Ronald Clive Williams (29 March 1939 28 December 1997) was a Welsh actor and comedian, who remains best known for his association with

Ryan Davies Ryan Davies (22 January 1937 – 22 April 1977) was a Welsh comedian, actor, musician, singer, and songwriter. Though his career lasted just 11 years, he became widely known in Wales through his work with Ronnie Williams as the comedic double a ...

during the 1970s. Ronnie Williams began his career as an actor, but struggled for recognition, making an isolated television appearance in ''

The Wednesday Play ''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of United Kingdom, British television plays which ran on BBC One, BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramati ...

'' in 1966 as a newsreader, which by then he was; the episode, "Where the Buffalo Roam", was written by

Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...

and starred

Hywel Bennett Hywel Thomas Bennett (8 April 1944 – 24 July 2017) was a Welsh film and television actor. He had a lead role in ''The Family Way'' (1966) and played the titular "thinking man's layabout" James Shelley in the television sitcom '' Shelley'' (1 ...

. He worked as a bus conductor before finding fame with his appearances on

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

television, working as a continuity announcer and newsreader for

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...

. In 1970, he created a double act with

; their comedy series, '' Ryan & Ronnie'', was broadcast first on

and later, in English, on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. Broadcaster

Hywel Gwynfryn Hywel Gwynfryn (born 13 July 1942 at Llangefni, Anglesey) is a Wales, Welsh TV, and radio personality and lyricist. He started working for the BBC in 1964 and joined Radio Cymru at its inception. Career Gwynfryn joined the BBC as a presenter in 1 ...

, in his 2014 biography of the two comedians, describes the contrast between their appearance and character, enhanced by the fact that Williams was a baritone who could hold his own in duets with Davies's tenor. For a while, Gwynfryn lodged with Williams and his wife Einir, who lived in

Rhiwbina Rhiwbina ( cy, Rhiwbeina, also ''Rhiwbina'') is a suburb and Community (Wales), community in the north of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. Formerly a small hamlet within the parish of Whitchurch, Cardiff, Whitchurch, Rhiwbina was developed through ...

, Cardiff. One of the scriptwriters on ''Ryan and Ronnie'',

Meic Povey Michael "Meic" Povey (28 November 1950 – 5 December 2017) was a Welsh screenwriter, director and actor in Welsh and English language roles, considered to be one of Wales's leading playwrights and screenwriters. The break-up of the partnership in 1975 was attributed to Williams' ill health, but they remained friends and it was Davies who suddenly died in 1977. In the 1970s, Williams also owned the White Lion pub at

Cerrigydrudion Cerrigydrudion, sometimes spelt ''Cerrig-y-drudion'', () is a village and community in Conwy, Wales. Until 1974 it was part of the historic county Denbighshire, when it became part of the newly formed county of Clwyd. When the county of Clwyd wa ...

. He continued to appear on Welsh television and played Mr. Vissianni, a cafe owner, in the S4C series ''Tan Tro Nesa'' in 1985. He was also one of the stars of the film ''

Twin Town A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

'' (1997). He starred in ''Crime Pays'' (''Mae'n Talu Weithe''), a bilingual S4C film. Williams suffered from severe depression. In the 1990s, he said of his work with Ryan Davies: "The more successful you are, the more strain there is. The idea that you’re only as good as your last show worried us all the time ��we were working too hard, and we knew we were". On 28 December 1997, he committed suicide in

Cardigan, Ceredigion Cardigan ( cy, Aberteifi, ) is both a town and a community in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. Positioned on the tidal reach of the River Teifi at the point where Ceredigion meets Pembrokeshire, Cardigan was the county town of the historic cou ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Ronnie Suicides in Wales 1939 births 1997 deaths Welsh male television actors Welsh male comedians 20th-century Welsh male actors 20th-century British comedians 1997 suicides