Bill Edwards (September 14, 1918 – December 21, 1999) was an American film and television actor, championship rodeo rider, and artist.
Early years
Born in Sea Isle City, New Jersey, Edwards began drawing horses as a child and continued drawing as he grew up on a Wyoming ranch. From this lifestyle, Bill was to become a championship rodeo rider.
Broken bones brought his riding career to a halt, and the 6-foot-5 Bill Edwards became a model in New York City. An agent brought him to Hollywood in the early 1940s. He was under contract to Paramount Pictures for nearly a decade, after which he turned to art.[citation needed]
Career
In addition to Western films, the blonde, blue-eyed Edwards had featured roles in Our Hearts Were Young and Gay and Hail the Conquering Hero, both released in 1944.[citation needed]
In the 1950s, Edwards became a painter. He created illustrations for Hanna-Barbera and Disney as well as creating the artwork for numerous book and novel covers. Edwards was commissioned by the United States Air Force Art Program to paint recruiting posters and paintings of Air Force planes and combat scenes. Several, such as one entitled “Generation Gap,” were exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution, the Pentagon and a traveling Air Force exhibit.
He had an illustrious career as an artist, and he became best known for his paintings of the Old West. His works were sold at numerous galleries throughout California and the Southwest, and many of his paintings of the Old West hang in private collections.
Personal life/death
In January 1946, Bill married Hazel Allen, to whom he was married until the mid-1970s. He then married a second time to Beryl Margret Hunter, who was born in Middlesex, England; they married in the late 1980s and were happily married until her death on 12 December 1995.
Upon her death, he remarried his first wife Hazel Allen. Bill died on December 21, 1999, at the age of 81 in Newport Beach, California of pneumonia caused by an illness that affected his muscular system. He was survived by his wife and his daughter, Linda Edwards.
Selected filmography
Strange Faces (1938) as Bit Part (uncredited)
Daughters Courageous (1939) as Boy on Beach (uncredited)
The Bugle Sounds (1942) as Recruit (uncredited)
Murder in the Big House (1942) as Reporter (uncredited)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) as a Reporter (uncredited)
Wings for the Eagle (1942) as Customer (uncredited)
Escape from Crime (1942) as Reporter (uncredited)
The Gay Sisters (1942) as Man Entering Courtroom (uncredited)
Busses Roar (1942) as Blond Sailor at Bar (uncredited)
You Can’t Escape Forever (1942) as Cassidy (uncredited)
Now, Voyager (1942) as Passenger (uncredited)
The Hard Way (1943) as Interne at Hospital (uncredited)
Air Force (1943) as Soldier (uncredited)
Murder on the Waterfront (1943) as Guard (uncredited)
Adventure in Iraq (1943) as Radio Operator
Princess O’Rourke (1943) as Switchboard Operator (uncredited)
Riding High (1943) as Cowboy (uncredited)
You Can’t Ration Love (1944) as Pete Allen, big man on campus
The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944) (uncredited)
Hail the Conquering Hero (1943) as Forrest Noble
Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944) as Tom Newhall
Duffy’s Tavern (1945) as Soda Jerk (uncredited)
Yolanda and the Thief (1945) as Gatekeeper (uncredited)
Miss Susie Slagle’s (1946) as Elijah Howe, Jr.
The Virginian (1946) as Sam Bennett
Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946) as Tom Newhall
Danger Street (1947) as Sandy Evans
Ladies of the Chorus (1948) as Alan Wakely, Mae’s Ex-husband (uncredited)
Home in San Antone (1949) as Ted Gibson
Trail of the Yukon (1949) as Jim Blaine
The Fighting Stallion (1950) as Lon Evans
Federal Man (1950) as Agent George Palmer
Border Outlaws (1950) as Mike Hoskins
Call Me Mister (1951) as Military Policeman (uncredited)
Follow the Sun (1951) as Service Station Attendant (uncredited)
The First Legion (1951) as Joe
Don’t Give Up the Ship (1959) as Executive Officer (uncredited)
First Man into Space (1959) as Air Force pilot Lt. Dan Milton Prescott
Sea Hunt ? (1961, Season 4, Episode 19) as USCG Commander Murdock
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) as Colonel Kendall J. Fiedler
Inferno in Paradise (1974) as Captain Martin
External Links
Actor Bill Edwards – Wikipedia
