Saturday 7 April 2012

Tribute to John Williams ... the unforgettable and ultimate Scotland Yard "chap" in "Dial M for Murder"


John Williams (15 April 1903 – 5 May 1983) was an English stage, film and television actor. He is remembered for his role as chief inspector Hubbard in Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder.


Born in the Chalfonts in Buckinghamshire, England, he was educated at Lancing College and began acting on the Broadway stage in 1924. He then went on to appear in thirty more Broadway plays over the next four decades.
In 1953 Williams was awarded a Tony Award for Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for his role as Chief Inspector Hubbard in Dial M for Murder on Broadway. When Alfred Hitchcock took over the script to make a film of the play in 1954, he cast Williams in the same role. He also appeared in Hitchcock's The Paradine Case with Gregory Peck as a barrister, and as an insurance company representative in To Catch a Thief with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.
Williams played in several episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents on TV, including "The Long Shot" (1955), "Back for Christmas" (1956), "Whodunit" (1956), "Wet Saturday" (1956), "The Rose Garden" (1956), the 3-part episode "I Killed the Count" (1957), and "Banquo’s Chair" (1959). Three of these episodes, "Back for Christmas", "Wet Saturday", and "Banquo’s Chair", were directed by the master of suspense himself.






No comments: