Adam Williams
Known for: Acting
Adam Williams (born Adam William Berg, November 26, 1922 – December 4, 2006) was an American film and television actor. A veteran "bad guy" actor of 1950s film and TV, he began his career after distinguished World War II military service as a United States Navy pilot, for which he received the Navy Cross. In 1952, Williams played the lead, a Los Angeles woman killer, in the film Without Warning! In 1953, he was cast as Larry, a car bomber, in The Big Heat. He had a leading role in the 1958 science fiction movie The Space Children. Other notable film roles include the psychiatrist in Fear Strikes Out (1957) and Valerian in North by Northwest (1959). During the 1950s and 1960s, he appeared on dozens of television series, including the syndicated Sheriff of Cochise, set in Arizona and starring John Bromfield, and Have Gun – Will Travel in the episode "The Reasonable Man". He portrayed private detective and murderer Jason Beckmeyer in the 1957 Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Runaway Corpse." In 1961, he was cast as Jim Gates in the episode "Frontier Week" on Joanne Dru's sitcom Guestward, Ho!, set on a dude ranch in New Mexico. In 1960, he played the role of a sailor hitching a ride in The Twilight Zone season 1 episode "The Hitch-Hiker", where he is picked up by a terrified driver played by Inger Stevens, who is compelled to pick him up so that he may offer protection and safety to her from a mysterious hitchhiker who shows up at various times and places along the road while she travels across country. Many reviewers have cited this episode as one of The Twilight Zone's "10 Greatest" of the series. He had also appeared in the Twilight Zone episode "A Most Unusual Camera". Between 1959 and 1967 he appeared in six episodes of The Rifleman and in four episodes of Bonanza, and in 1961 as Adam in "A Rope for Charlie Munday", in the ABC adventure series The Islanders. He was cast as Burley Keller in the 1961 episode "The Persecuted" of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series Lawman. He guest-starred in an episode of the 1961 NBC series The Americans, based on family conflicts stemming from the American Civil War, and in an episode of the 1961 series The Asphalt Jungle. One of his later roles was in the 1976 television movie Helter Skelter.
Filmography
Series
Perry Mason
Jason Beckmeyer
1957
Series
Bonanza
Muller
1959
Series
Bonanza
Blackie Marx
1959
Series
Bonanza
Red Twilight
1959
Series
Bonanza
Hardesty
1959
Series
The Fugitive
Truck Driver
1963
Series
Mannix
Prosecutor
1967
Series
Mannix
George Henderson
1967
Series
Maverick
Sam Elkins
1957
Series
The Twilight Zone
Woodward
1959
Series
The Twilight Zone
Sailor
1959
Series
The Rifleman
Jake Pardee
1958
Series
The Rifleman
Corporal Troc
1958
Series
The Rifleman
Jax
1958
Series
The Rifleman
Russell Ganaway
1958
Series
The Rifleman
Cory Platt
1958
Series
The Rifleman
Mal Sherman
1958
Series
Have Gun, Will Travel
Frank Gault
1957
Series
Have Gun, Will Travel
Beckett
1957
Series
Have Gun, Will Travel
Simon Quill
1957
Series
The Untouchables
Lloyd Barker
1959
Series
The Untouchables
Paul Meadows
1959
Series
The Virginian
Roper
1962
Series
Dr. Kildare
Ralph Walker
1961
Series
Lawman
Burley Keller
1958
Series
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Harlan Breckenridge
1956
Series
Cheyenne
Jeb Quinn
1955
Series
Cannon
1971
Series
Combat!
Lt. Col. Nash
1962
Series
Rawhide
Kellino
1959
Series
Rawhide
Jeb
1959
Series
Rawhide
Hank Kale
1959
Four Star Playhouse
George
1952
Series
Daniel Boone
Mose
1964
Series
The F.B.I.
David Brice
1965
Series
The High Chaparral
Burton
1967
Series
Gunsmoke
Slim Trent
1955
Series
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Dr. Schmidt
1969
Series
Hawaiian Eye
Harry Gulliver
1959
Series
77 Sunset Strip
Willie Lee Hanks
1958
Series
77 Sunset Strip
Axel Derwent
1958
Series
77 Sunset Strip
Spud Morrison
1958
Series
77 Sunset Strip
Chuck Lynch
1958
Series
Thriller
Hymie Kralik
1960
Series
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Chief
1964
Series
The Ford Television Theatre
1952
Series
The Ford Television Theatre
Private Littauer
1952
Series
Surfside 6
Willie Cleveland
1960
Series
Surfside 6
Henry Gifford
1960
Series
Surfside 6
Mel Walters
1960
Series
Switch
Henry Corwin
1975
Series
The Westerner
Pauk
1960
Series
Telephone Time
1956
Series
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Police Lt. King
1955
Series
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Doctor
1955
Series
The Millionaire
Todd Burke
1955
Series
The Millionaire
Jackson Greene
1955
Series
Felony Squad
1966
Series
The Texan
Jebb Kilmer
1958
Series
Trackdown
Cowboy
1957
Series
Kraft Suspense Theatre
Ben Jorgenson
1963
Series
M Squad
Denny Sutton
1957
Series
The Detectives
Eddie Furman
1959
Series
The Detectives
Soley
1959
Series
The Detectives
Felix
1959
Series
Alcoa Theatre
Wohlman
1957
Series
Honey West
Gordon Forbes
1965
Series
Black Saddle
Brad Pickard
1959
Series
Black Saddle
Clint Frome
1959
Series
Arrest and Trial
C.H. Littler
1963
Series
Outlaws
1960
Series
Stagecoach West
Arnie Ames
1960
Series
The Roaring 20's
1960
Series
Sam Benedict
Burton Harper
1962
Series
The Gallant Men
1962
Series
Wire Service
Wells
1956
Film
North by Northwest
Valerian
1959
Chevron Theatre
1952
Series
Guestward, Ho!
1960
Series
The Americans
1961
Series
The Asphalt Jungle
1961
Series
Temple Houston
Harmony Brown
1963
Series
General Electric Theater
Glen
1953
Film
Flying Leathernecks
Lt. Bert Malotke
1951
Film
The Big Heat
Larry Gordon
1953
Film
The Oklahoman
Bob Randell
1957
Film
The Badlanders
Deputy Leslie
1958
Film
Helter Skelter
Terrence Milik
1976
Film
The Rack
Sgt. Otto Pahnke
1956
Film
Convicts 4
Guard
1962
Film
The Last Sunset
Calverton
1961
Film
Darby's Rangers
Heavy Hall
1958
Film
Crashout
Fred Summerfield
1955
Film
Vice Squad
Marty Kusalich
1953
Film
Gunfight at Comanche Creek
Jed Hayden
1963
Film
The Glory Guys
Pvt. Lucas Crain
1965
Film
Follow Me, Boys!
Sergeant (uncredited)
1966
Film
The Garment Jungle
Ox
1957
Film
Fear Strikes Out
Doctor Brown
1957
Film
The Proud and Profane
Eustace Press
1956
Film
The Yellow Tomahawk
Cpl. Maddock
1954
Film
The Lonely Man
Lon
1957
Film
Dragonfly Squadron
Capt. Wyler
1954
Film
Benjy
Mr. Miller
1951
Film
Without Warning!
Carl Martin
1952
Film
The Space Children
Dave Brewster
1958
Film
Queen for a Day
Chuck
1951
Film
The New Interns
Wolanski
1964
Film
Mission of Danger
1960
Ladies Knight
Doofus (voice)
2012