Guy Williams

Biography

Armando Joseph Catalano (January 14, 1924 – April 30, 1989), better known as Guy Williams, was an American actor. He played swashbuckling action heroes in the 1950s and 1960s. Among his most notable achievements were two TV series: the title role in Zorro (1957-1959), and as the father of the Robinson family on the popular sci-fi series Lost in Space (1965-1968). During most of the 1970s, Guy Williams frequently visited and worked in television shows in Argentina, where he was most revered. He retired in the early 1980s in Buenos Aires, where he died of a ruptured brain aneurysm in 1989.

== Biography ==

=== Early life === Guy Williams was born of Sicilian descent on January 14, 1924, as Armando Joseph Catalano in the Washington Heights area of New York City. His parents were insurance broker Attilio Catalano from Lercara Friddi and Clara (Arcara) Catalano from Messina, and were by then living in poverty. Attilio was the son of a wealthy timber grower in Messina, who had purchased land in New Jersey. Williams grew up in the Little Italy neighborhood of The Bronx. In Public School 189, Williams stood out in mathematics. Later, he attended George Washington High School, while he occasionally worked at a soda fountain. He then left to attend the Peekskill Military Academy, where he was an enthusiastic student. His interests included American football and chess.

=== First artistic steps === Williams wanted to be an actor, spurred by his good looks and 6'3" height. When he decided not to continue studying, his mother, who later became an executive of a foreign film company, was disappointed because it was expected that he would follow in his father's footsteps as an insurance broker. After working as a welder, cost accountant and aircraft-parts inspector during World War II, Williams became a salesman in the luggage department at Wanamaker's. While there, he decided to send his photos to a modeling agency. He quickly found great success with assignments resulting in photographs in newspapers and magazines, including Harper's Bazaar as well as on billboards and book covers. He then adopted the name Guy Williams in the 1940s on the advice of his agent Henry Willson after a director refused to cast him because of his on-screen moniker, Guido Armando, that sounded "too foreign". In 1946, Williams signed a one-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and moved to Hollywood. For his debut, he had a featured role as the Enola Gay bombardier in the MGM docudrama The Beginning or the End (1947), about the development of the atom bomb. He appeared in only a few films afterwards and soon returned to New York. In 1948, to advertise cigarettes while skiing, Williams did an extensive filming trip accompanied by Janice Cooper, a John Robert Powers model. During the long photographic sessions, they fell in love, marrying on December 8, just after they returned to New York City. They had two children, Guy Steven Catalano (aka Guy Williams Jr.) and Antoinette Catalano (aka Toni Williams); both became actors. By 1950, Williams was filming some of the pioneering television commercials in the U.S. His father died in 1951, never to witness his son's rise to fame. In 1952, Williams obtained a new one-year contract with Universal-International and moved to Hollywood. He also appeared in an episode of The Lone Ranger, playing a town sheriff.

=== Early Hollywood (1951–1957) === Guy Williams appeared in small supporting roles in films, including:

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) (uncredited) as Radar Operator at beginning of film Bonzo Goes to College (1952) – as Ronald Calkins The Mississippi Gambler (1953) – as Andre The Golden Blade (1953) – as Baghdad's town crier The Man from the Alamo (1953) – as a sergeant Take Me to Town (1953) – as a small hero Highway Patrol (1955) – as Patrolman Hanson I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) – as police officer In 1953, he suffered a serious accident when he fell from a horse and was dragged over 200 yards, resulting in a long scar on his left shoulder. Because of this he returned to New York to continue acting and modeling there and temporarily abandoned his film career. In 1953, he left Universal and became a freelancer for movies produced by Allied Artists and Warner Brothers.

=== Zorro (1957–1959, 1960–1961) === Early in 1957, Williams appeared twice in the role of Steve Clay in the television series Men of Annapolis, a military drama set at the United States Naval Academy. He also appeared in the Rod Cameron drama State Trooper in the episode "No Fancy Cowboys" about the defrauding of guests at a dude ranch.

About this time, the Walt Disney Company was casting for Zorro, a television series based on the character created in 1919 by Johnston McCulley: the young nobleman Don Diego de la Vega and his masked alter ego Zorro. To play the main character, the chosen actor would have to be handsome and have some experience with fencing. Walt Disney interviewed Guy Williams, telling him to start growing a mustache "neither very long or thick." The exclusive contract paid Williams the then very high wage of $2,500 per week, equivalent to $21,000 in 2024. Williams resumed his professional training in fencing with the Belgian champion Fred Cavens (who also trained Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power), since the show required sword fights in most episodes. He also took guitar lessons with the famous Vicente Gomez. Williams' first appearance as Zorro was on the Disney anthology television series The Fourth Anniversary Show, wherein he challenged the notion that Zorro was a fictional character. The series of half-hour episodes debuted on ABC on October 10, 1957. It was an instant hit in the U.S. Seventy-eight episodes were produced over two seasons (1957–1959), and two movies were edited from TV episodes: The Sign of Zorro (1958) and Zorro the Avenger (1959). The theme song was composed by Norman Foster and George Bruns and performed by The Mellomen; it reached #17 on the Hit Parade. In 1959, a legal dispute arose between Disney and ABC, causing a hiatus and the eventual cancellation of Zorro. However, four hour-long episodes were produced with the original primary cast, including Williams. These episodes were released as part of the Walt Disney Presents series between October 30, 1960, and April 12, 1961. On March 5, 1959, as Zorro was ending its original run, Williams was a guest star, along with Sally Brophy and Tom Nolan, on The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. In 1962, Williams played Sir Miles Hendon in Walt Disney's The Prince and the Pauper, shot in England.