William Michael Hootkins was born on July 5, 1948, in Dallas, Texas. He moved to London, England in the early '70s and lived there up until 2002. Hootkins was an actor at Theatre Intime while attending Princeton University where he learned how to speak fluent Mandarin Chinese. He also trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and attended St. Marks, where he was in the same theater group as Tommy Lee Jones. The imposingly bulky and heavyset Hootkins first began acting in films and TV shows alike in the mid '70s. His more noteworthy parts include the first of the Rebel fighter pilots to get killed while attacking the Death Star in "Star Wars", scientist Topol's bumbling oaf assistant in "Flash Gordon", Major Eaton, sent by the US government in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", one of Rod Steiger's demented sons in "American Gothic", a corrupt police lieutenant in "Batman", a disgusting sleazy voyeur in "Hardware", a coarse South African police chief in "Dust Devil", the mysterious and duplicitous Mr. X in "Hear My Song", a haughty corporate executive in "Death Machine", Santa Claus in "Like Father, Like Santa", and an opera-singing vampire in "The Breed". Moreover, Hootkins had small parts in two "Pink Panther" pictures: he's a taxi driver in both "The Trail of the Pink Panther" and "Curse of the Pink Panther". Among the TV shows he did guest spots on are "Yanks Go Home", "Agony", "Play for Today", "Tales of the Unexpected", "The Life and Times of David Lloyd George", "Brett Maverick", "Cagney and Lacey", "Taxi", "Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense", "Poirot", "Chancer", "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles", "The Tomorrow People", "The West Wing", and "Absolute Power". Hootkins received many accolades for his outstanding performance as Sir Alfred Hitchcock in Terry Johnson's hit play "Hitchcock Blonde". In addition to his substantial film and TV credits, Hootkins was also a popular and prolific voice artist who recorded dozens of plays for BBC Radio Drama; he supplied the voices for such iconic individuals as Orson Welles, J. Edgar Hoover, and Winston Churchill. William Hootkins died of pancreatic cancer on October 23, 2005. IMDb Mini Biography

Filmography

• 2005Colour Me Kubrick — Frank Rich
• 2005Dear Wendy — Marshall Walker
• 2004Blessed — Detective Lauderdale
• 2003Mars: Pioneering the Planet
• 2002Hamilton Mattress — Senor Balustrade (voice)
• 2002The Magnificent Ambersons — Uncle George
• Justice League — Commander (voice)
• 2001The Breed — Fusco
• 2001Town & Country — Barney
• American Gangster — Narrator
• 2000Animated Epics: Moby Dick — Starbucks (voice)
• 2000The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Espionage Escapades — Sergei Diaghilev
• 2000The Miracle Maker — Lucifer (voice)
• 1999Survivor Science: The Dead Man Walking — Narrator (voice)
• 1999The Omega Code — Sir Percival Lloyd
• The West Wing — U.S. Translator
• 1998Like Father, Like Santa — Santa Claus
• 1998Something to Believe In — Car Dealer
• Extreme Machines — Narrator
• 1997Rhinoceros Hunting in Budapest — The Man
• 1997This World, Then the Fireworks — Jake Krutz
• 1996The Island of Dr. Moreau — Kiril
• 1995Death Machine — John Carpenter
• 1995Funny Bones — Al
• 1995The Miracle of Medjugorje — judge Marulic
• 1995Time Life Animal Oddities: The Meanest Animal Alive — Narrator
• Aaahh!!! Real Monsters — Loch Ness Monster (voice)
• Iron Man — Crimson Dynamo (voice)
• 1994Predators of the Wild: African Survival — Narrator
• 1994Predators of the Wild: Crocodiles and Alligators — Narrator
• 1994The NeverEnding Story III — Bark Troll / Falkor (voice)
• 1993Age of Treason — Senator Garrus
• 1993Predators of the Wild: Giant Tarantula — Narrator
• 1993Predators of the Wild: Hawk — Narrator
• 1993Predators of the Wild: Polar Bear — Narrator
• 1993Predators of the Wild: Snake — Narrator
• 1993Predators of the Wild: Tiger — Narrator
• 1993Predators of the Wild: Wolf — Narrator
• 1993The Cement Garden — Commander Hunt (voice)
• 1993The Milky Life — Julian Reilly
• 1992A River Runs Through It — Murphy
• 1992Dust Devil — Capt. Cornelius Beyman
• 1992Gummed Labels
• 1992Predators of the Wild: Cheetah and Leopard — Narrator
• 1992Predators of the Wild: Grizzly Bear — Narrator
• 1992Predators of the Wild: Hunters and Hunted — Narrator
• 1992Predators of the Wild: Killer Whale — Narrator
• 1992Predators of the Wild: Lion — Narrator
• 1992Predators of the Wild: Shark — Narrator
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles — Diaghilev
• 1991Hear My Song — Mr. X
• 1991Predators of the Wild: Bats — Narrator
• 1991The Pope Must Die — Cardinal Verucci
• 1991The Princess and the Goblin — Curdie's Father (voice)
• 1990Hardware — Lincoln Wineberg Jr.
• Agatha Christie's Poirot — FBI Agent Burt
• 1989Batman — Eckhardt
• 1989Crusoe — Auctioneer
• 1989Monkeys — James Hoffman
• 1987American Gothic — Teddy
• 1987Superman IV: The Quest for Peace — Harry Howler
• The New Statesman — Willoughby Guzzler
• 1987The Return of Sherlock Holmes — Myron Spellman
• 1987U.S. Marshals: Waco & Rhinehart — August T. Mirch
• 1986A State of Emergency — Earl Linton
• 1986Biggles — Chuck
• 1986Haunted Honeymoon — Reporter
• 1985Dreamchild — 1st Radio Actor
• Lytton's Diary — Sam Wexler
• 1985Water — Ben
• 1985White Nights — Chuck Malarek
• 1985Zina — Walter Adams
• 1984Black Carrion — Lou Delmart
• Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense — Lou Delmart
• Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime — Hamilton Betts
• Blackadder — Monk
• 1983Curse of the Pink Panther — Taxi Driver
• Philip Marlowe, Private Eye — Frank Dorr
• American Playhouse — FBI Agent, Phil Cooper, Buddy Bliss
• Cagney & Lacey
• Remington Steele — Chester Harcourt
• 1982The Tempest — Caliban
• 1982Trail of the Pink Panther — Taxi Driver
• 1981Before Water Lilies — Mel
• Bergerac — Eugene Field, Karl Goldman
• 1981Raiders of the Lost Ark — Major Eaton
• 1981Sphinx — Don, Tour Guide
• 1981The Life and Times of David Lloyd George — Winston Churchill
• 1980Bad Timing — Col. Taylor
• 1980Flash Gordon — Munson
• 1980Hussy — 1st. Punter
• Oppenheimer — FBI Agent
• 1980Rabbit Pie Day — Kolossov
• 1979Charlie Muffin — U.S. Embassy Photographer
• 1979Hanover Street — Beef
• Tales of the Unexpected — Peter Bligh, Harry Chester
• 1979The Lady Vanishes — Party Guest
• Clouds of Glory — Reverend Dewey
• Taxi — Agent #2
• 1978The Billion Dollar Bubble — Lloyd Edens
• 1978The Lost Boys — Charles Frohman
• The Lost Boys — Charles Frohman
• 1977Come Back, Little Sheba — Postman
• Premiere — Kolossov
• 1977Star Wars — Red Six (Porkins)
• 1977The Ambassadors — Little Bilham
• 1977Twilight's Last Gleaming — Sgt. Fitzpatrick
• 1977Valentino — Fatty
• Laurence Olivier Presents — Postman
• 1976The Paradise Run — Party Guest
• Yanks Go Home — Colonel Richter
• NOVA — Voice of Methuselah
• Playhouse — Mr. Bowles
• 1973Big Zapper — Kono's Henchman
• Van der Valk — Frank Garvin
• BBC Play of the Month — Little Bilham

Appearances as themselves (1)

• 2013Ancestors Of Ancient Rome: The Etruscans — Self / Narrator