The much-loved actor died in June 2023, aged 71.
“He was the nicest guy,” his longtime agent Barry McPherson toldPeople.
“He was so talented.
He was an actor’s actor.
He’s been the heart of Hollywood since the late 1970s.
He was really proud of his performance this year.”
Suffice to say, the actor truly was a treat to watch.
Let’s celebrate the late Treat Williams by taking a look back at the Hallmark star’s life.
Hailing from a middle-class family, he attended preparatory school and spent extended periods away from home.
It was this prolonged absence that made him realize how lucky he was to have loving and supportive parents.
… My dad and my mom were really wonderful, funny, charming people."
A double threat, he also exhibited an aptitude for singing and was president of the glee club.
After graduating from high school, he studied at Marshall College.
Initially, however, he was pursuing a football career.
Soon enough, he swapped the glare of the floodlights for the glitz of the studio lights.
It was a dream come true for Williams, who had a real love and passion for theater.
“In college, I studied everything from Shakespeare to Albee and Chekhov.”
In an interview withBackstage, he offered some advice to actors looking to start out in the theater.
I say, ‘Get out now,'" he warned.
“If you’re thinking about timetables, you shouldn’t be doing it.
You have to have that fire against all odds.”
The actor himself was very nearly drafted for Vietnam in the ’60s a prospect that terrified him.
I was terrified that night," he toldWBUR.
But he also conceded that he was grappling with his newfound celebrity status.
“As an actor, you get nothing and then you get overkill,” he mused.
“There’ve been the autograph seekers, and the other day there were 10 paparazzi photographing me.
“It’s my most complex and multifaceted role.
Not many stars can count Sergio Leone among their earliest supporters (okay, save forClint Eastwood).
In an interview withPeople, the actor said that he was excited to work with the legendary filmmaker.
However, as a newbie, he didn’t always live up to Leone’s high expectations.
In fact, the actor recalled an instance in which he fell asleep right in the middle of filming.
That someone wasRobert De Niro, and he was prompting Williams to wake up and say his line.
He actually started flying planes before he set foot on a movie set.
In 1969, he underwent his first flying lesson.
Chatting toAOPA, he admitted that he was terrified when he initially took the controls.
Before long, though, he fell in love with being in the sky.
Becoming a licensed pilot was the fulfillment of his childhood ambition.
“I used to have dreams about flying when I was a boy.
And I would salivate over toy airplanes,” he toldPublisher’s Weekly.
His daughter Ellie, in particular, shared her father’s avidity for aviation.
Subsequently, he sought to make his book an empowering feminist parable that would inspire young girls.
“When I was a kid, books about airplanes were considered ‘boy’ books.
I thought it would be wonderful to empower a little girl with this love of flight.”
It was during this period that the actor’s love of aviation saved him.
“You see, this industry can bring so much rejection and disappointment,” he toldParade.
It’s so important to find a hobby you love.”
Williams partly attributed his decline to struggles with substance misuse.
Despite his career lull, Williams was later able to reflect on his difficulties with considerable candor and insight.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available.
Visit theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration websiteor contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Previously, the actor had,by his own admission, erroneously labeled television inferior to cinema.
Williams was devastated when the series was canceled in 2006.
“You know, there was no one sadder than we were,” he told My Devotional Thoughts.
“We were very happy to be there.
It made for some really great friendships that are still so very strong.
I’m grateful for that.”
“I love all that.
That to me is America at its best.”
“My [onscreen] son is gay,” he explained.
“He’s married, and he’s come home for Christmas.”
They wed in 1988 and welcomed two children together, Gill and Ellie.
“This is what it’s all about,” he reflected.
Just as Williams described his childhood in Stamford as idyllic, his life with Van Sant was equally serene.
“Thank you for marrying me,” he sweetly wrote in anInstagrambirthday tribute to Van Sant in 2023.
“So honored when Treat Williams signed on to deliver our own, later critique of the disaster.”
His role, although small, was praised as a formidable self-referential cameo.
“What the hell is a war on drugs?
Waging a war against citizens,” he explains.
“By definition, it’s separating us into two opposing camps.”
He continued, saying, “I come off as angry sometimes.
Aren’t you angry?”
Sadly, the series would prove one of Williams’ final TV roles.
His sudden and unexpected death led to an outpouring of support from the full spectrum of the entertainment world.
Reflecting on his life, he opened up about his hopes for the future.
