For a whole generation he was tv’s ‘Green Hornet‘, but 2016 claims another loss as actor Van Williams passes away…
Reports began circulating in the last twenty-fours hours that Van Williams, perhaps best known as the star of the 1960s’ television version of the Green Hornet, has died of renal failure at the age of 82.
Williams began his career as a diving instructor in Hawaii but moved into acting when he was ‘discovered’ by producer Mike Todd in the late 1950s. Williams got his first big break on shows such as ABC’s detective show Bourbon Street Beat (set in New Orleans) and later in Miami-set Surfside 6, playing the same part – though revamped – in both. There were also appearances in the likes of The Beverly Hillbillies and The Dick Van Dyke Show. 1966 saw him essay the role for which he’s best known, that of millionaire Britt Reid and his alter-ego the Green Hornet for Twentieth Century Fox. Bruce Lee, of course, famously played his sidekick Kato and it helped launch his early international career.
He continued working in films and television through the 1990s and would be seen in series such as How the West was Won, Mrs Columbo and The Rockford Files and, in a cameo, played a director of the Green Hornet show in the biopic Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.
Though he would attend the occasional convention, he ultimately moved out of acting and became a reserve deputy sheriff and a volunteer fire fighter for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, based in Malibu and is said to have suffered from smoke inhalation and back injuries during his tenure with them and which would linger and cause further health problems.
Williams is survived by his wife Vicki Williams, three children – Nina, Tia, and Britt – and five grandchildren.
