Treat Williams

Treat Williams
Williams in 1982
Born	Richard Treat Williams (1951-12-01) December 1, 1951 Rowayton, Connecticut, U.S.
Education	Kent School
Alma mater	Franklin & Marshall College
Occupations	Actor author
Years active	1972–present
Spouse	Pam Van Sant ​ (m. 1988)​
Children	2

Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor, writer and aviator who has appeared on film, stage and television in over 120 credits. He first became well known for his starring role in the 1979 musical film Hair, and later also starred in the films Prince of the City, Once Upon a Time in America, The Late Shift and 127 Hours. From 2002 to 2006, he was the lead of the television series Everwood and was nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has additionally been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, two Satellite Awards and an Independent Spirit Award.

Early life and education

Williams was born December 1, 1951 in Rowayton, Connecticut, the son of Marian (née Andrew), an antiques dealer, and Richard Norman Williams, a corporate executive. His maternal great-great-great-grandfather was Senator William Henry Barnum of Connecticut, a third cousin of the showman P. T. Barnum. Williams is a distant relative of Robert Treat Paine, who was a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.

Williams played football in high school. He graduated from the Kent School in Connecticut and Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania.

Career

Williams made his film debut in the 1975 thriller film Deadly Hero. The following year he played a supporting role in The Ritz, a squeaky-voiced private detective looking for his suspect in a gay bathhouse. He came to world attention in 1979, when he starred as George Berger in the Miloš Forman film Hair, which was based on the 1967 Broadway musical. Williams was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role in the film. He was featured in the February 1980 edition of Playgirl magazine. He has gone on to appear in over 75 films and several television series. Notable films include: 1941 (1979), Once Upon A Time In America (1984), Dead Heat (1988), Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995) and Deep Rising (1998).

Williams' second Golden Globe nomination was for his starring role in Sidney Lumet's Prince of the City (1981). His third nomination was for his performance as Stanley Kowalski in the television presentation of A Streetcar Named Desire. In 1996, he was nominated for a Best Actor Emmy Award by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for his work in The Late Shift, an HBO movie, in which he portrayed agent Michael Ovitz.

In 1996, he played villain Xander Drax in Paramount's big budget comic book adaptation The Phantom, in which Williams' character did his best to take over the world and kill Billy Zane's mysterious superhero.

Williams' career includes numerous stage roles. He won a Drama League Award for his work in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, and another for starring in the off-Broadway production of Captains Courageous. Other notable Broadway shows include Grease, the Sherman Brothers' Over Here!, Once in a Lifetime, Pirates of Penzance and Love Letters, and off-Broadway, he has appeared in David Mamet's Oleanna and Oh, Hell (at Lincoln Center), Some Men Need Help and Randy Newman's Maybe I'm Doing It Wrong. He premiered the Los Angeles production of Love Letters and appeared in War Letters at the Canon Theatre in Los Angeles.

Williams played leading role as Dr. Andrew Brown in the WB television series Everwood, about a New York City neurosurgeon who moves his family to Colorado. Although the show's ratings were never spectacular, it won critical acclaim and had a devoted following. Williams received two SAG Award nominations (2003 and 2004) for his role on the show.

Williams has made several guest appearances on the ABC drama Brothers & Sisters as David Morton, a friend and potential suitor of Sally Field's character. He starred in the short-lived series Heartland on TNT as Nathaniel Grant, but the series was canceled due to low ratings. He also starred in a Lifetime movie, Staircase Murders, which aired April 15, 2007.

Williams starred in a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, Beyond the Blackboard, with his former Everwood co-star, Emily VanCamp. It was first broadcast on CBS on April 24, 2011.

Williams in 2008

Williams appears in the CBS television pilot Peachtree Lines as Mayor Lincoln Rylan. The serial is an examination of political, social and cultural issues in Atlanta.

Williams has also worked as a director, winning two festival awards for directing Texan in Showtime's Chanticleer Films series.

With Thora Birch on the set of The Etruscan Smile

Williams currently plays a role as Mick O' Brien in a Hallmark Channel television series called Chesapeake Shores originally airing August 2016 till current.

He also had a recurring role in Chicago Fire as Kelly Severide's father, Benny Severide until his character's death in season 7.

Williams has authored a children's book, Air Show!, illustrated by Robert Neubecker, published in 2010 by Disney/Hyperion Books). Targeted at an audience of children ages three to seven, the book playfully documents an airshow experience with simple text and bold illustrations of such aircraft as a Boeing B-17, a Pitts Special biplane and the US Navy's Blue Angel F/A-18.

Personal life

In 1969, Williams' high school football coach, who was also a flight instructor, offered to train him in a Piper Super Cub. At age 21, he was a private pilot. Williams became an FAA instrument-rated commercial pilot with privileges in both single engine and multi-engine airplanes as well as rotorcraft helicopter. He holds a type-rating for Cessna Citation jets. He also is certified as a flight instructor. He has owned a Piper Clipped-wing Cub, Piper Cherokee 180, Piper Seneca II and a Piper Navajo Chieftain which is used for family travel between homes.

Williams resides in Park City, Utah and Manchester Center, Vermont with his wife, Pam Van Sant and two children, Gille and Ellie.

Select theatre credits

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Notes
1972-80	Grease	Danny Zuko
1974-75	Over Here!	Utah
1978	Once in a Lifetime	Jerry Hyland
1981-82	The Pirates of Penzance	The Pirate King
1982	Some Men Need Help	Hudley T. Singleton III	47th Street Theatre
1989-90	Love Letters	Andrew Makepiece Ladd III
1989	Bobby Gould in Hell	Bobby Gould	Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater
1992-94	Oleanna	John	Orpheum Theatre
1999	Captains Courageous, the Musical	Manuel	Manhattan Theatre Club
2001	Follies	Buddy Plummer	Belasco Theatre

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Deadly Hero	Billings
1976	The Ritz	Michael Brick
	Marathon Man	Central Park Jogger	Uncredited
	The Eagle Has Landed	Captain Harry Clark
1979	Hair	George Berger	Nominated- Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor
	1941	Corporal Chuck 'Stretch' Sitarski
1980	The Empire Strikes Back	Rebel Soldier	Cameo appearance
	Why Would I Lie?	Cletus
1981	Prince of the City	Daniel Ciello	Nominated- Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
	The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper	D.B. Cooper
1983	Neapolitan Sting	Ferdinando
1984	Once Upon a Time in America	James Conway O'Donnell
	Flashpoint	Ernie Wyatt
1985	Smooth Talk	Arnold Friend	Nominated- Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead
1986	The Men's Club	Terry
1988	Sweet Lies	Peter
	Night of the Sharks	David Ziegler
	The Third Solution	Mark Hendrix
	Dead Heat	Detective Roger Mortis
1989	Heart of Dixie	Hoyt Cunningham
1990	Beyond the Ocean	Christopher
1993	Where the Rivers Flow North	Champ's Manager
1994	Hand Gun	George McCallister
1994	Texan	Man In Chinos	Short film; also director Chicago International Film Festival Award for Best Short
1995	Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead	Bill 'Critical Bill'
1996	Mulholland Falls	Colonel Nathan Fitzgerald
	The Phantom	Xander Drax
1997	The Devil's Own	Billy Burke
1998	Deep Rising	John Finnegan
	The Substitute 2: School's Out	Karl Thomasson
1999	The Deep End of the Ocean	Pat Cappadora
	The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All	Karl Thomasson
2000	Critical Mass	Mike Jeffers
2001	Extreme Limits	Jason Ross
	Skeletons in the Closet	Will
	The Substitute: Failure Is Not an Option	Karl Thomasson
	Venomous	Dr. David Henning
2002	Gale Force	Sam Garrett
	Hollywood Ending	Hal
	The Circle	Spencer Runcie
2005	Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous	FBI Assistant Director Walter Collins
2007	Moola	Luis Gordon
	The Hideout	Father Amy
2008	What Happens in Vegas	Jack Fuller Sr.
2010	Maskerade	Mr. Tucker
	Howl	Mark Schorer
	127 Hours	Larry Ralston
	Martino's Summer	Captain Jeff Clark
2011	A Little Bit of Heaven	Jack Corbett
	Oba: The Last Samurai	Colonel Wessinger
2012	Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader	Dr. Grey
	Deadfall	Sheriff Marshall T. Becker
2013	In the Blood	Robert Grant
	Reaching for the Moon	Robert Lowell
2014	Barefoot	Mr. Wheeler
	Operation Rogue	General Hank Wallace
2016	The Congressman	Charlie Winship
2017	The Etruscan Smile	Frank
2018	Second Act	Anderson Clarke
2019	The Great Alaskan Race	Dr. Welch
	Drunk Parents	Dan Henderson
2020	Run Hide Fight	Sheriff Tarsy
	Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square	Carl
TBA	The Dougherty Gang	Jameison R. Donovan	Post-production
	12 Mighty Orphans	Amon Carter

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	American Playhouse	Hudley T. Singleton III	Episode: "Some Men Need Help"
1987	Faerie Tale Theatre	Prince Andrew	Episode: "The Little Mermaid"
1991	Eddie Dodd	Eddie Dodd	Main cast; Season 1
1992	Tales from the Crypt	Howard Prince	Episode: "None But the Lonely Heart"
	Batman: The Animated Series	Dr. Achilles Milo (voice)	2 episodes
1993	Road to Avonlea	Zak Morgan	Episode: "Moving On"
1993–94	Good Advice	Jack Harold	Main cast; Season 1-2
2002	UC: Undercover	Teddy Collins	Episode: "Teddy C"
	Going to California	Officer Terrence 'Terry' Miller	Episode: "The West Texas Round-up and Other Assorted Misdemeanors"
2002–06	Everwood	Dr. Andrew 'Andy' Brown	Main cast; Seasons 1-4 Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama Nominated—SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series (2003–04) Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Parental Unit
2006	Brothers & Sisters	David Morton	3 episodes
2007	Heartland	Dr. Nathaniel "Nate" Grant	Main cast; Season 1
2011	Against the Wall	Don Kowalski	Main cast; Season 1
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Jake Stanton	Episode: "Spiraling Down"
2012	Leverage	Pete Rising	Episode: "The Blue Line Job"
	The Simpsons	Himself/William Sullivan	Episode: "A Totally Fun Thing That Bart Will Never Do Again"
2012–13	White Collar	Samuel Phelps/James Bennett	Recurring role; Season 4
2013–18	Chicago Fire	Benny Severide	Recurring role;18 episodes Seasons 1-7
2013	Hawaii Five-0	Mick Logan	2 episodes
2014	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Sam	Episode: "Dead in His Tracks"
2015	American Odyssey	Col. Stephen Glen	Main cast; Season 1
2016–present	Chesapeake Shores	Mick O'Brien	Main cast
2016–present	Blue Bloods	Lenny Ross	Recurring role;5 episodes Season 6-12

Television films and miniseries

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Dempsey	Jack Dempsey
1984	A Streetcar Named Desire	Stanley Kowalski	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
1987	J. Edgar Hoover	J. Edgar Hoover
	Echoes in the Darkness	Rick Guida
1989	Third Degree Burn	Scott Weston
1990	Drug Wars: The Camarena Story	Ray Carson
	Max and Helen	Max Rosenberg
1991	Final Verdict	Earl Rogers
1992	Till Death Us Do Part	Alan Palliko
	The Water Engine	Dave Murray
	Deadly Matrimony	Alan Masters
1993	Bonds of Love	Robby Smith
1994	Parallel Lives	Peter Barnum
1995	In the Shadow of Evil	Jack Brenner
	Johnny's Girl	Johnny
1996	The Late Shift	Michael Ovitz	Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
1998	Escape: Human Cargo	John McDonald
	Every Mother's Worst Fear	Mitch Carson
1999	Journey to the Center of the Earth	Theodore Lytton
	36 Hours to Die	Noah Stone
2000	Hopewell	David Jonas
2002	Guilty Hearts	Stephen Carrow
2007	The Staircase Murders	Michael Peterson
2008	Good Behavior	Burt Valencia
	Front of the Class	Norman Cohen
2009	Safe Harbor	Doug
	Chasing a Dream	Gary Stiles
	The Storm	Robert Terrell
2010	Boston's Finest	Jack Holt
2011	Beyond the Blackboard	Dr. Warren
2013	Age of Dinosaurs	Gabe
	Eve of Destruction	Max Salinger
2016	Confirmation	Ted Kennedy
2020	The Christmas House	Bill	Hallmark Channel

External links

• Treat Williams at IMDb
• Treat Williams at the Internet Broadway Database
• Treat Williams at the Internet Off-Broadway Database