Guy Williams (actor)
Armando Joseph Catalano (January 14, 1924 – April 30, 1989[1]), better known as Guy Williams, was an American actor. He played swashbuckling action heroes in the 1950s and 1960s.[2]
For other people named Guy Williams, see Guy Williams (disambiguation).
Guy Williams
April 30, 1989 (aged 65)
Actor
1947–1973
2
Among his most notable achievements were two TV series: Zorro in the title role, and as the father of the Robinson family on the popular sci-fi series Lost in Space.
During most of the 1970s, Guy Williams frequently visited and worked in television shows in Argentina, where he was most revered.[3] He retired in the early 1980s in Buenos Aires, where he died of a brain aneurysm in 1989.
Death[edit]
In 1989, after spending solitary months in Argentina, it was reported that Williams had disappeared. The local police searched his apartment in Recoleta on May 6, 1989, finding his body.[11] He had died of a brain aneurysm.[12]
Owing to his great popularity in Argentina, his ashes lay for two years at the Argentine Actors' Society cemetery at La Chacarita Cemetery, Actor Pantheon & Crypt 278. In 1991, in accordance with his wishes, Williams's ashes were spread over the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, California.
A number of books have been written which feature Williams, particularly in his role as Zorro. This includes the Zorro Television Companion, detailing the making of the Disney series,[19] as well as a biography by Antoinette Girgenti Lane, Guy Williams: The Man Behind the Mask (2005).[20]
A collection of original Zorro short stories, some inspired specifically by Guy Williams, was edited by Richard Dean Starr and released in 2008. It includes an introduction by Guy Williams Jr. (with Matthew Baugh) and an afterword by Isabel Allende.[21] The cover art on the trade paperback edition by Douglas Klauba was a homage to Guy Williams.