Treat Williams Dies in Motorcycle Accident at 71
(© Allison Stock)
Actor Treat Williams, a veteran of both stage and screen, died on Monday, June 12 following a motorcycle crash in Dorset, Vermont. He was 71.
Williams rose to prominence in 1979 when he starred as George Berger in Miloš Forman’s film adaptation of the 1968 anti-war musical Hair, earning a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance. That same year, he also starred in the comedic film 1941, directed by Stephen Spielberg and written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale.
He made his Broadway debut in the original production of Grease, taking over the role of Danny Zuko in the long-running show. Williams’s subsequent Broadway credits include Over Here!, Once in a Lifetime, The Pirates of Penzance, and A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters, starring opposite Kate Nelligan.
He took on his final Broadway role in the 2001 revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s Follies as Buddy Plummer. Directed by Matthew Warchus, the cast also starred Blythe Danner, Judith Ivey, and George Harrison, as well as an early-career Kelli O’Hara as Young Hattie.
Off-Broadway, Williams’s credits also include Some Men Need Help (1982), David Mamet’s Bobby Gould in Hell (1989), Mamet’s Oleanna (1992, replacing original star William H. Macy), and Captains Courageous, The Musical (1999). In another Mamet collaboration, Williams also performed in a 1991 production of Speed-the-Plow at Williamstown Theatre Festival.
On television, Williams is well-known for his role as Dr. Andy Brown on the WB’s Everwood (2002–2006), for which he earned two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Performance in a Drama Series. He additionally received Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for his work in the television films A Streetcar Named Desire (1984) and The Late Shift (1996), and had recurring roles on a number of other popular TV series including Brothers & Sisters (2006), White Collar (2012–2013), and Chicago Fire (2013–2018).
The actor is survived by his wife Pam Van Sant, as well as their two children, Gill Williams and Elinor Williams.
