---
name: "William Smithers"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/william-smithers"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "10 July 1927"
died: "26 May 2026"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T21:20:35.887495+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 Smithers

Actor. Born 10 July 1927 in Richmond, Virginia, USA. Died 26 May 2026.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 10 July 1927, Richmond, Virginia, USA
- **Died:** 26 May 2026
- **Also known as:** William W. Smithers, William A. Smithers, Bill Smithers

## Biography

William Smithers was an American actor. Born Marion Wilkinson Smithers Jr. on 10 July 1927 in Richmond, Virginia, he made his Broadway debut as Tybalt in a 1951 production of *Romeo and Juliet* alongside Olivia de Havilland and received a Theatre World Award for the performance.

He appeared in numerous films and nearly 400 television productions. His film roles included Lt. Harold 'Harry' Woodruff in *Attack* (1956) and Warden Barrot in *Papillon* (1973). On television he played recurring roles as David Schuster in *Peyton Place* (1965–1966) and Jeremy Wendell in *Dallas* (1981 and 1984–1989), as well as guest appearances in series including *Star Trek* (1968), *Mission: Impossible*, *Hawaii Five-O* and *Walker, Texas Ranger*.

Smithers died on 26 May 2026 in Santa Barbara, California, aged 98.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, hollywoodreporter.com, independent.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Papillon* (1973), Fi1m 74, as Warden Barrot — [page](https://film.one/film/papillon.md)

## Also known for

- *Walker, Texas Ranger* (1993), Milo Crane
- *The Six Million Dollar Man* (1974), General Koslenko
- *Dallas* (1978), Jeremy Wendell
- *Sledge Hammer!* (1986), Colonel Poltz
- *Hawaii Five-O* (1969), Dr. Warren Parker
- *Attack* (1956), Harry Woodruff
- *Quincy, M.E.* (1976)
- *Scorpio* (1973), Mitchell

---
© 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-smithers