Acting
William Hootkins
EN, DE, ES cinema · 87 credits
Born
5 July 1948
Died
23 October 2005 (aged 57)
Birthplace
Dallas, Texas, USA
Also known as Bill Hootkins · William Michael Hootkins
William Michael Hootkins was born on July 5, 1948, in Dallas, Texas. He moved to London, England in the early '70s and lived there up until 2002. Hootkins was an actor at Theatre Intime while attending Princeton University where he learned how to speak fluent Mandarin Chinese. He also trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and attended St. Marks, where he was in the same theater group as Tommy Lee Jones. The imposingly bulky and heavyset Hootkins first began acting in films and TV shows alike in the mid '70s. His more noteworthy parts include the first of the Rebel fighter pilots to get killed while attacking the Death Star in "Star Wars", scientist Topol's bumbling oaf assistant in "Flash Gordon", Major Eaton, sent by the US government in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", one of Rod Steiger's demented sons in "American Gothic", a corrupt police lieutenant in "Batman", a disgusting sleazy voyeur in "Hardware", a coarse South African police chief in "Dust Devil", the mysterious and duplicitous Mr. X in "Hear My Song", a haughty corporate executive in "Death Machine", Santa Claus in "Like Father, Like Santa", and an opera-singing vampire in "The Breed". Moreover, Hootkins had small parts in two "Pink Panther" pictures: he's a taxi driver in both "The Trail of the Pink Panther" and "Curse of the Pink Panther". Among the TV shows he did guest spots on are "Yanks Go Home", "Agony", "Play for Today", "Tales of the Unexpected", "The Life and Times of David Lloyd George", "Brett Maverick", "Cagney and Lacey", "Taxi", "Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense", "Poirot", "Chancer", "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles", "The Tomorrow People", "The West Wing", and "Absolute Power". Hootkins received many accolades for his outstanding performance as Sir Alfred Hitchcock in Terry Johnson's hit play "Hitchcock Blonde". In addition to his substantial film and TV credits, Hootkins was also a popular and prolific voice artist who recorded dozens of plays for BBC Radio Drama; he supplied the voices for such iconic individuals as Orson Welles, J. Edgar Hoover, and Winston Churchill. William Hootkins died of pancreatic cancer on October 23, 2005. IMDb Mini Biography
Known for
Filmography
Ancestors Of Ancient Rome: The Etruscans
as Self / Narrator
Colour Me Kubrick
as Frank Rich
Dear Wendy
as Marshall Walker
Blessed
as Detective Lauderdale
Hamilton Mattress
as Senor Balustrade (voice)
The Magnificent Ambersons
as Uncle George
The Breed
as Fusco
Town & Country
as Barney
Animated Epics: Moby Dick
as Starbucks (voice)
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Espionage Escapades
as Sergei Diaghilev
The Miracle Maker
as Lucifer (voice)
The Omega Code
as Sir Percival Lloyd
Survivor Science: The Dead Man Walking
as Narrator (voice)
Like Father, Like Santa
as Santa Claus
Something to Believe In
as Car Dealer
This World, Then the Fireworks
as Jake Krutz
Death Machine
as John Carpenter
The Miracle of Medjugorje
as judge Marulic
The NeverEnding Story III
as Bark Troll / Falkor (voice)
The Cement Garden
as Commander Hunt (voice)
The Milky Life
as Julian Reilly
Age of Treason
as Senator Garrus
A River Runs Through It
as Murphy
Dust Devil
as Capt. Cornelius Beyman
Hear My Song
as Mr. X
The Pope Must Die
as Cardinal Verucci
The Princess and the Goblin
as Curdie's Father (voice)
Hardware
as Lincoln Wineberg Jr.
Batman
as Eckhardt
Monkeys
as James Hoffman
Crusoe
as Auctioneer
American Gothic
as Teddy
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
as Myron Spellman
U.S. Marshals: Waco & Rhinehart
as August T. Mirch
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
as Harry Howler
Biggles
as Chuck
A State of Emergency
as Earl Linton
Haunted Honeymoon
as Reporter
White Nights
as Chuck Malarek
Zina
as Walter Adams
Dreamchild
as First Radio Actor
Water
as Ben
Black Carrion
as Lou Delmart
Curse of the Pink Panther
as Taxi Driver
Trail of the Pink Panther
as Taxi Driver
The Tempest
as Caliban
Raiders of the Lost Ark
as Major Eaton
Sphinx
as Don, Tour Guide
The Life and Times of David Lloyd George
as Winston Churchill
Flash Gordon
as Munson
Bad Timing
as Col. Taylor
Hussy
as 1st. Punter
Rabbit Pie Day
as Kolossov
The Lady Vanishes
as Party Guest
Hanover Street
as Beef
Charlie Muffin
as U.S. Embassy Photographer
The Lost Boys
as Charles Frohman
The Billion Dollar Bubble
as Lloyd Edens
Star Wars
as Red Six (Porkins)
Valentino
as Fatty
Twilight's Last Gleaming
as Sgt. Fitzpatrick
Come Back, Little Sheba
as Postman
The Ambassadors
as Little Bilham
The Paradise Run
as Party Guest
Big Zapper
as Kono's Henchman