William Conrad

Biography

William Conrad (September 27, 1920 - February 11, 1994) was an American actor, producer, and director. He was born William Cann in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of a theatre-owner who moved to southern California, where he excelled at drama and literature while at school. Starting work in radio in the late 1930s in California, Conrad went on to serve as a fighter pilot in World War II. He entered the army in 1942, and was commissioned at Luke Field, Arizona in 1943 (now Luke Air Force Base). On the day of his commission he married June Nelson. He returned to the airwaves after the war, going on to accumulate over 7,000 roles in radio by his own estimate. 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). As a producer for Warner Brothers, he made a string of feature films, including An American Dream (1966, retitled See You in Hell, Darling for British release), A Covenant With Death (1966), First to Fight (1967) and The Cool Ones (1967), and also directed My Blood Runs Cold, Brainstorm and Two on a Guillotine (all 1965).

Most Known For

Murder, She Wrote

as Anatole Karzof

The Fugitive

as Narrator

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

as Sergent Cresse

Have Gun, Will Travel

Have Gun, Will Travel

as Moses Kadish

Matlock

as James McShane

Bambi

as Self

Hotel

The Bullwinkle Show

as Narrator (voice)

Cannon

as Frank Cannon

The Carol Burnett Show

as Self - Guest / Various Characters

The Carol Burnett Show

as Self

77 Sunset Strip

as Bystander (uncredited)

77 Sunset Strip

as Clapper (uncredited)

Gunsmoke

as Narrator (voice)

Barnaby Jones

as Frank Cannon

The Name of the Game

as Arnold Wexler

The Ed Sullivan Show

as Self

Bat Masterson

as Clark Benson

Bat Masterson

as Dick MacIntyre