Acting
John McLiam
EN cinema · 47 credits
Born
24 January 1918
Died
16 April 1994 (aged 76)
Birthplace
Alberta, Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John McLiam (born John Williams; January 24, 1918 – April 16, 1994) was a Canadian actor noted for his skill at different accents. His film appearances include My Fair Lady (1964), In Cold Blood (1967), John Frankenheimer's movie of The Iceman Cometh (1973), The Missouri Breaks (1976), and First Blood (1982). He was a guest star in numerous television series and wrote a Broadway play, The Sin of Pat Muldoon. Early life He attended St. Mary's College of California (Moraga, California). During World War II he served in the United States Navy as an intelligence officer, having received a Bronze Star. After the war he worked briefly as a journalist for the San Francisco Examiner. He took McLiam, the Gaelic form of his real surname Williams, as a stage name. Acting career His acting career began in Maxwell Anderson's Winterset in San Francisco in 1946. After a few roles in plays in California he moved to New York. His first Broadway role was as a guard in Maxwell Anderson's Barefoot in Athens in 1951. His other stage roles include Shaw's Saint Joan, and Tiger at the Gates, Christopher Fry's version of a Jean Giraudoux play, which ran 1959–60 on Broadway. He appeared in the original Broadway cast of One More River (1960). He moved to California in 1960 to work in film and television. His film roles included a cockney ne'er-do-well in My Fair Lady (1964), Boss Kean in Cool Hand Luke (1967), In Cold Blood (1967) as murder victim Herbert Clutter, John acted as the pilot/flight instructor for Aunt Bee in Season 8 of The Andy Griffith Show, "Aunt Bee's Big Moment" Halls of Anger (1970), Woody Allen's Sleeper (1973), rancher David Braxton in The Missouri Breaks (1976), and Orval in First Blood (1982). He played Jimmy Tomorrow in John Frankenheimer's American Film Theater movie of The Iceman Cometh (1973), alongside Fredric March, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan and Jeff Bridges. Personal life McLiam and his wife Roberta had a daughter, Claire. He died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California in 1994 from melanoma and Parkinson's disease. McLiam was interred at the Santa Barbara Cemetery at Santa Barbara, California. CLR
Known for
Filmography
Fall From Grace
as Rev. Aubrey Sara
Split Decisions
as Pop McGuinn
Walk Like a Man
as H.P. Truman
J. Edgar Hoover
as A. Mitchell Palmer
Voyager from the Unknown
as Dr. Bernard
Dempsey
as Hyrum Dempsey
First Blood
as Orval the Dog Man
The Ambush Murders
as Judge Collier
Richard II
as John of Gaunt
The End of August
as Colonel
The Five of Me
as Father
Mistress of Paradise
as Nathan MacKay
Freedom Road
as President Ulysses S. Grant
The Legend of the Golden Gun
as Jake Powell
Delta County, USA
1977
Delta County, USA
as Cap McCain
The Food of the Gods
as Mr. Skinner
The Missouri Breaks
as David Braxton
The Call of the Wild
as Prospector
Lucky Lady
as Rass Huggins
Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins
as John Beechwood
Bite the Bullet
as Gebhardt
The Secret of the Pond
as Uncle Ben
The Dove
as Lyle Graham
The Iceman Cometh
as Jimmy Tomorrow
A Chant of Silence
as Father Richards
Legend in Granite
1973
Legend in Granite
as Dom Olejnickzak
Showdown
as F.J. Wilson
Sleeper
as Dr. Agon
Runaway!
as Conductor
Hitched
as Pete Hunter
The Culpepper Cattle Co.
as Thorton Pierce
Big Jake
as Army Officer (uncredited)
If Tomorrow Comes
as Father Miller
Monte Walsh
as Fightin' Joe Hooker
Halls of Anger
as Boyd Wilkerson
R.P.M.
as Rev. Blauvelt
The Reivers
as Van Tosch
Madigan
as Dunne (uncredited)
Riverrun
as Jeffries
Gallegher: The Mystery of Edward Sims
as Ephrem Killigrew
In Cold Blood
as Herbert Clutter
Cool Hand Luke
as Boss Keen
My Fair Lady
as Harry (uncredited)