William Hootkins
Acting
- Born:
- 1948-07-05
- Died:
- 2005-10-23
- Place of birth:
- Dallas, Texas, USA
Biography
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
Known For
Filmography
Ancestors Of Ancient Rome: The Etruscans
Colour Me Kubrick
Dear Wendy
Blessed
Mars: Pioneering the Planet
The Magnificent Ambersons
Hamilton Mattress
Justice League
The Breed
Town & Country
American Gangster
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Espionage Escapades
The Miracle Maker
Animated Epics: Moby Dick
The Omega Code
The West Wing
Survivor Science: The Dead Man Walking
Like Father, Like Santa
Something to Believe In
This World, Then the Fireworks
Extreme Machines
Rhinoceros Hunting in Budapest
The Island of Dr. Moreau
The Miracle of Medjugorje
Funny Bones
Death Machine
Time Life Animal Oddities: The Meanest Animal Alive
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
The NeverEnding Story III
Iron Man
Predators of the Wild: Crocodiles and Alligators
Predators of the Wild: African Survival
Age of Treason
The Milky Life
The Cement Garden
Predators of the Wild: Giant Tarantula
Predators of the Wild: Polar Bear
Predators of the Wild: Wolf
Predators of the Wild: Tiger
Predators of the Wild: Snake
Predators of the Wild: Hawk
A River Runs Through It
Gummed Labels
Dust Devil
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
Predators of the Wild: Lion
Predators of the Wild: Shark
Predators of the Wild: Grizzly Bear
Predators of the Wild: Cheetah and Leopard
Predators of the Wild: Killer Whale
Predators of the Wild: Hunters and Hunted
Hear My Song
The Pope Must Die
The Princess and the Goblin
Predators of the Wild: Bats
Hardware
Batman
Crusoe
Monkeys
Agatha Christie's Poirot
The New Statesman
American Gothic
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
U.S. Marshals: Waco & Rhinehart
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
A State of Emergency
Haunted Honeymoon
Biggles
White Nights
Zina
Dreamchild
Water
Lytton's Diary
Black Carrion
Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense
Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime
Curse of the Pink Panther
Blackadder
Philip Marlowe, Private Eye
Trail of the Pink Panther
Remington Steele
The Tempest
Cagney & Lacey
American Playhouse
Bergerac
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Before Water Lilies
The Life and Times of David Lloyd George
Sphinx
Flash Gordon
Rabbit Pie Day
Oppenheimer
Hussy
Bad Timing
Charlie Muffin
Hanover Street
The Lady Vanishes
Tales of the Unexpected
The Lost Boys
The Lost Boys
Taxi
Clouds of Glory
The Billion Dollar Bubble
Come Back, Little Sheba
Premiere
Valentino
Star Wars
The Ambassadors
Twilight's Last Gleaming
Laurence Olivier Presents
Yanks Go Home
The Paradise Run
Playhouse
NOVA
Big Zapper
Van der Valk
BBC Play of the Month