Acting After his national service as a gunner in the Airborne Division, Williamson made his professional debut with the
Dundee Repertory Theatre in 1960 and the following year appeared with the Arts Theatre in
Cambridge. In 1962 he made his London debut as
Flute in
Tony Richardson's production of ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' at the
Royal Court Theatre. His first major success came in 1964 with
John Osborne's
Inadmissible Evidence, for which he was nominated for a
Tony Award when it transferred to
Broadway the following year. In spring 1981, he and original director
Anthony Page revived the play for a six-week engagement at the
Roundabout Theatre (23rd Street) in New York, fifteen years after the original Broadway run. Also in 1964, he appeared as Vladimir in
Samuel Beckett's
Waiting for Godot at the Royal Court. He starred in the film version in 1968. Williamson's
Hamlet for
Tony Richardson at
the Roundhouse caused a sensation; it was later transferred to New York and made into a film, with a cast including
Anthony Hopkins and
Marianne Faithfull. Faithfull later stated in her autobiography
Faithfull that she and Williamson had an affair while filming
Hamlet. His most celebrated film role was as
Merlin the magician in the
King Arthur epic
Excalibur in 1981. Director
John Boorman cast him opposite
Helen Mirren as
Morgana over the protests of both actors; the two had previously appeared together on stage in
Macbeth, with disastrous results, and they disliked each other intensely. It was Boorman's hope that the very real animosity that they had towards each other would generate more tension between them on screen. Williamson gained recognition from a much wider fanbase for his performance as Merlin. A review of
Excalibur in
The Times in 1981 states: "The actors are led by Williamson's witty, perceptive Merlin, missed every time he's off the screen." According to Mirren, she and Williamson, free from the problems with
Macbeth, "wound up becoming very good friends" during
Excalibur. Some of his other notable cinematic performances include as a troubled Irish soldier in the 1968
Jack Gold film
The Bofors Gun; in 1975 as an intelligence officer in
apartheid South Africa in
The Wilby Conspiracy (starring
Sidney Poitier and
Michael Caine); as
Sherlock Holmes in the 1976
Herbert Ross film
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution; and as
Little John in the 1976
Richard Lester film
Robin and Marian. Additionally, he portrayed an
MI6 bureaucrat in
The Human Factor (1979) (adapted from a novel by
Graham Greene); an alcoholic attorney in ''
I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982); a colonel in the Cincinnati Gestapo in the Neil Simon comedy The Cheap Detective; Lord Louis Mountbatten in Lord Mountbatten - The Last Viceroy
(1985); the dual roles of Dr. Worley/The Nome King in Return to Oz (1985); Father Morning in The Exorcist III'' (1990); Badger in the 1996 movie adaptation of
Kenneth Grahame's
Wind in the Willows; and as
Cogliostro in the
1997 movie adaptation of
Todd McFarlane's comic book
Spawn. In 1978, Williamson portrayed a murderous behaviour expert in the
Columbo episode "How to Dial a Murder". His character was one of the few suspects who attempted to kill Columbo.
Additional work Following a late-night
chat show appearance in which he showcased his singing talents, Williamson released an album of songs in 1971 on the
CBS label (S 64045). The album contained songs such as "
Didn't We", "
It's Impossible" and "
Help Me Make It Through the Night". In 1974, Williamson recorded an abridged reading of
The Hobbit for
Argo Records, authorisation for the abridgement having been provided by
J.R.R. Tolkien's publisher. The recording was produced by
Harley Usill. According to his official website, Williamson re-edited the original script himself, removing many occurrences of "he said", "she said", and so on, as he felt that an over-reliance on descriptive narrative would not give the desired effect; he performed each character in a distinctive voice. In 1994, Williamson wrote a play for solo actor on the life of actor
John Barrymore.
Jack, a Night on the Town with John Barrymore was produced at the
Criterion Theatre in London. Williamson made a major contribution to the documentary
John Osborne and the Gift of Friendship, recalling episodes from his long professional relationship with Osborne. Recorded excerpts of his award-winning stage performance in
Inadmissible Evidence also feature in the video. ==Personality==