For William Smith, his film career was often art imitating life. In his vast catalog of roles, a little bit of him was in many of the characters he was playing--and he played A LOT OF THEM. The good guys and the bad guys--he's essayed them in movies big and small with such astonishing precision, it's bewildering the big man has never gotten wider recognition for any number of his 300+ performances. That he possessed such a massive frame appears to be one reason he's been seemingly overlooked, or underrated for many years; yet the man has enough accomplishments for a dozen lifetimes and quite a sizable legion of fans who remember all he's given to the world and to the world of entertainment.
"People [out here] seem to have the idea that if you have 18-inch arms, you're a dummy or something, y'know? And I got my Masters cum laude from UCLA, so I think that makes it sort of irrelevant." -- William Smith, Shock Cinema interview, #12, 1998
The old saying, "Jack of All Trades, Master of None" is a contradiction in the life of Big Bill Smith. He's been a UCLA teacher, learned five languages, and fought wildfires as a volunteer fireman. He was also a Russian interrogator and intelligence expert in the Korean War, and a champion bodybuilder--amassing major macho credits with his participation in a variety of sporting events, competitions (like doing 5,100 situps over a five hour period and reverse curling 163lbs), and appearing on covers of various weightlifting magazines.
There's also that time Smith trained with the 1st Mr. Olympia, Larry Scott; being mentored by Tough Guy Jock Mahoney; or that stage of his career when he was a stuntman; or when he turned down the role of Tarzan; or when he was made an honorary member of the Stuntmen's Association; or his time as an amateur boxer in the military; or an eight year stint training in San Soo Kung Fu with Jimmy Woo and Kempo with Ed Parker; his years as an arm wrestling champion.... the list goes on. If you want to talk living legends, William Smith is a good place to start.
The following article is a companion piece to the Tough Guys Files #1 on William Smith. It contains selected highlights from his career and things in between that demonstrate why he is the greatest Tough Guy that has ever lived.
HIGHLIGHTS OF BIG BILL SMITH: THE GOOD GUYS....
"My mother found it difficult to tell me that I wasn't like other children. I could never share life with whole human beings. I slowly learned that the thing that raped my mother and fathered me was no living, feeling man, but a malignant force, a cancer that refused to be destroyed.... I've tracked him from country to country to the colleges and universities where he finds the fresh young blood he craves.... Soon I'll meet my father face to face. Soon I'll have him where I want him." -- An abbreviated passage of Smith's monologue.
Nobody would mistake GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE (1972) as a great movie, but for a film made for $75,000, it is among the most unusual vampire movies ever made; and is a unique lead role for Smith playing the bloodsucker offspring seeking out his father to put an end to his lust for plasma. Easily one of the quirkiest flicks on his resume.
As government agent Neil Agar, William Smith, along with Playboy Playmate Victoria Vetri, tried to prevent the INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS (1973) led by PRICE IS RIGHT model Anitra Ford. One of the best 'B' movies of all time, it was truly a total package of 70s Drive-in greatness. Much like his vampire movie lead role, BEE GIRLS was a distinctive film on Smith's resume.
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"You know what a wrestling champion is? He's a People's Champion.... If you make it to the top don't forget those people that are sittin' out there watchin' ya'.... cuz' you owe'em."--Dan giving Jim 'Jungle Boy' Davenport the rules of the ropes.
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"You're fast and you like pain. You eat it like candy. I seen a few cases like that in my time. Ya' know, the more they get hurt, the more dangerous they become... but ya' gotta be durable, too... real durable... most ain't!"--Wilson espousing macho talk with Beddoe.
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MACHO MINUTIAE
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2. During the making of RUN, ANGEL, RUN (1969), Smith spoke in an interview about he and one of his co-stars getting into a brawl with members of a real band of bikers called Satan's Slaves. To quote Smith in the interview, "They weren't as tough as they thought."
3. Before David Carradine became Caine in KUNG FU, Smith had shot (along with director Jack Starrett) an audition for the part, but supposedly his size was considered too imposing and menacing looking. One wonders the trajectory his career would have taken had he gotten this role that is now part of the American lexicon. He did appear in the season two episode, 'The Chalice'.
4. Smith was originally intended to play Roper in ENTER THE DRAGON (1973), but work on THE LAST AMERICAN HERO (1973) prevented him from appearing so John Saxon was chosen instead. One rumor for ENTER is that Rockne Tarkington was to have played the Williams role that eventually went to Jim Kelly (who was an unknown at that time). Tarkington was BLACK SAMSON (1974) co-starring Smith as the heavy.
5. Not only did Bill teach Conan everything he knows, but prior to instilling Crom-ology into everyone's favorite Cimmerian, he also trained another barbarian, the man who speaks to animals and sees what they see--THE BEASTMASTER (1982), (a very young) Marc Singer, in 'The Gladiators' episode of the short-lived PLANET OF THE APES (1974) TV series.
5. Not only did Bill teach Conan everything he knows, but prior to instilling Crom-ology into everyone's favorite Cimmerian, he also trained another barbarian, the man who speaks to animals and sees what they see--THE BEASTMASTER (1982), (a very young) Marc Singer, in 'The Gladiators' episode of the short-lived PLANET OF THE APES (1974) TV series.
6. Prior to the start of production on CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982), Smith arm-wrestled bodybuilding colleague and then future superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger and beat him. Arnold walked away, reportedly not very pleased with himself.
7. Sometimes nice guys do finish last.... William Smith has been a part of a handful of cultural phenomenons in their twilight years. Big Bill was Adonis, the muscle-bound henchman cum massage therapist to Minerva (Zsa Zsa Gabor) on the last episode of BATMAN (1966-1968); even better, he co-starred opposite Jack Lord on the last season of HAWAII FIVE-O (1968-1980) as Detective James 'Kimo' Carew, the replacement to James "Danno" MacArthur; and was the last Marlboro Man before cigarette commercials became extinct.
8. Whether playing good guys or bad guys, Smith had a signature way of conveying his emotional state onscreen--particularly anger articulated through this routine he does with his face. He cocks his head to one side; his eyes begin to wander; and his face becomes a total blank, momentarily drained of emotion. This almost always precedes a conspicuously evil grin followed by trauma to the head or other body part. Depending on how bad you pissed him off would determine your chances of seeing the sun rise the next day. Then there's that piercing, icy stare when Smith is simply focusing on the conversation at hand. As for communicating unease in everyone within range, William Smith could have trademarked his steely visage; which came in very handy in a lot of cases....
7. Sometimes nice guys do finish last.... William Smith has been a part of a handful of cultural phenomenons in their twilight years. Big Bill was Adonis, the muscle-bound henchman cum massage therapist to Minerva (Zsa Zsa Gabor) on the last episode of BATMAN (1966-1968); even better, he co-starred opposite Jack Lord on the last season of HAWAII FIVE-O (1968-1980) as Detective James 'Kimo' Carew, the replacement to James "Danno" MacArthur; and was the last Marlboro Man before cigarette commercials became extinct.
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HIGHLIGHTS OF BIG BILL SMITH: .... AND THE BAD GUYS
To document the best of Smith's bad guy roles is like choosing which food to start with at a buffet. Everything looks good. You just have to dig in and cover every inch of your plate till you can go back and start all over again. Smith had a certain something about him that allowed him to stand out from other actors. He was so imposing, so intimidating, it was nearly impossible for any filmmaker to depict him being plausibly defeated by the protagonist.
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"Don't think! You are not paid to think. You are PAID to TALK. And another thing you fuckin' WOOORRRM... my name is MISTER Nappa, MISTER NAPPA! Don't you forget it!!"--Boss Nappa to one of his staff.
When the black action boom was in full swing, William Smith lent his talents to that genre in five entries, two of which were with Tough Guy Fred Williamson. The one he did with Rockne Tarkington, the aforementioned BLACK SAMSON (1974), is arguably his best performance out of the lot of them. Smith is the personification of demented in this movie playing the thoroughly, and frighteningly unpredictable Johnny Nappa. The film itself isn't all that well known or discussed among black action enthusiasts, but Smith's performance all by itself carries the picture. He's so sadistic, it borders on parody; yet as purely evil as Nappa is, the viewer is anxious to see what nasty bit of business he'll do next in between scenes. Tarkington comes off as a believable foil, and the villains comeuppance is satisfying.
"I'll kill him! I'll rip his town to pieces... burn it to the ground.
Till their ain't nothin' left but hot dirt, smoke and nails!"--GUNSMOKE
season 18, episode 13 'Hostage!', 1972
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"Whaddaya think you are, some kinda' hard guy, or somethin'?... Don't turn yer' back on me when I'm talkin' to ya'... punk."--Falconetti being unsociable with Tom Jordache (Nick Nolte).
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If there was a guy who needed a Paul Bunyon style series of memes a la Chuck Norris, it's William Smith. The epitome of the Tough Guy persona--an intellectual, learned man of the world, and even an accomplished writer of poetry, the Macho mold was broken with William Smith, the Alpha and Omega (the A to Z) of Tough Guys.
2 comments:
He was the best.
I could go on and on about the sheer "tough guy" persona of William Smith (on and off screen) but if you needed a heavy for your movie or TV show back in the day, "Get me William Smith"! Mold was broken after him. A true renaissance man: Actor, intellectual, poet.
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