He had both CIA and NSA clearance and intended to enter a classified position with the U.S. During the Korean War he was a Russian Intercept Interrogator and flew secret ferret missions over Russia. Smith is fluent in Russian, Serbo-Croatian, French and German. He also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Munich while learning languages through the military. studies for an MGM contract and stunt doubling for former screen Tarzan Lex Barker in a 1958 French film The Strange Awakening. He taught Russian at UCLA before abandoning his Ph.D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts from Syracuse and a Master’s degree in Russian Studies from UCLA.
Smith also played semi-pro football in Germany and competed in motocross and downhill skiing events. Smith held a 31-1 record as an amateur boxer and studied martial arts with kenpo instructor Ed Parker for several years. His trademark arms measured 18 and 1/2 inches. Smith is a record holder for reverse-curling his own bodyweight. Smith began his acting career at the age of eight when he first appeared on the Cult Faction radar in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), following that were the films The Song of Bernadette (1943), Going My Way (1944), Meet Me in St Louis (1944) and Gilda (1946).Īs he grew older Smith won the 200 pound (91 kg) arm-wrestling championship of the world multiple times and also won the United States Air Force weightlifting championship. Smith would take part in another classic screen brawl, this one with Rod Taylor, as a bodybuilder in the 1970 film “Darker Than Amber.William Smith aka “Big” Bill Smith was born on March 24th 1933 was in Columbia, Missouri.
William smith actor arm wrestler series#
He served in the Korean War and acted in bit parts in television shows throughout the 1950s before landing a regular role as a police sergeant in the 1961 ABC series “The Asphalt Jungle.” He would later become an elite discus thrower at UCLA, a martial-arts black belt and a champion arm-wrestler. Hey played Anthony Falconetti, the menacing nemesis of the central family in the 1976 ABC miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man,” and returned for its sequel.Īnd he played Detective James “Kimo” Carew in the final season of the original “Hawaii Five-O” on CBS in 19.īorn in Columbia, Missouri, Smith would begin acting at age 8, playing small uncredited roles in 1940s films including “The Ghost of Frankenstein” and “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.” Smith starred as Texas Ranger Joe Riley in both seasons of the NBC western series “Laredo” from 1965 to 1967. “It has to be one of the longest two-man fights ever done on film without doubles,” Smith said in an interview for the 2014 book “Tales From the Cult Film Trenches.” Secret Service and hear from people inside these organizations about what’s driving technology modernization efforts. Take a peek behind the scenes at NCIS, the U.S. Insight by Verizon: No federal law enforcement organization works alone. He played bareknuckle boxer Jack Wilson, who grappled with Clint Eastwood in an epic brawl in “Any Which Way You Can,” one of the top-grossing movies of 1980.
With his chiseled, mustachioed face and bulging biceps, Smith was a constant, rugged presence on screen in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, amassing nearly 300 credits. Smith’s wife, Joanne Cervelli Smith, said he died Monday at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles. LOS ANGELES (AP) - Actor William Smith, who played bikers, brawlers, cowboys and no-nonsense tough guys in films and television shows including “Laredo,” “Rich Man, Poor Man” and “Any Which Way You Can,” has died at 88.
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