William Conrad

Infobox Actor
bgcolour = silver
name = William Conrad
height =


imagesize =
caption = in the television series "Cannon"
birthdate = birth date|1920|9|27|mf=y
location = Louisville, Kentucky
deathdate = death date and age|1994|2|11|1920|9|27|mf=y
deathplace = Los Angeles, California
birthname = William Cann

William Conrad (September 27 1920–February 11 1994) was a American film and television director and an actor and narrator in radio, film, and television known for his baritone voice, as well as his sizable girth.

Early life

Conrad was born William Cann in Louisville, Kentucky. Starting work in radio in the late 1930s in California, Conrad went on to serve as a fighter pilot in World War II. He returned to the airwaves after the war, going on to accumulate over 7,000 roles in radio by his own estimate.

Career

Conrad's deep, resonant voice led to a number of noteworthy roles in radio drama, most prominently his originating the role of Marshal Matt Dillon on the Western program "Gunsmoke" from 1952–61. He was considered for the role when the series was brought to television in 1955, but his increasing obesity led to the casting of James Arness instead. Other series to which Conrad contributed his talents included "Escape", "Suspense" and "The Damon Runyon Theater". One particularly memorable radio piece was the 1957 "CBS Radio Workshop" broadcast "Epitaphs," an adaptation of the Edgar Lee Masters poetry volume "Spoon River Anthology"; Conrad both directed and narrated the production.

Among Conrad's various film roles, where he was usually cast as threatening figures, perhaps his most notable role was his first credited one, as one of the gunmen sent to eliminate Burt Lancaster in the 1946 film "The Killers". He also appeared in "Body and Soul" (1947), "Sorry, Wrong Number", "Joan of Arc" (both 1948), and "The Naked Jungle" (1954).

Conrad moved to television in the 1960s. He and Sam Peckinpah directed episodes of NBC's "Klondike" in the 1960–1961 season. He returned to voice work (most notably as narrator of "The Fugitive" from 1963–67) and the direction of "Brainstorm" in 1965. He narrated the animated "Rocky and Bullwinkle" series from 1959–64 (as "Bill Conrad"), and later performed the role of Denethor in the 1980 animated TV version of J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Return of the King". But the 1970s saw him starring onscreen in the first of three detective series which would bring him an added measure of renown, "Cannon", which ran from 1971–76. He later narrated "The Making of Star Wars" (1977) and "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" (1979). He starred in both "Nero Wolfe" (1981) and "Jake and the Fatman" (1987–92). He was also the on-camera spokesman for First Alert fire prevention products for many years, as well as Hai Karate men's cologne.

Conrad's credits as a director include episodes of "The Rifleman", "Bat Masterson", "Route 66", "Have Gun – Will Travel", and "77 Sunset Strip", among others, and feature films such as "Two on a Guillotine".

Later life

Conrad had one son, Christopher, with wife Susie.

On February 11, 1994, Conrad died from congestive heart failure in Los Angeles, California. He is interred at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in the Lincoln Terrace.

Recognition

Conrad was elected to the Radio Hall of Fame in 1997.

ee also

*List of famous Louisvillians

External links

*imdb name|id=0002016|name=William Conrad
*tcmdb name|id=38072|name=William Conrad
*rhof|id=186|name=William Conrad
* [http://www.tv-now.com/stars/wconrad.html William Conrad on Television]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4517&pt Find-A-Grave profile for William Conrad]
* [http://www.nndb.com/people/684/000042558/ William Conrad] at the [http://www.nndb.com/ NNDB]