William Katt

Infobox actor

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imagesize =
caption = At the 2008 Comic-Con, photo by [http://www.flickr.com/people/44159829@N00 pinguino k] from North Hollywood, USA
birthname = William Theodore Katt
birthdate = birth date and age|1951|2|16
birthplace = Los Angeles, California
United States
othername = Bill Katt
yearsactive =
spouse =
website =

William Theodore Katt (born February 16 1951) is an American film and television actor, best known as the star of "The Greatest American Hero".

Biography

Personal life

Katt was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actor Bill Williams (née Hermann Katt) and actress Barbara Hale. On February 16 1981, he married Deborah Kahne. They have two sons, Clayton Alexander and Emerson Hunter. The couple divorced in 1986. Katt married Danielle Hirsch in 1993.

Career

Katt attended Orange Coast College before pursuing a career as a musician. He then started acting, appearing in summer stock and in small television roles. His earliest film credits include the role of a jock, Tommy Ross, in Brian DePalma's 1976 cult film "Carrie", and the role of Sundance Kid in the 1979 film "". The same year he also appeared as Barlow in the John Milius surf film "Big Wednesday" opposite Jan-Michael Vincent and Gary Busey. This role made him so well known in the surfing community that in 2004 he presented one of the Association of Surfing Professionals awards at their annual World championship tour ceremony, to wild applause from the crowd of professional surfers.

Katt auditioned for the part of Luke Skywalker in 1977's "", and footage of his audition has been featured in many "Star Wars" documentaries. The role went to Mark Hamill, and Katt instead starred that year in "First Love".

In 1981, Katt was cast as the title role in a filmed version of the Broadway musical comedy "Pippin", which film received mixed reviews. He won his best remembered role that year, however, as Ralph Hinkley, a mild-mannered schoolteacher given a superpowered suit by aliens on the television series "The Greatest American Hero", a role he played until the show was cancelled in 1983.

After "The Greatest American Hero", Katt starred in the cult Horror/Comedy film "House" (1986) (reprising his role for the third sequel, "House IV", in 1992) and played the recurring role of detective Paul Drake Jr. in the periodic "Perry Mason" TV movies of the late eighties. These co-starred his mother Barbara Hale, who resumed her "Della Street" role from the original show, and Katt collaborated on some of the later scripts. Katt carried in the 1989 TV series "Top of the Hill", and acted in the short-lived 1991 series Good Sports.

Katt continues to appear on television and in supporting film roles, and has also branched out into voice acting. In recent years he has returned to genre work, with appearances in "Andromeda" and "Justice League" and roles in the award-winning film ' (2006), "The Man from Earth" (2007) and ' (2008).

Katt appeared in Heroes season 3, The Butterfly Effect, as a reporter.

External links

*imdb name|id=0001411|name=William Katt
*tvtome person|id=13856|name=William Katt

Persondata
NAME= Katt, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Katt, William Theodore
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= February 16, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH= Los Angeles, California, United States
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=