William David Elliott (June 4, 1934 – September 30, 1983) was an American actor and jazz musician. He had a recurring role in ''

Bridget Loves Bernie ''Bridget Loves Bernie'' is an American sitcom created by Bernard Slade. Depicting an interfaith marriage between a Catholic woman and a Jewish man, ''Bridget Loves Bernie'' was based loosely on the premise of the 1920s Broadway play and 1940s ra ...

'' as Otis Foster and a recurring role as Officer Gus Grant in '' Adam-12''. He also appeared in

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

's 1969 film ''

Change of Habit ''Change of Habit'' is a 1969 American crime drama musical film directed by William A. Graham and starring Elvis Presley and Mary Tyler Moore. Written by James Lee, S.S. Schweitzer, and Eric Bercovici, based on a story by John Joseph and Ric ...

''.

Background

Elliott was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He spent four years in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

as an electrician. He later worked for US Steel and left the job. He also turned down an opportunity to study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to be a drummer. He eventually formed his own music group. He married the background vocalist for the group, Dionne Warwick, in 1966. While at the home of Warwick's parents to ask permission to marry Dionne, Elliott was invited by her father to have a talk in the living room. Her father knew of Elliott's reputation as being a ladies man and happened to be cleaning his gun in preparation for a hunting trip. They had two sons together, David and Damon. They divorced in 1967 but soon remarried. They divorced again in 1975.

Television work

An early appearance on television was in the series ''Dragnet''. The episode ''Community Relations: DR-10'' aired in 1968 and also featured

Don Marshall Donald Robert Marshall (born March 23, 1932) is a Canadian former ice hockey forward. Don played in the National Hockey League from 1951 to 1972. During this time, he played for the New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs and Mon ...

Rafer Johnson Rafer Lewis Johnson (August 18, 1934 – December 2, 2020) was an American decathlon, decathlete and film actor. He was the 1960 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, having won silver in 1956. He had previously won a gold in the 1955 Pan Amer ...

and O. J. Simpson in a minor role. In the early 1970s, Elliott had a recurring role as Otis Foster in the

Bernard Slade Bernard Slade Newbound (May 2, 1930 – October 30, 2019) was a Canadian playwright and screenwriter. As a screenwriter, he created the sitcoms ''The Flying Nun'' and ''The Partridge Family''. As a playwright, he wrote '' Same Time, Next Year'', ...

-created show ''

'' which starred

David Birney David Edwin Birney (April 23, 1939 – April 27, 2022) was an American actor and director whose career included performances in both contemporary and classical roles in theatre, film, and television. He is noted for having played the title role ...

and

Meredith Baxter Meredith Ann Baxter (born June 21, 1947) is an American actress and producer. She is known for her roles on the CBS sitcom '' Bridget Loves Bernie'' (1972–73), ABC drama series ''Family'' (1976–80) and the NBC sitcom ''Family Ties'' (1982 ...

. He also had a recurring role as Officer Gus Grant on the ''Adam-12'' TV show.

Film work

He had an early uncredited role as a revolutionary in the

Jules Dassin Julius "Jules" Dassin (December 18, 1911 – March 31, 2008) was an American film and theatre director, producer, writer and actor. A subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, he subsequently moved to France, and later Greece, whe ...

-directed '' Uptight'' which was released in 1968. He then played the part of Robbie in the

film ''

'' which was released in 1969. He subsequently appeared as Leon in '' The Old Man Who Cried Wolf'' which starred Edward G. Robinson. The film, released in 1970, also starred

Percy Rodrigues Percy Rodriguez (born Percy Rodrigues; June 13, 1918 – September 6, 2007) was a Canadian actor who appeared in many television shows and films from the 1950s to the 1980s. He was of Afro-Portuguese heritage and was born in the Saint-Henri neig ...

and

Martin Balsam Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an American actor. He had a prolific career in character roles in film, in theatre, and on television. An early member of the Actors Studio, he began his career on the New Yo ...

. It was about an old man who witnessed a murder but nobody believed him. The next film he appeared in was a made-for-television movie, ''

They Call It Murder ''They Call It Murder'' is a 1971 American television film directed by Walter Grauman and starring Jim Hutton. Production ''They Call It Murder'' is a two-hour television film produced by Paisano Productions in association with 20th Century Fox. I ...

'', which starred

Jim Hutton Dana James Hutton (May 31, 1934 – June 2, 1979) was an American actor in film and television best remembered for his role as Ellery Queen in the 1970s TV series of the same name, and his screen partnership with Paula Prentiss in four films, ...

, Robert J. Wilke and

Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' a ...

. Elliott played the part of Deputy Bob Terry. He played the lead role in the

Henry Hathaway Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven films. Backgrou ...

film ''

Hangup ''Hangup'', also called '' Hang Up'' and later released under the name ''Super Dude'', is a 1974 film directed by Henry Hathaway. It stars William Elliott and Marki Bey. This was the last film directed by Hathaway. The film falls in the blaxplo ...

'', released in 1974. In that film he played an honest police officer who comes to grief as he is in love with a drug addict played by Marki Bey. Because Warner Bros. would not distribute the film, Elliott took charge of it and it was eventually distributed by a lesser-known distributor and pushed as a Blaxploitation film. It failed at the box office and attracted a fair amount of criticism.

Music

Elliott appears on the '' Together Again!'' album by Willis Jackson with organist Jack McDuff. His drumming can be heard on four tracks that were recorded in August 1960; three appeared on the "Cookin' Sherry" album in 1961 ("Mellow Blues", "Cookin' Sherry" and "Contrasts"), while the fourth, "Tu'gether", was not released until the "Together Again!" album in 1964. By 1961 he was backing organist DeeDee Ford along with saxophonist / flautist Joe Thomas. By 1962 Rhoda Scott had taken over for DeeDee Ford, and as the Rhoda Scott Trio the group released two albums – "Hey! Hey! Hey! in 1962 and "Live! at the Key Club" in 1963. In 1964 Elliott and Thomas released their ''Speak Your Piece'' album. In 1974, it was announced in the August 3 issue of '' Billboard'' that Elliott was opening a studio at the location of the old Brooks Randall Motor Club site at Bronson Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. The studio, which featured recording facilities, a sound stage, rehearsal and dressing rooms, was to cater to the motion picture and recording industry.

Filmography (selected)

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William Elliott (II), Filmography
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References

External links

William Elliott at Aveleyman.com
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Discogs: Bill Elliott
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, William 1934 births 1983 deaths African-American male actors American male film actors Male actors from Baltimore Military personnel from Baltimore African-American drummers American jazz drummers Jazz musicians from Maryland Musicians from Baltimore Prestige Records artists American electricians United States Navy sailors 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male actors American male jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians African-American United States Navy personnel