Actor Treat Williams dies in motorbike accident aged 71
Renowned actor Treat Williams, known for his roles in the film musical Hair and the American television series Everwood, has tragically passed away in a road accident at the age of 71. Williams was involved in a collision with an SUV while riding his motorbike in Vermont on Monday. He was airlifted to hospital in critical condition but was sadly pronounced dead upon arrival.
Treat Williams boasted an impressive career spanning five decades, with over 130 screen credits to his name. In a statement released by the family and published by Variety magazine, they expressed their shock and grief, saying, “Treat was full of love for his family, for his life and for his craft, and was truly at the top of his game in all of it.”
Barry McPherson, Williams’ agent for 15 years, paid tribute to the actor, describing him as “the nicest guy” and “so talented.” McPherson told People magazine that Williams was “an actor’s actor” and had been at “the heart of Hollywood since the late 1970s.”
Fellow actor Wendell Pierce took to social media to remember Williams as a “passionate… creative man” with an “adventurous spirit [that] was infectious.”
Williams rose to fame in 1979 with his breakthrough role as hippie George Berger in Hair. He went on to appear in films such as Stephen Spielberg’s 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 also made a name for himself in stage acting, with roles in Stephen Sondheim’s Follies and as Danny Zuko in the original Broadway production of Grease.
In the early 2000s, Treat Williams starred as widowed Dr Andy Brown in four series of the US TV drama Everwood. He later appeared in shows like Chesapeake Shores, Blue Bloods, and Chicago Fire. Williams received an Emmy award nomination for his work in the 1996 TV movie The Late Shift and earned three Golden Globe nominations during the 1980s.
Born Richard Treat Williams in Connecticut in 1951, he is survived by his wife Pam Van Sant, whom he married in 1988, and their two children.
