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).

Filmography

• 1991Hudson Hawk — Narrator (voice)
• 1987Daws Butler: Voice Magician — Self—Host
• Jake and the Fatman — Jason McCabe
• The Highwayman — Narrator
• 1986Killing Cars — Mr. Mahoney
• Matlock — James McShane
• 1986Vengeance: The Story of Tony Cimo — Jim Dunn
• 1985Blitz — Mr. Mahoney
• 1985In Like Flynn — Sgt. Dominic
• Murder, She Wrote — Anatole Karzof
• 1983The Mikado — The Mikado
• 1982Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid — (in "The Killers") (archive footage)
• Hotel
• Police Squad! — Stabbed Man
• 1982Shock-Trauma — Dr. R. Adams Cowley
• 1982The Cremation of Sam McGee: A Poem by Robert W. Service — Narrator
• Nero Wolfe — Nero Wolfe
• 1981Side Show — Ring Announcer (voice), Director, Songs
• 1980The Murder That Wouldn't Die — William Battles
• 1980The Return of Frank Cannon — Frank Cannon
• 1980The Return of the King — Lord Denethor (voice)
• 1980Turnover Smith — Thaddeus Smith, Executive Producer
• 1979Buck Rogers in the 25th Century — Opening Narrator / Draconian officer (uncredited) (voice)
• 1978Keefer — Col. Keefer
• 1978Night Cries — Dr. Whelan
• 1977Catastrophe — Narrator (voice)
• How the West Was Won — Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
• 1977Moonshine County Express — Jack Starkey
• Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected — Narrator
• 1977The City — Narrator (voice)
• 1977The Force of Evil — Narrator (voice)
• 1977The Making of Star Wars — Narrator (voice)
• 1976The Macahans — Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
• 1974The F.B.I. Story: The FBI Versus Alvin Karpis, Public Enemy Number One — Narrator (voice)
• 1974Voices — Narrator (voice)
• Barnaby Jones — Frank Cannon
• 1971Cannon — Frank Cannon
• Cannon — Frank Cannon
• 1971O'Hara, United States Treasury: Operation Cobra — Keegan
• 1971The D.A.: Conspiracy to Kill — Chief Vincent Kovac
• 1970Chisum — Narrator - Opening Credits (voice) (uncredited)
• 1970The Brotherhood of the Bell — Bart Harris
• The Dudley Do-Right Show
• 1969The Learning Tree — Executive Producer
• 1968Assignment to Kill — Executive Producer
• 1968Chubasco — Producer
• The Name of the Game — Arnold Wexler, Director
• 1967Countdown — TV Newscaster (voice) (uncredited), Executive Producer
• 1967First to Fight — Executive Producer
• 1967The Cool Ones — Executive Producer
• The High Chaparral — China Pierce
• 1966An American Dream — Producer
• 1966Chamber of Horrors — Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
• 1965Battle of the Bulge — Narrator (uncredited), Narrator (voice)
• 1965Brainstorm — Mental Patient (uncredited), Producer, Director
• 1965Eggs Benedict — Narrator
• F Troop
• 1965My Blood Runs Cold — Director, Producer
• The Dean Martin Show
• 1965Two on a Guillotine — Fat Man in Hall of Mirrors (uncredited), Director, Producer
• Temple Houston — Director
• The Fugitive — Narrator
• 1963The Man from Galveston — Director
• 1962Design for Disaster — Narrator
• General Electric True — Director
• Saints and Sinners — Director
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour — Sergent Cresse
• Target: The Corruptors! — Director
• Klondike — Director
• Route 66 — Director
• The Aquanauts — Corey
• The Case of the Dangerous Robin — Director
• 1959-30- — Jim Bathgate
• Bold Venture — Director
• Lock-Up — Director
• Men Into Space — Director
• The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends — Narrator (voice)
• The Bullwinkle Show — Narrator (voice)
• The Man and the Challenge
• This Man Dawson — Narrator (voice only), Director
• 77 Sunset Strip — Bystander (uncredited), Clapper (uncredited), Baseball Announcer (voice) (uncredited), Director
• Bat Masterson — Clark Benson, Dick MacIntyre, Director
• Mackenzie's Raiders — Director
• Naked City — Director
• The Rifleman — Director
• The Rough Riders — Director
• Have Gun, Will Travel — Moses Kadish, Director
• 1957The Ride Back — Sheriff Chris Hamish, Producer
• Tombstone Territory — Frank Banter, Director
• 1957Zero Hour! — Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
• 1956Johnny Concho — Tallman
• 1956The Conqueror — Kasar
• 19555 Against the House — Eric Berg
• Gunsmoke — Narrator (voice), Director
• Highway Patrol — Director
• 1955The Naked Sea — Narrator
• 1954The Naked Jungle — Commissioner
• 1953Cry of the Hunted — Goodwin
• 1953The Desert Song — Lachmed
• 1952Lone Star — Mizette
• 1951Cry Danger — Louie Castro
• 1951The Racket — Turk
• 1951The Sword of Monte Cristo — Major Nicolet
• 1950Dial 1119 — Chuckles
• 1950One Way Street — Ollie
• 1950The Milkman — Mike Morrel
• 1949Any Number Can Play — Frank Sistina
• 1949East Side, West Side — Lt. Jacobi
• 1949Tension — Lt. Edgar Gonsales
• 1948Arch of Triumph — Policeman at Accident (uncredited)
• 1948Four Faces West — Sheriff Egan
• 1948Joan of Arc — Guillaume Erard, a Prosecutor
• 1948Sorry, Wrong Number — Morano
• 1948To the Victor — Farnsworth
• 1947Body and Soul — Quinn
• 1946The Killers — Max
• 1945Pillow to Post — First Motorcycle Cop (uncredited)

Appearances as themselves (11)

• 2024The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout — Self (archive footage)
• 2009The Box — Self (voice) (uncredited)
• The Sonny and Cher Show — Self
• 1974Hamburgers — Self
• Tony Orlando and Dawn — Self
• The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts — Self
• The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour — Self
• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In — Self
• The Carol Burnett Show — Self - Guest / Various Characters
• Bambi — Self
• The Ed Sullivan Show — Self