William Conrad
William Conrad (September 27, 1920 - February 11, 1994) was an American actor, producer, and director. He was born William Cann in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of a theatre-owner who moved to southern California, where he excelled at drama and literature while at school. Starting work in radio in the late 1930s in California, Conrad went on to serve as a fighter pilot in World War II. He entered the army in 1942, and was commissioned at Luke Field, Arizona in 1943 (now Luke Air Force Base). On the day of his commission he married June Nelson. He returned to the airwaves after the war, going on to accumulate over 7,000 roles in radio by his own estimate.
Among Conrad's various film roles, where he was usually cast as threatening figures, perhaps his most notable role was his first credited one, as one of the gunmen sent to eliminate Burt Lancaster in the 1946 film The Killers. He also appeared in Body and Soul (1947), Sorry, Wrong Number, Joan of Arc (both 1948), and The Naked Jungle (1954).
As a producer for Warner Brothers, he made a string of feature films, including An American Dream (1966, retitled See You in Hell, Darling for British release), A Covenant With Death (1966), First to Fight (1967) and The Cool Ones (1967), and also directed My Blood Runs Cold, Brainstorm and Two on a Guillotine (all 1965).
Acting
Movie
The Box
as Self (voice) (uncredited)
2009
Movie
Hudson Hawk
as Narrator (voice)
1991
Movie
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
as (in "The Killers") (archive footage)
1982
TV
Murder, She Wrote
as Anatole Karzof
1984
Movie
The Killers
as Max
1946
TV
Police Squad!
as Stabbed Man
1982
Movie
Battle of the Bulge
as Narrator (uncredited)
1965
Movie
Battle of the Bulge
as Narrator (voice)
1965
Movie
The Return of the King
as Lord Denethor (voice)
1980
Movie
Sorry, Wrong Number
as Morano
1948
Movie
Chisum
as Narrator - Opening Credits (voice) (uncredited)
1970
TV
Matlock
as James McShane
1986
Movie
The Naked Jungle
as Commissioner
1954
Movie
Body and Soul
as Quinn
1947
TV
Gunsmoke
as Narrator (voice)
1955
Movie
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
as Opening Narrator / Draconian officer (uncredited) (voice)
1979
Movie
Joan of Arc
as Guillaume Erard, a Prosecutor
1948
TV
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
as Sergent Cresse
1962
TV
The Carol Burnett Show
as Self - Guest / Various Characters
1967
TV
The Carol Burnett Show
as Self
1967
TV
The Fugitive
as Narrator
1963
Movie
Countdown
as TV Newscaster (voice) (uncredited)
1967
TV
The Bullwinkle Show
as Narrator (voice)
1959
Movie
The Conqueror
as Kasar
1956
Crew
TV
Gunsmoke
Director
1955
Movie
Countdown
Executive Producer
1967
TV
The Rifleman
Director
1958
TV
Have Gun, Will Travel
Director
1957
Movie
Two on a Guillotine
Director
1965
Movie
Brainstorm
Director
1965
Movie
The Learning Tree
Executive Producer
1969
TV
77 Sunset Strip
Director
1958
Movie
The Ride Back
Producer
1957
TV
Route 66
Director
1960
TV
Bat Masterson
Director
1958
TV
The Name of the Game
Director
1968