Bill Edwards (actor)

Bill Edwards (December 1, 1922 – February 7, 2000) was an American film and television actor, championship rodeo rider, and artist.

Early years

Bill Edwards was born as Edgar William Willar Junior in Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia. He graduated from the Valley Forge Academy, attended Colgate University, and graduated from Haverford College.

Edwards began drawing horses as a child and became a noted artist as an adult.

At one point, Bill become a championship rodeo rider but Broken bones brought his riding career to a halt, and the 6-foot-5 Bill Edwards became a model in New York City. An agent brought him to Hollywood in the early 1940s. He was under contract to Paramount Pictures for nearly a decade, after which he turned to art.

Career

In addition to Western films, the blonde, blue-eyed Edwards had featured roles in '' Our Hearts Were Young and Gay'' and '' Hail the Conquering Hero'', both released in 1944.

In the 1950s, Edwards became a painter. He created illustrations for Hanna-Barbera and Disney as well as creating the artwork for numerous book and novel covers. Edwards was commissioned by the United States Air Force Art Program to paint recruiting posters and paintings of Air Force planes and combat scenes. Several, such as one entitled "Generation Gap," were exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution, the Pentagon and a traveling Air Force exhibit.

He had an illustrious career as an artist, and he became best known for his paintings of the Old West. His works were sold at numerous galleries throughout California and the Southwest, and many of his paintings of the Old West hang in private collections.

Personal life/death

Bill was married five times.

1) On May 19, 1945, Bill married Florence Lorraine Hillerman (1922-1975) in Saint Mary's Episcopal Church in Haddon Heights, New Jersey.

2) In January 1946, Bill married Hazel Allen (aka Hazel Aho).

3) On April 5, 1953, Bill married Floramay "Babs" Byers (1920-1969) in the San Francisco Swedenborgian Church. They had three children together.

4) On September 20, 1970, after Babs death, Bill married Cheryl Cullender (born in 1922) in a Rodeway Inn in Honolulu.

5) On December 25, 1979, Bill married Beryl Margaret Hunter in Honolulu. Beryl was born in 1932 in Middlesex, England. They were happily married until her death on December 12, 1995.

Bill was living with his sister Joan Willar Sheets in Princeton Junction, N.J. at the time of his death. His permanent residence was Belmont House, Joshua Tree National Monument in California. He was cremated and his ashes spread at Lost Horse Cave, at Joshua Tree. He had been a park ranger there for many years. He also has a headstone in his family plot in Philadelphia.

Selected filmography

* ''Strange Faces'' (1938) as Bit Part (uncredited)
* ''Daughters Courageous'' (1939) as Boy on Beach (uncredited)
* '' The Bugle Sounds'' (1942) as Recruit (uncredited)
* '' Murder in the Big House'' (1942) as Reporter (uncredited)
* '' Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942) as a Reporter (uncredited)
* '' Wings for the Eagle'' (1942) as Customer (uncredited)
* ''Escape from Crime'' (1942) as Reporter (uncredited)
* ''The Gay Sisters'' (1942) as Man Entering Courtroom (uncredited)
* ''Busses Roar'' (1942) as Blond Sailor at Bar (uncredited)
* ''You Can't Escape Forever'' (1942) as Cassidy (uncredited)
* '' Now, Voyager'' (1942) as Passenger (uncredited)
* '' The Hard Way'' (1943) as Interne at Hospital (uncredited)
* '' Air Force'' (1943) as Soldier (uncredited)
* '' Murder on the Waterfront'' (1943) as Guard (uncredited)
* ''Adventure in Iraq'' (1943) as Radio Operator
* ''Princess O'Rourke'' (1943) as Switchboard Operator (uncredited)
* '' Riding High'' (1943) as Cowboy (uncredited)
* ''You Can't Ration Love'' (1944) as Pete Allen, big man on campus
* '' The Adventures of Mark Twain'' (1944) (uncredited)
* '' Hail the Conquering Hero'' (1943) as Forrest Noble
* '' Our Hearts Were Young and Gay'' (1944) as Tom Newhall
* '' Duffy's Tavern'' (1945) as Soda Jerk (uncredited)
* '' Yolanda and the Thief'' (1945) as Gatekeeper (uncredited)
* ''Miss Susie Slagle's'' (1946) as Elijah Howe, Jr.
* '' The Virginian'' (1946) as Sam Bennett
* ''Our Hearts Were Growing Up'' (1946) as Tom Newhall
* '' Danger Street'' (1947) as Sandy Evans
* '' Ladies of the Chorus'' (1948) as Alan Wakely, Mae's Ex-husband (uncredited)
* ''Home in San Antone'' (1949) as Ted Gibson
* '' Trail of the Yukon'' (1949) as Jim Blaine
* ''The Fighting Stallion'' (1950) as Lon Evans
* ''Federal Man'' (1950) as Agent George Palmer
* ''Border Outlaws'' (1950) as Mike Hoskins
* ''Call Me Mister'' (1951) as Military Policeman (uncredited)
* '' Follow the Sun'' (1951) as Service Station Attendant (uncredited)
* ''The First Legion'' (1951) as Joe
* '' Don't Give Up the Ship'' (1959) as Executive Officer (uncredited)
* ''First Man into Space'' (1959) as Air Force pilot Lt. Dan Milton Prescott
* '' Sea Hunt ?'' (1961, Season 4, Episode 19) as USCG Commander Murdock
* ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' (1970) as Colonel Kendall J. Fiedler
* ''Inferno in Paradise'' (1974) as Captain Martin

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Bill
1918 births
1999 deaths
American male television actors
American male film actors
Male actors from New Jersey
American artists
20th-century American male actors
Deaths from pneumonia in California