As per our current Database, William Smithers is still alive (as per Wikipedia, Last update: May 10, 2020).
Currently, William Smithers is 97 years, 4 months and 11 days old. William Smithers will celebrate 98rd birthday on a Thursday 10th of July 2025. Below we countdown to William Smithers upcoming birthday.
| Popular As | William Smithers |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Age | 97 years old |
| Zodiac Sign | Cancer |
| Born | July 10, 1927 (Richmond, Virginia, USA) |
| Birthday | July 10 |
| Town/City | Richmond, Virginia, USA |
| Nationality | USA |
William Smithers’s zodiac sign is Cancer. According to astrologers, the sign of Cancer belongs to the element of Water, just like Scorpio and Pisces. Guided by emotion and their heart, they could have a hard time blending into the world around them. Being ruled by the Moon, phases of the lunar cycle deepen their internal mysteries and create fleeting emotional patterns that are beyond their control. As children, they don't have enough coping and defensive mechanisms for the outer world, and have to be approached with care and understanding, for that is what they give in return.
William Smithers was born in the Year of the Rabbit. Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Rabbit enjoy being surrounded by family and friends. They’re popular, compassionate, sincere, and they like to avoid conflict and are sometimes seen as pushovers. Rabbits enjoy home and entertaining at home. Compatible with Goat or Pig.
Although character actor William (or Bill) Smithers is not recognizable perhaps by name, the face is definitely familiar especially to baby boomer TV fans. A smart, articulate, well-groomed actor with noticeably premature gray hair, Smithers is probably best remembered for his on-again, off-again role as arch-villain Jeremy Wendell who frequently crossed paths with J.
R. Ewing on Dallas (1978) from 1981-1985. Avid Trekkies will also remember his role as Capt. Merrick in the original Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) series. Born in Richmond, Virginia, on July 10, 1927, Smithers received his initial break on stage, making his Broadway debut and winning a Theatre World Award for his performance as Tybalt in "Romeo and Juliet" in 1951.
Olivia de Havilland, who played Juliet, also made her Broadway bow in that production. The following year Smithers joined the Actors Studio and became a major exponent of Lee Strasberg's "Method" style of acting.
He continued to win acclaim on the stage, earning an Obie award in 1957 for Best Actor for his portrayal of Treplev in the off-Broadway production of "The Sea Gull". He made a successful feature film debut in 1956 as a harried infantry officer in Robert Aldrich's acclaimed war drama Attack (1956), but would make only a handful of large-screen appearances after that, including Trouble Man (1972), Papillon (1973), Scorpio (1973) and Deathsport (1978).
Television, of course, was a different story. Smithers has appeared or guest-starred in nearly 400 programs in his nearly five-decade-long career. Often called to play serious-minded executives and other such authority figures, he had a real penchant for playing oily villains.
You could find his unscrupulous, cold-hearted white collars on any given 1960s or 1970s crime series - Mission: Impossible (1966), The F.B.I. (1965), Mannix (1967), Mod Squad (1968), The Name of the Game (1968) and Barnaby Jones (1973), to name a few.
Less seen since the early 1990s, he is also known for his acting seminars at colleges and universities. Smithers instructs alongside his second wife, noted acting teacher S. Loraine Hull.
