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John McLiam

John McLiam

Birthday: 1918-01-24 | Place of Birth: Alberta, Canada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John McLiam (born John Williams; January 24, 1918 – April 16, 1994) was a Canadian actor noted for his skill at different accents. His film appearances include My Fair Lady (1964), In Cold Blood (1967), John Frankenheimer's movie of The Iceman Cometh (1973), The Missouri Breaks (1976), and First Blood (1982). He was a guest star in numerous television series and wrote a Broadway play, The Sin of Pat Muldoon. Early life He attended St. Mary's College of California (Moraga, California). During World War II he served in the United States Navy as an intelligence officer, having received a Bronze Star. After the war he worked briefly as a journalist for the San Francisco Examiner. He took McLiam, the Gaelic form of his real surname Williams, as a stage name. Acting career His acting career began in Maxwell Anderson's Winterset in San Francisco in 1946. After a few roles in plays in California he moved to New York. His first Broadway role was as a guard in Maxwell Anderson's Barefoot in Athens in 1951. His other stage roles include Shaw's Saint Joan, and Tiger at the Gates, Christopher Fry's version of a Jean Giraudoux play, which ran 1959–60 on Broadway. He appeared in the original Broadway cast of One More River (1960). He moved to California in 1960 to work in film and television. His film roles included a cockney ne'er-do-well in My Fair Lady (1964), Boss Kean in Cool Hand Luke (1967), In Cold Blood (1967) as murder victim Herbert Clutter, John acted as the pilot/flight instructor for Aunt Bee in Season 8 of The Andy Griffith Show, "Aunt Bee's Big Moment" Halls of Anger (1970), Woody Allen's Sleeper (1973), rancher David Braxton in The Missouri Breaks (1976), and Orval in First Blood (1982). He played Jimmy Tomorrow in John Frankenheimer's American Film Theater movie of The Iceman Cometh (1973), alongside Fredric March, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan and Jeff Bridges. Personal life McLiam and his wife Roberta had a daughter, Claire. He died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California in 1994 from melanoma and Parkinson's disease. McLiam was interred at the Santa Barbara Cemetery at Santa Barbara, California. CLR

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1990
Fall From Grace

as    Rev. Aubrey Sara

1988
Split Decisions

as    Pop McGuinn

1987
Walk Like a Man

as    H.P. Truman

1984
Voyager from the Unknown

as    Dr. Bernard

1983
Dempsey

as    Hyrum Dempsey

1982
The Ambush Murders

as    Judge Collier

1982
First Blood

as    Orval the Dog Man

1981
The Five of Me

as    Father

1981
Mistress of Paradise

as    Nathan MacKay

1980
1979
The Legend of the Golden Gun

as    Jake Powell

1977
1976
The Missouri Breaks

as    David Braxton

1976
The Food of the Gods

as    Mr. Skinner

1976
The Call of the Wild

as    Prospector

1975
Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins

as    John Beechwood

1975
Lucky Lady

as    Rass Huggins

1974
The Dove

as    Lyle Graham

1973
Sleeper

as    Dr. Agon

1973
Showdown

as    F.J. Wilson

1973
Hitched

as    Pete Hunter

1972
The Culpepper Cattle Co.

as    Thorton Pierce

1971
If Tomorrow Comes

as    Father Miller