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Treat Williams in the film "Prince of the City" in 1981. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jun/13/treat-williams-obituary (May be subject to copyright) |
The other night I saw the latest episode of “Blue Bloods”, and one of the story lines revolved around the death of Lenny Ross, the former partner and life-long friend of Police Commissioner Frank Reagan, played by Tom Selleck. Lenny Ross had been played by Treat Williams, who actually died a few months ago. At the end of the episode there was a dedication to Williams.
I knew Treat Williams best as Dr. Andrew Brown on “Everwood”, one of my favourite shows that debuted more than 20 years ago.
It got me thinking, given his age, what did he do back in the ‘80s? I am sure I must have seen him in something.
It turns out I actually had.
In the beginning
I think more than seeing Treat Williams perform, I heard of the movies he was in. That started in “The Eagle Has Landed” in 1978, then “Hair” and “1941”, both in 1979. He received a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year – Actor for his role in “Hair”. As for “1941” it was a war comedy, directed by Steven Spielberg, about the fear that gripped the Los Angeles coast after the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor in 1941. It turned out to be a box office flop.
I think more than seeing Treat Williams perform, I heard of the movies he was in. That started in “The Eagle Has Landed” in 1978, then “Hair” and “1941”, both in 1979. He received a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year – Actor for his role in “Hair”. As for “1941” it was a war comedy, directed by Steven Spielberg, about the fear that gripped the Los Angeles coast after the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor in 1941. It turned out to be a box office flop.
The 1980s
Treat Williams had a breakout role in 1981 with “Prince of the City”, where he plays a policeman who exposes corruption in the New York Police Department. For his efforts, Williams received the second Golden Globe nomination of his career, this one for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama for his role in “Prince of the City” in 1981.
Treat Williams had a breakout role in 1981 with “Prince of the City”, where he plays a policeman who exposes corruption in the New York Police Department. For his efforts, Williams received the second Golden Globe nomination of his career, this one for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama for his role in “Prince of the City” in 1981.
Williams portrayed legendary heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey in the aptly titled TV movie “Dempsey” in 1983. This was where I recall reading about him in “TV Guide”, and seeing a few minutes of it on Channel 7 on the peasant vision dial.
In 1984, he appeared in a television adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Namd Desire”, as Stanley Kowalski, opposite Ann-Margaret. For his efforts, Treat Williams earned his third Golden Globe nomination, this one for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film for “A Streetcar Named Desire” in 1984.
That same year, he appeared in “Once Upon a Time in America”, a film about organized crime in New York in the 1930s.
I also vaguely recall Williams playing long-time FBI director J. Edgar Hoover in the TV movie “J. Edgar Hoover”.
By the end of the decade, Treat Williams had become a solid actor.
The years after
Treat Williams kept on acting pretty much until his death last June in a motorcycle collision. He appeared in movies such as “Mulholland Falls”; “The Phantom”; “The Substitute” series; “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous”; “Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader”; “The Great Alaskan Race”; and much more.
Treat Williams kept on acting pretty much until his death last June in a motorcycle collision. He appeared in movies such as “Mulholland Falls”; “The Phantom”; “The Substitute” series; “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous”; “Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader”; “The Great Alaskan Race”; and much more.
On TV he appeared in guest roles in “Tales from the Crypt”; “Road to Avonlea”; “UC: Undercover”; “Brothers and Sisters”; “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit”; “The Simpsons”; “Hawaii Five-O”; and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”.
He had recurring roles in “Eddie Dodd”; “Good Advice”; “Everwood”; “Heartland”; “White Collar”; “Chicago Fire”; “American Odyssey”; “Chesapeake Shores”; and “Blue Bloods”. He was also in television movies such as “Parallel Lives”; “The Late Shift”; “Escape: Human Cargo”; “Journey to the Centre of the Earth”; “The Staircase Murders”; “The Christmas House” movies; “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans” and much more.
Treat Williams died on June 12, 2023.
He was 71 years old.
Parting thoughts
Quite honestly, when I heard the name Treat Williams, I could not picture who he was. He may have built his career in the 1980s, but I saw very little he was in.
Quite honestly, when I heard the name Treat Williams, I could not picture who he was. He may have built his career in the 1980s, but I saw very little he was in.
Now, whenever I see Treat Williams, or hear his name, he will always be Dr. Andrew Brown, the big-city brain surgeon who came to the small town of Everwood to start a community practice free of charge to his patients. “Everwood” was an excellent show, one of my favourite shows in fact in its four-year run from 2002 to 2006. I saw every one of the 89 episodes, and own them all on DVD.
The strength in his acting is seen in the three Golen Globe nominations he received in the 1980s.
It is also evident in his role as Lenny Ross in “Blue Bloods”, where he is much different from Dr. Andrew Brown.
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