William Hootkins
Acting
Biography
William Michael Hootkins was born on July 5, 1948, in Dallas, Texas. He moved to London, England in the early '70s and lived there up until 2002. Hootkins was an actor at Theatre Intime while attending Princeton University where he learned how to speak fluent Mandarin Chinese. He also trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and attended St. Marks, where he was in the same theater group as Tommy Lee Jones. The imposingly bulky and heavyset Hootkins first began acting in films and TV shows alike in the mid '70s. His more noteworthy parts include the first of the Rebel fighter pilots to get killed while attacking the Death Star in "Star Wars", scientist Topol's bumbling oaf assistant in "Flash Gordon", Major Eaton, sent by the US government in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", one of Rod Steiger's demented sons in "American Gothic", a corrupt police lieutenant in "Batman", a disgusting sleazy voyeur in "Hardware", a coarse South African police chief in "Dust Devil", the mysterious and duplicitous Mr. X in "Hear My Song", a haughty corporate executive in "Death Machine", Santa Claus in "Like Father, Like Santa", and an opera-singing vampire in "The Breed". Moreover, Hootkins had small parts in two "Pink Panther" pictures: he's a taxi driver in both "The Trail of the Pink Panther" and "Curse of the Pink Panther". Among the TV shows he did guest spots on are "Yanks Go Home", "Agony", "Play for Today", "Tales of the Unexpected", "The Life and Times of David Lloyd George", "Brett Maverick", "Cagney and Lacey", "Taxi", "Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense", "Poirot", "Chancer", "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles", "The Tomorrow People", "The West Wing", and "Absolute Power". Hootkins received many accolades for his outstanding performance as Sir Alfred Hitchcock in Terry Johnson's hit play "Hitchcock Blonde". In addition to his substantial film and TV credits, Hootkins was also a popular and prolific voice artist who recorded dozens of plays for BBC Radio Drama; he supplied the voices for such iconic individuals as Orson Welles, J. Edgar Hoover, and Winston Churchill. William Hootkins died of pancreatic cancer on October 23, 2005. IMDb Mini Biography
Born: July 5, 1948
Place of Birth: Dallas, Texas, USA
Known For
Filmography
as Frank Rich
as Marshall Walker
as Detective Lauderdale
as Uncle George
as Senor Balustrade (voice)
as Commander (voice)
as Fusco
as Barney
as Narrator
as Sergei Diaghilev
as Starbucks (voice)
as Sir Percival Lloyd
as U.S. Translator
as Narrator (voice)
as Santa Claus
as Car Dealer
as Jake Krutz
as Narrator
as The Man
as Kiril
as judge Marulic
as Al
as John Carpenter
as Loch Ness Monster (voice)
as Bark Troll / Falkor (voice)
as Crimson Dynamo (voice)
as Narrator
as Senator Garrus
as Julian Reilly
as Commander Hunt (voice)
as Narrator
as Narrator
as Narrator
as Narrator
as Narrator
as Narrator
as Murphy
as Capt. Cornelius Beyman
as Diaghilev
as Narrator
as Narrator
as Narrator
as Narrator
as Narrator
as Narrator
as Mr. X
as Cardinal Verucci
as Narrator
as Lincoln Wineberg Jr.
as Eckhardt
as James Hoffman
as FBI Agent Burt
as Willoughby Guzzler
as Teddy
as Harry Howler
as August T. Mirch
as Myron Spellman
as Earl Linton
as Reporter
as Chuck
as Chuck Malarek
as Walter Adams
as 1st Radio Actor
as Ben
as Lou Delmart
as Lou Delmart
as Hamilton Betts
as Taxi Driver
as Monk
as Frank Dorr
as Taxi Driver
as Chester Harcourt
as Caliban
as Phil Cooper
as Eugene Field
as Karl Goldman
as Major Eaton
as Mel
as Winston Churchill
as Don, Tour Guide
as Munson
as Kolossov
as 1st. Punter
as Col. Taylor
as U.S. Embassy Photographer
as Beef
as Party Guest
as Peter Bligh
as Harry Chester
as Charles Frohman
as Charles Frohman
as Liquor Authority Agent
as Reverend Dewey
as Lloyd Edens
as Postman
as Fatty
as Red Six (Porkins)
as Little Bilham
as Sgt. Fitzpatrick
as Postman
as Party Guest
as Mr. Bowles
as Voice of Methuselah
as Kono's Henchman
as Frank Garvin
as Little Bilham