She Wrote. He was best known for playing Mayor Chester Wanamaker in Newhart (1982–1990). On screen he featured in films such as Sex and the Single Girl (1964), From Noon till Three (1976) and Cold Steel (1987).
He played Charlie Martin, the mail carrier, in both the stage and 1981 film versions of On Golden Pond. Lanteau died in Los Angeles on 3 November 1993, aged 70, from complications following heart surgery.
