And whenever possible, Joe was trailered and pulled behind the camera truck for much of his riding, which supposedly upset him.” Though Ann Margret was herself a real-life skilful rider, she had very little screen time actually doing so in the film (which coincidently was written and produced by her husband, Roger Smith).
Despite his unconventional performance as the brawny and twisted leader of “The Heads”, a gang of outlaw misfits roaming the desert roads of Tucson Arizona on their choppers, Bill was pure magic and never looked so comfortable on a bike as in this role.As for the film itself, Bill once proclaimed “it was probably the most fun I ever had acting in than any other film.” And as he recalled, “Joe Namath was still playing for the New York Jets at the time, so was limited on set to riding his chopper. Bill based his character of Moon on a real Hell’s Angels biker he knew “a real asshole” as Bill once described.
A stick of dynamite with 18½ inch arms ready to explode at any moment, and audiences loved it. This guy was baaaad-to-the-bone, exuding danger, and dare I say, a tad of insanity. Rider” sung by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels.īill’s presence from the very moment he’s introduced on screen during the opening credits is pure classic (biker) William Smith. and Company is today considered a cult classic biker film and the opening sequence alone is worth the price of admission with title song “C.C. and Company with football great, Joe Namath and legendary Vegas sex-kitten Ann-Margret. In 1970 alone, Bill headlined such biker gems as: The Losers (a.k.a Nam’s Angels), Angels Die Hard and C.C.
#WILLIAM SMITH ACTOR GRAVE MOVIE#
And, although his father was no fan of him riding motorcycles, lucky for the movie industry that didn’t stop him. Dirt bikes, choppers, cruisers, three-wheelers … Only one “actor” legitimately rode them all on screen … William Smith.Ī larger than life figure, standing 6’2” (186cm) with a muscular frame and rugged good looks, Bill exemplified power and danger, and by all accounts, suited what motorcycle films needed. But, motorcycles hadn’t yet used an actor to their advantage. Actors had used motorcycles on film to their advantage and audiences responded. By the closing of the 1960s, biker-era audiences had seen it all when it came to motorcycles in film. They were used by actors like Marlon Brando to create drama and suspense, and they were used by screen legends such as Steve McQueen to create action and thrills. Bikes were used by comedians such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin to make people laugh. Since the early days of films, motorcycles have played an important role. Here are excerpts freom an article Joe wrote for us last year:īill’s profession as an actor and his early association with motorcycles catapulted him to biker stardom for several reasons, but the basic explanation is that there simply wasn’t anyone like him. He wrote about Smiths life in his 168-page biography, The Words and Images of a Hollywood Legend: William Smith. It got to a point that if you were watching a biker movie in the early part of the 1970s, then most likely, William Smith was in it, says American freelance writer Joe Zimmerman. With a rumoured budget of around $85,000 and a two-week production schedule, Run, Angel, Run! grossed an estimated $13 million at the box office, solidifying Bill as the go-to biker guy. However, his claim to fame as the king of the biker films began with the first of many biker films with Run, Angel, Run! in 1969.
His film credits included Conan’s father, Corin, in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movie Conan The Barbarian and Clint Eastwood’s fighting revival in Any Which Way You Can.
#WILLIAM SMITH ACTOR GRAVE SERIES#
He has performed in TV series such as Perry Mason, Combat, Batman, Hawaii Five-0, I Dream of Jeannie, The Rockford Files, CHiPS, Hunter and Rich Man, Poor Man. They were part of an impressive list of nearly 300 film and television appearances. He had a successful career in television as Joe Riley, on the western comedy TV series Laredo where he rode horses, along with his appearances on Wagon Train and The Virginian. When his family moved to California, the 17-year-old started riding motorcycles which served him well in his career as an actor.
By the time he reached his teens he was a skilled rider. The “king of biker films”, William Smith, has died of natural causes, aged 86, after a long battle with alzheimers disease.īorn on 24 March 24 1933, in Columbia, Missouri, on his family’s ranch, Bill was riding horses before he could walk.
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