Hair and Everwood actor Treat Williams has died at 71. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Williams died in a motorcycle accident on Monday in Dorset, Vermont. Dorset fire chief Jacob Gribble said the crash involved Williams’ motorcycle and a single car, of which the driver did not see Williams. Williams was air-lifted by helicopter to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Williams rose to fame as an actor in the musical film Hair and Steven Spielberg’s 1941. He played the lead in the series Everwood from 2002 to 2006. Treat Williams’ death comes four years after that of co-star Stephanie Niznik, and two weeks after the death of co-star John Beasley.
Actor Treat Williams’ Life and Career
Richard Treat Williams was born on December 1, 1951, in Stamford, Connecticut. He left home at 14 to attend Kent School. He gave up a spot on the football team to join the theater company at Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Judy Abbott, daughter of Broadway director George Abbott, owned the home that Williams grew up in and became his first rep.
Williams made his on-screen debut in 1975’s Deadly Hero. He then played a detective in a London production of The Ritz, a role he reprised in the 1976 film version. He gave a memorable performance as the hippie George Berger in Hair, a role he auditioned 12 times for. His stage productions included Over Here, Once in a Lifetime, The Pirates of Penzance, Love Letters, and Follies. He had an uncredited role as an Echo Base Trooper in The Empire Strikes Back.
Treat Williams’ role as Dr. Andy Brown on Everwood earned him two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Some of his more recent roles included Mick O’Brien on the Hallmark Channel series Chesapeake Shores and Detective Lenny Ross on Blue Bloods.
Actor Treat Williams’ survivors include his wife, Pam Van Sant, whom he married in June 1988, and children Gill and Elinor.