Guinn "Big Boy" Williams
Guinn "Big Boy" Williams
Guinn "Big Boy" Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | Guinn Terrell Williams Jr. April 26, 1899 Decatur, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | June 6, 1962(aged 63) Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Big Boy |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1919–1961 |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Weeks Kathleen Collins Dorothy Peterson (1943–1962) (his death) |
Santa Fe Trail - L. to R. : Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams, Alan Hale (Sr.), Ronald Reagan, and Errol Flynn
Guinn Terrell Williams Jr. (April 26, 1899 – June 6, 1962) was an American actor who appeared in memorable westerns such as Dodge City (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940), and The Comancheros (1961). He was nicknamed "Big Boy" as he was 6' 2" and had a muscular build from years of working on ranches and playing semi-pro and professional baseball.
Guinn "Big Boy" Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | Guinn Terrell Williams Jr. April 26, 1899 Decatur, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | June 6, 1962(aged 63) Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Big Boy |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1919–1961 |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Weeks Kathleen Collins Dorothy Peterson (1943–1962) (his death) |
Biography
His father, Guinn Williams (1871-1948), a Democratic congressman, represented the 13th Texas Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives from 1922 to 1932.[1] When Williams Jr. returned from World War I as an Army officer, he found out his father had secured for him an appointment to West Point that Williams Jr. saw no need to attend after his war service; he decided to become a baseball player instead. He was introduced by Will Rogers into motion pictures and polo, where he became a champion player and was given the name "Big Boy" by Rogers.[2]
Williams made his screen debut in the 1919 comedy, Almost A Husband, with Will Rogers and Cullen Landis, and was featured in a large supporting role ten years later in Frank Borzage's Lucky Star with Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. Throughout the 1920s, Williams would have a string of successful films, mostly westerns.
He then appeared in The Great Meadow alongside Johnny Mack Brown, which was Brown's breakout film. Throughout the 1930s, Williams acted in supporting roles, mostly in westerns, sports, or outdoor dramas. He was always employed, and was successful as both a B picture leading man and a supporting actor in A pictures. He often played alongside Hoot Gibson and Harry Carey during that period. In 1941, he became one of many actors cast by Universal Pictures in their large film series, Riders of Death Valley. From the late 1930s to the mid-1940s, Williams appeared in supporting roles in a number of A-pictures, sometimes with high billing, such as You Only Live Once, and in Columbia's first Technicolor film, The Desperadoes (1943).
Williams was frequently teamed with Alan Hale, Sr. as sidekicks to Errol Flynn in several of his pictures. In 1960, he was cast in the epic film The Alamo and in Home from the Hill with Robert Mitchum. His last role was opposite his close friend John Wayne and Stuart Whitman in The Comancheros.
Personal life
He was married to three actresses, the first being silent film actress Kathleen Collins. For a time, he was married to B-movie actress Barbara Weeks. His last wife was Dorothy Peterson, whom he first met in the 1940s. Prior to meeting her he had been engaged to Lupe Velez but she literally broke off the engagement at their friend Errol Flynn's home by breaking a framed portrait of Williams over his head[3] and then urinating on the picture.[4]
Like his father, Williams was active in an array of notable and state related causes. He worked with the regional Agricultural Credit Association, The Production Credit Corporation, The Goat Raisers Association, The Texas Wool and Mohair Company, and the Bankers Association (all of which coincided both in his native Texas and adopted California). Throughout his life Williams was active both in community affairs and the Methodist churches of Decatur, Texas, San Angelo, Texas, and Los Angeles, California.[5]
Williams died unexpectedly of uremic poisoning[6] on June 6, 1962, aged 63.
Filmography
Almost a Husband (1919) - (film debut)
Jubilo (1919) - Man Shooting Pool with Bert (uncredited)
Cupid the Cowpuncher (1920) - Hairoil Johnson
Godless Men (1920) - Seaman (uncredited)
The Vengeance Trail (1921) - Big Boy Bronson
Western Firebrands (1921) - Billy Fargo
Across the Border (1922) - Andy Fowler
Rounding Up the Law (1922) - Larry Connell
The Cowboy King (1922) - Dud Smiley
Remembrance (1922)
The Trail of Hate (1922) - Silent Kerry
Blaze Away (1922) - Big Boy
The Freshie (1922) - Charles Taylor
Cyclone Jones (1923) - Cyclone Jones
Riders at Night (1923)
End of the Rope (1923)
$1,000 Reward (1923)
The Avenger (1924) - Nat Sherwood
The Eagle's Claw (1924) - Dan Carson
Red Blood and Blue (1925) - Tom Butler
Fangs of Wolfheart (1925)
Wolfheart's Revenge (1925) - Jack Stanley
Sporting West (1925)
Black Cyclone (1925) - Jim Lawson
Whistling Jim (1925) - Whistling Jim
Rose of the Desert (1925)
Riders of the Sand Storm (1925) - The Cowboy
Courage of Wolfheart (1925)
The Big Stunt (1925)
Brown of Harvard (1926) - Hal Walters
The Desert's Toll (1926)
Quarantined Rivals (1927) - Joe, the plumber
Slide, Kelly, Slide (1927) - McLean
Backstage (1927) - Mike Donovan
Arizona Bound (1927) - Cowboy
Snowbound (1927) - Bull Morgan
Babe Comes Home (1927) - Baseball Player
The Woman Who Did Not Care (1927) - Lars
Lightning (1927) - Cuth Stewart
The Down Grade (1927) - Ed Holden
The College Widow (1927) - Don White
Burning Daylight (1928) - English Harry
Ladies' Night in a Turkish Bath (1928) - Sweeney
Vamping Venus (1928) - Mars
Beggars of Life (1928) - Baker's Cart Driver (uncredited)
Noah's Ark (1928) - Al / Ham
My Man (1928) - Joe Halsey
From Headquarters (1929) - Gunnery Sgt. Wilmer
Lucky Star (1929) - Sgt. Martin Wrenn
The Forward Pass (1929) - Honey Smith
City Girl (1930) - Reaper
The Big Fight (1930) - Tiger
The Bad Man (1930) - Red Giddings
Liliom (1930) - Hollinger
College Lovers (1930) - Tiny Courtley
The Bachelor Father (1931) - Richard 'Dick' Berney
The Great Meadow (1931) - Rubin Hall
The Phantom (1931) - Dick Mallory
Ladies of the Jury (1932) - Steve Bromm (uncredited)
Polly of the Circus (1932) - Eric
Drifting Souls (1932) - Bing
70,000 Witnesses (1932) - Connors
Heritage of the Desert (1932) - Lefty - Henchman
You Said a Mouthful (1932) - Joe Holt - a Swimming Champion (uncredited)
The Devil Is Driving (1932) - Mac
The Phantom Broadcast (1933) - Sandy Higgins
Laughing at Life (1933) - Jones
Man of the Forest (1933) - Big Boy
Rafter Romance (1933) - Fritzie
College Coach (1933) - Matthews
The Mystery Squadron (1933, Serial) - Bill 'Jellybean' Cook
Palooka (1934) - Slats (uncredited)
Cheaters (1934) - Detective Sweeney
Half a Sinner (1934) - 'Bull' Moran
Here Comes the Navy (1934) - Dance-Floor Manager
Romance in the Rain (1934) - Panya Mankiewicz
Thunder Over Texas (1934) - Ted Wright
Flirtation Walk (1934) - 'Sleepy'
Cowboy Holiday (1934) - Buck Sawyer
The Silver Streak (1934) - Higgins
Big Boy Rides Again (1935) - Tom Duncan
Private Worlds (1935) - Jerry
One in a Million (1935) - Spike McGafferty
Village Tale (1935) - Ben Roberts
The Glass Key (1935) - Jeff
Society Fever (1935) - Edgar Prouty
Danger Trails (1935) - Bob Wilson
Here Comes Cookie (1935) - Big Boy
Powdersmoke Range (1935) - Lullaby Joslin
Gun Play (1935) - Bill Williams
The Law of 45's (1935) - Tucson Smith
Miss Pacific Fleet (1935) - Nicholas 'Nick' - Annie's Boyfriend
The Littlest Rebel (1935) - Sgt. Dudley
Muss 'em Up (1936) - 'Red' Cable
Crashing Thru Danger (1936) - Slim
Kelly the Second (1936) - Cecil Callahan
Grand Jury (1936) - Joseph Britt
The Vigilantes Are Coming (1936, Serial) - Salvation
The Big Game (1936) - Pete Jenkins
End of the Trail (1936) - Bob Hildreth
North of Nome (1936) - Haage
Career Woman (1936) - Bede Sanders
You Only Live Once (1937) - Roger
Don't Tell the Wife (1937) - Lazarus Hubert Gregory 'Cupid' Dougal
A Star Is Born (1937) - Posture Coach
Dangerous Holiday (1937) - Duke Edwards
Girls Can Play (1937) - Lieutenant Flannigan
Flying Fists (1937) - Slug Cassidy
The Singing Marine (1937) - Dopey
She's No Lady (1937) - Jeff
Big City (1937) - Danny Devlin
My Dear Miss Aldrich (1937) - An Attendant
Wise Girl (1937) - Mike
The Bad Man of Brimstone (1937) - 'Vulch' McCreedy
Everybody's Doing It (1938) - 'Softy' Blane
You and Me (1938) - Taxi
The Marines Are Here (1938) - Sgt. Gibbons
Professor Beware (1938) - Motorcycle Cop (uncredited)
Army Girl (1938) - Sgt. Harry Ross
Hold That Co-ed (1938) - Mike
Down in 'Arkansaw' (1938) - Juble Butler
I Demand Payment (1938) - Happy Crofton
Pardon Our Nerve (1939) - Samson Smith
Dodge City (1939) - Tex Baird
Street of Missing Men (1939) - T-Bone
6,000 Enemies (1939) - Maxie
Mutiny on the Blackhawk (1939) - Blake - the First Mate
Bad Lands (1939) - Billy Sweet
Fugitive at Large (1939) - Conway
Blackmail (1939) - Moose McCarthy
Legion of Lost Flyers (1939) - Jake Halley
The Fighting 69th (1940) - Paddy Dolan
Castle on the Hudson (1940) - Mike Cagle
Virginia City (1940) - 'Marblehead'
Alias the Deacon (1940) - Bull Gumbatz
Wagons Westward (1940) - Jake Hardman
Money and the Woman (1940) - Mr. Adler, the Bank Guard
Dulcy (1940) - Henry
Santa Fe Trail (1940) - Windy Brody
Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga (1941) - Alvin
Country Fair (1941) - Gunther Potts
Billy the Kid (1941) - Ed Bronson
Riders of Death Valley (1941, Serial) - Borax Bill
You'll Never Get Rich (1941) - Kewpie Blain
Swamp Water (1941) - Bud Dorson
Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941) - Narrator (voice, uncredited)
The Bugle Sounds (1942) - Sgt. Krims
Mr. Wise Guy (1942) - Luke Manning
Lure of the Islands (1942) - Jinx
Between Us Girls (1942) - Father of the Boys
Silver Queen (1942) - Blackie
American Empire (1942) - Sailaway
The Desperadoes (1943) - Nitro Rankin
Minesweeper (1943) - CPO Ichabod Ferdinand 'Fixit' Smith
Hands Across the Border (1944) - Teddy Bear
Cowboy Canteen (1944) - Spud Harrigan
Cowboy and the Senorita (1944) - Teddy Bear
Nevada (1944) - Dusty
Belle of the Yukon (1944) - Sheriff Mervin Maitland
Sing Me a Song of Texas (1945) - Big Boy
The Man Who Walked Alone (1945) - Champ
Rhythm Round-Up (1945) - Zeke Winslow
Song of the Prairie (1945) - Big Boy Jackson
Throw a Saddle on a Star (1946) - Big Boy
That Texas Jamboree (1946) - Big Boy Frazer
Cowboy Blues (1946) - Big Boy
Singing on the Trail (1946) - Big Boy Webster
Singin' in the Corn (1946) - Hank
Over the Santa Fe Trail (1947) - Big Boy Jackson
King of the Wild Horses (1947) - Jed Acker
Smoky River Serenade (1947) - Wagon Wheel
Road to the Big House (1947) - Butch McQuinn
Station West (1948) - Mick
Smoky Mountain Melody (1948) - Saddle Grease Williams
Bad Men of Tombstone (1949) - Red Fisk
Brimstone (1949) - Deputy Art Benson
Hoedown (1950) - Small Potatoes
Rocky Mountain (1950) - Pap Dennison (CSA)
Al Jennings of Oklahoma (1951) - Lon Tuttle
Man in the Saddle (1951) - Bourke Prine
Springfield Rifle (1952) - Sgt. Snow
Hangman's Knot (1952) - Smitty
Southwest Passage (1954) - Tall Tale
Massacre Canyon (1954) - Private Peaceful Allen
The Outlaw's Daughter (1954) - Moose, Deputy
Hidden Guns (1956) - Kingford
Man from Del Rio (1956) - Fred Jasper (uncredited)
The Hired Gun (1957) - Elby Kirby
Home from the Hill (1960) - Hugh Macauley (uncredited)
Five Bold Women (1960) - Big Foot
The Alamo (1960) - Lt. 'Irish' Finn
The Comancheros (1961) - Ed McBain - Gunrunner (final film, uncredited)
Television
My Friend Flicka (1955-1956) - Jeb Taylor
Circus Boy (1956-1957) - Pete, the Canvasman
Gunsmoke (1957) - Groat
Cheyenne (1957) - Prairie Dog
Sugarfoot (1958) - Moose McKlintock
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (1958) - Sgt. Muldoon
Tales of Wells Fargo (1958) - Mike Forbes
Wagon Train (1959) - Calvin Bryngelson
The Restless Gun (1959) - Jeff Bonsell
The Magical World of Disney (1960) - Buffalo