William Woodson Hudson Jr. (January 24, 1919 – April 5, 1974) was an American actor. He played Ranger Clark in ''

Rocky Jones, Space Ranger ''Rocky Jones, Space Ranger'' is an American science fiction television serial originally broadcast in syndication from February to November 1954. The show lasted for only two seasons and, though syndicated sporadically, dropped into obscurity. ...

'' and Special Agent Mike Andrews in the

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nominated spy drama '' I Led Three Lives''.

History

After appearing uncredited in over a dozen movies, Hudson got his break in 1951's ''

Hard, Fast and Beautiful ''Hard, Fast and Beautiful'' is a 1951 American drama film directed by Ida Lupino and starring Claire Trevor. It is loosely based on the 1930 novel ''American Girl'' by sports-fiction author John R. Tunis, which was an unflattering and thinly v ...

''. He appeared in a few other movies and TV shows before being cast as Special Agent Mike Andrews in '' I Led Three Lives''. In 1954, while also still doing ''I Led Three Lives'', Hudson was cast in the

television serial In television and radio programming, a serial is a show that has a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode-by-episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the complete run of ...

'' as Ranger Clark. After his stint as Clark on ''Rocky Jones'', Hudson starred in several

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

, and monster movies, in such films as ''

The She Creature ''The She-Creature'', or ''The She Creature'', is a 1956 American black-and-white science fiction horror film, released by American International Pictures from a script by Lou Rusoff (brother-in-law of AIP executive Samuel Z. Arkoff). It was ...

'', ''

The Amazing Colossal Man ''The Amazing Colossal Man'' (also known as ''The Colossal Man'') is a 1957 American black-and-white science fiction film from American International Pictures. Produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon, it stars Glenn Langan, Cathy Downs, William ...

''. He played the husband in 1958's

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman ''Attack of the 50 Foot Woman'' is a 1958 independently made American science fiction horror film directed by Nathan H. Juran (credited as Nathan Hertz) and starring Allison Hayes, William Hudson and Yvette Vickers. It was produced by Berna ...

''. In 1964 he was cast as the doomed first Captain of the Seaview, John Phillips, in the pilot episode of ''

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' is a 1961 American science fiction disaster film, produced and directed by Irwin Allen, and starring Walter Pidgeon and Robert Sterling. The supporting cast includes Peter Lorre, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden, M ...

''. In 1965 he was back on ''Voyage'' as a different character in an episode infamous among fans of the series due to its heavy use of archive footage from the pilot episode (specifically a scene with Hudson and

Richard Basehart John Richard Basehart (August 31, 1914 – September 17, 1984) was an American actor. He starred as Admiral Harriman Nelson in the television science-fiction drama ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' (1964–68). He also portrayed Wilton Knight ...

leaving the Nelson Institute, being chased and attacked by a helicopter and which ended with the death of Hudson's character and the car going off a cliff aflame) giving him the dubious honour of being the only person "killed" on that show twice. In 1966 he was cast as a reporter in the second part of the first Television appearance of

Mr. Freeze Mr. Freeze is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Dave Wood, Sheldon Moldoff and Bob Kane, and first appeared in ''Batman'' #121 in February 1959 as the ice-based criminal Mr. Ze ...

in a first-season episode of ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

'' titled "

Rats Like Cheese "Rats Like Cheese" is the eighth episode of the '' Batman'' television series in its first season. First broadcast on February 3 and re-aired on May 19, 1966 it continues and concludes the story that began in " Instant Freeze". Plot synopsis In ...

".https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0519498/ ''Rats Like Cheese'' at IMDb.com From then on he had several small parts in various movies and TV shows, his last part being Mr. Dunn in 1971's '' How's Your Love Life?''. He died at age 55 on April 5, 1974 in

Woodland Hills, Los Angeles Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. Geography Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is locate ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

from

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

. He was survived by his twin brother, actor

John Hudson John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, William 1919 births 1974 deaths Male actors from California American male film actors American male television actors Deaths from cirrhosis People from Gilroy, California 20th-century American male actors