Jack Eric Williams (March 28, 1944 – January 28, 1994) was an American actor, composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is most remembered for originating the role of Beadle Bamford in

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

's ''

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial ''The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London urban legend, legend. A barber fr ...

''. Williams died in New York City on January 28, 1994, from cardiac arrest due to complications of diabetes.

Performer

Jack Eric Williams appeared off-Broadway as Max in a 1974 production of

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...

's ''

The Homecoming ''The Homecoming'' is a two-act play written in 1964 by Harold Pinter and first published in 1965. Its premières in London (1965) and New York (1967) were both directed by Sir Peter Hall. The original Broadway production won the 1967 Tony A ...

'' at the Wonderhorse Theater. He made his Broadway debut in 1976 in the Lincoln Center revival of

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

's ''

Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music b ...

'', singing in the ensemble and understudying the role of the Ballad Singer. He next appeared in Stephen Sondheim's 1979 masterpiece Sweeney Todd, originating the role of the villainous Beadle Bamford. Sondheim wrote the exceptionally-difficult vocal lines with Williams' voice in mind. His performances in both shows are preserved on their original cast albums. In 1981 he appeared in the controversial film ''Strong Medicine''. A noted tenor, he once gave a command performance for the King and Queen of Sweden. Williams regularly performed his work in cabaret venues around New York. His one-man show, ''Songs and Other Devices: A Cabaret Recital (volumes 1-4)'' was performed at The Ballroom,

Lone Star Cafe The Lone Star Cafe was a cafe and club in New York City at 61 Fifth at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 13th Street, from 1976 to 1989.

, Reno Sweeney, S.N.A.F.U., The Other End, and The Westbank Cafe.

Composer

In spite of his high-profile Broadway appearances, Williams considered himself primarily a composer. In the 1960s, Williams won numerous awards in composition from the Texas Manuscript Society, Texas Young Composers, and National Young Composers Societies. In 1965, he won the National Grass Roots Opera Competition with ''The Hinge Tune,'' libretto by Elizabeth Lyne Also in 1965, Williams was commissioned by the Budapest Madrigal Ensemble to compose a madrigal cycle based on various poets. 1971, Williams composed a 45-minute score for ''Yerma,'' by Federico Garcia Lorca, commissioned by the Summer Theatre of the University of South Carolina In 1974 he was commissioned by the Tennessee Arts Commission to compose a setting for chorus, soloists, and orchestra for Malcolm Glass' poem, ''Visions From A Glass Eye'' In 1980 Williams wrote the music to original lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for the play ''Galileo'', originally written for and with

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...

. He followed that with a dance score for choreographer Johanna Boyce's Waterbodies for the

American Dance Festival The American Dance Festival (ADF) under the direction of Executive Director Jodee Nimerichter hosts its main summer dance courses including Summer Dance Intensive, Pre-Professional Dance Intensive, and the Dance Professional Workshops. It also hos ...

. The work was performed in and around a swimming pool, rather than in a traditional theater. In 1981 he composed the score for the movie thriller ''

Nightmare A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of d ...

'' -which was originally banned in the UK for its excessive violence and gore. His musical biography of

Frances Farmer Frances Elena Farmer (September 19, 1913August 1, 1970) was an American actress and television hostess. She appeared in over a dozen feature films over the course of her career, though she garnered notoriety for sensationalized accounts of her l ...

, ''Mrs. Farmer's Daughter'', was produced at the American Music Festival in Philadelphia in 1984 and

Sheldon Larry Sheldon may refer to: * Sheldon (name), a given name and a surname, and a list of people with the name Places Australia *Sheldon, Queensland *Sheldon Forest, New South Wales United Kingdom *Sheldon, Derbyshire, England *Sheldon, Devon, England *S ...

directed Williams' 1984 musical, Romance Language, at Playwrights Horizons in New York City. In 1986, The Public Theater commissioned Williams and Richard Isen to write an original ten-minute musical. The resulting show, ''Dear Someone'', was performed at the theater. Williams also wrote another ten-minute lyric melodrama for the same competition entitled, "Oh! God, I Loved Harry! An Orgy of Grief". Williams' most successful show was 1990s ''Swamp Gas and Shallow Feelings: A Brand New Nashville Musical Fable'', which was work-shopped in 1988 and 1990 at the National Music Theater Conference of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and again in 1991 at the National Music Theater Network as part of its Broadway Dozen Series. The work earned him the Richard Rodgers Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1990, and was produced by the Barter Theater in 2006.

Personal

Jack Eric Williams was married to Martha Elizabeth Lyne until her death in 1993. He was survived by his son, Eden Payne Williams, and many notable friends including actress

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

, and composer

William Finn William Alan Finn (born February 28, 1952) is an American composer and lyricist. He is best known for his musicals, which include ''Falsettos'', for which he won the 1992 Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical, ''A New Br ...

. His musical compositions and lyrics are now owned by inflagrante music productions. Inflagrante is owned by Eve Martineza, former singer and actress who worked closely with Jack Eric and administered his estate.

References

''BroadwayWorld.com''Inflagrante Music Productions
- Current manager of the works of Jack Eric Williams * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jack Eric 1944 births 1994 deaths American male stage actors American lyricists 20th-century American male actors American male composers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American composers People from Odessa, Texas Male actors from Texas Singers from Texas Deaths from diabetes Songwriters from Texas 20th-century American male singers American male songwriters