Bill Edwards (actor)

infobox actor
name=Bill Edwards
birthdate=birth date|1918|9|14
birthplace=New Jersey
deathdate=death date and age|1999|12|21|1918|9|14
occupation=Film, television actor

Bill Edwards (September 14, 1918 – December 21, 1999) was an American film/television actor, championship rodeo rider and a (Smithsonian exhibited) multi talented artist.

Born in New Jersey, Edwards began drawing horses as a child and continued drawing as he grew up on a Wyoming ranch. From this lifestyle Bill was to become a championship rodeo rider. Broken bones brought his riding career to a halt, and the 6-foot-5 Bill Edwards became a model in New York City. An agent brought him to Hollywood in the early 1940s. He was under contract to Paramount Pictures for nearly a decade, then turned to art. In addition to Western films, the blond, blue-eyed Edwards had featured roles in "Our Hearts Were Young and Gay" and "Hail the Conquering Hero," both in 1944. From 1957 till 1987, while following his various artistic endeavors, he occasionally did small parts in film and television. In this genre he is probably best known for his recurring role of Steve McGarrett's State Department contact Jonathan Kaye in the TV series Hawaii Five-O throughout the 1970s.

In the 1950s he became a painter and commercial illustrator, creating hundreds of covers for paperback books and designing paper dolls of movie stars. Some of his oil and acrylic paintings of Old West scenes were commissioned by the United States Air Force Art Program and have been exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution, the Pentagon and a traveling Air Force exhibit. Bill Edwards died December 21, 1999 at the age of 81 in Newport Beach of pneumonia due to an illness that effected his muscular system. He is survived by his wife, Hazel Allen Edwards, and a daughter.

External links

*imdb|0249823|Bill Edwards