William Smith
William Smith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William Smith (born March 24, 1933) is an American actor who has appeared in almost 300 feature films and television productions. Smith began his acting career at the age of 8 in 1942. He is perhaps best-known for playing the sinister "Anthony Falconetti" on the TV miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man and its sequel, Rich Man, Poor Man Book II, both in 1976. The physically imposing 6'2" actor is a lifelong bodybuilder and has the distinction of being the final Marlboro Man before the cigarette ads were discontinued on TV. Smith won the 200 pound (91 kg) arm-wrestling championship of the world multiple times and also won the United States Air Force weightlifting championship. Smith is a record holder for reverse-curling his own bodyweight. His trademark arms measured 18 and 1/2 inches. Smith held a 31-1 record as an amateur boxer and studied martial arts with kenpo instructor Ed Parker for several years. Smith also played semi-pro football in Germany and competed in motocross and downhill skiing events. He entered films stunt doubling for former screen Tarzan Lex Barker in a French film. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts from Syracuse and a Master's degree in Russian Studies from UCLA. He taught Russian at UCLA before abandoning his Ph.D. studies for an MGM contract. He also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Munich while learning languages through the military. Smith is fluent in Russian, Serbo-Croatian, French and German.
