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 $ in . 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.
European films After finishing his contract with Disney, Guy Williams went to Europe to film two movies: •
Damon and Pythias (
MGM production filmed in Italy in 1962, directed by
Curtis Bernhardt), as
Damon, the classic Greek hero who offers his life as warrant of the word of
Pythias (played by Don Burnett), his friend who has been condemned to death for political reasons; •
Captain Sindbad (MGM production filmed in Germany in 1962, directed by
Byron Haskin, based on the classic tale of the
Arabian Nights), in the role of
Sindbad the Sailor.
Bonanza (1964) In 1964, Guy Williams returned to Hollywood to resume his career, being added to the cast of the hit TV series
Bonanza as Ben's nephew
Will Cartwright.
Lost in Space (1965–1968) in
Lost in Space In 1965, Guy Williams returned to weekly television in the popular science-fiction series
Lost in Space with
June Lockhart as his wife. Williams played Professor John Robinson, an expert in astrophysics and geology, who commanded the mission of the
Jupiter 2 spaceship, taking his family on a voyage to colonize the
Alpha Centauri star system.
First visit to Argentina (April 1973) Williams always had a frank and open temperament, was a great connoisseur of wine, a chess and fencing enthusiast and a great lover of travel. As early as 1969, at the end of
Lost in Space, he was disappointed that no job offer materialized. He then decided to retire to enjoy his small fortune earned by investing in various businesses. Starting on January 2, 1967,
Channel 13 television in
Buenos Aires broadcast "
El Zorro" during the daytime every day from 12:30 to 1:00p.m. and evenings from 7:00 to 7:30p.m., with great success. In 1970, toy stores and kiosks throughout Argentina sold
action figures, costumes, and all kinds of items related to Zorro. Due to the success of the series, Channel 13 management had the idea wanted to meet with Williams to see how he would feel about starring in a variety of children's programming at the station. Buenos Aires' journalist Leonardo Gleizer was tasked with traveling to the US to make contact with Williams: Willams's arrival at the
Ministro Pistarini International Airport of
Ezeiza, on Sunday, 1 April, 1973, was a tremendous event. Thousands of children with their parents came to the Airport to greet the actor. Guy agreed to dress up as Zorro in several programs of Channel 13 (something he had emphatically rejected in the USA) and to make a small fencing exhibition in the program
Teleshow (Channel 13, Monday to Friday from 2:30 to 5:00 p.m.) hosted by Víctor Sueiro. Such was the success of the presentation in Sueiro's program that the channel's wardrobe department made a costume similar to the one in the popular series, with which Williams also appeared in
Porcelandia (Wednesdays from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m.), where
Jorge Porcel had a sketch called “El Sorro con S”; in this program they needed to recreate a fencing scene. Williams' contender was the very young Argentine fencing champion
Fernando Lupiz (who in 2005 presented a daily TV show where he taught fencing and showed Zorro cartoons), who was about to turn 20 years old. In 1983, Williams returned to Los Angeles for three final television appearances. He joined
Lost in Space cast members June Lockhart,
Angela Cartwright,
Bob May, and
Marta Kristen for three celebrity episodes of
Family Feud against the casts of
Batman,
Hawaiian Eye, and ''
Gilligan's Island respectively. He later appeared as a guest on Good Morning America''. ==Death==