Treat Williams, whose 50-year acting career saw him appear in a string of films including Hair, Prince of the City, Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead and Deep Rising, has died aged 71 after a motorcycle crash in Vermont.
In a statement released to Deadline, Williams’ family confirmed the cause of his death, saying: “It is with great sadness that we report that our beloved Treat Williams has passed away tonight in Dorset, Vermont after a fatal motorcycle accident. As you can imagine, we are shocked and greatly bereaved at this time.”
A report by Vermont state police said the crash was under investigation but that initial inquiries suggested an SUV had turned left across Williams’ path, he was unable to avoid a collision and suffered critical injuries after being thrown from his motorcycle.
Williams lived in rural Vermont, regularly posting messages on social media about his love for the area.
Born Richard Treat Williams in 1951, in the 1970s he found work in the Broadway stage show of Grease, initially as an understudy but also as lead role Danny Zuko. Early film roles included a detective in the Richard Lester-directed comedy The Ritz and as a US Ranger in the war film The Eagle Has Landed, and in 1979 he had a breakthrough as George Berger in the film adaptation of hippy musical Hair, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award.
Williams then appeared as idealistic detective Danny Ciello in Sidney Lumet’s 1981 police-corruption drama Prince of the City (for which he received another Golden Globe nomination), and starred opposite Laura Dern as stalker/creep Arnold Friend in Smooth Talk, a 1985 adaptation of a Joyce Carol Oates short story. In 1988 he co-starred with Joe Piscopo in the zombie-cop comedy Dead Heat.
Later roles included ship’s captain John Finnegan in seabound horror Deep Rising, Critical Bill in neo-noir thriller Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead, opposite Michelle Pfeiffer in family drama The Deep End of the Ocean, and as a film producer in Woody Allen’s 2002 comedy Hollywood Ending.
Williams then took a long-running lead role in the TV series Everwood, playing a doctor who moves with his family to smalltown Colorado, which ran from 2002-2006. It led to a string of guest appearances on shows ranging from The Simpsons to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Williams married Pam Van Sant in 1988, and had two children.
