{"id":7512,"date":"2026-07-16T09:42:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T04:42:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=7512"},"modified":"2026-07-16T09:42:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T04:42:40","slug":"beloved-sanford-and-son-actor-was-91","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=7512","title":{"rendered":"Beloved &#8216;Sanford And Son&#8217; Actor Was 91"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tVeteran actor <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/hal-williams\/\" id=\"auto-tag_hal-williams\" data-tag=\"hal-williams\">Hal Williams<\/a>, who is probably best known for playing Officer \u201cSmitty\u201d Smith on <em><a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/sanford-and-son\/\" id=\"auto-tag_sanford-and-son\" data-tag=\"sanford-and-son\">Sanford and Son<\/a><\/em>, died this morning at his home in Rancho Mirage, according to his representative. He was 91.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tAs Smitty, Williams was one half of a crimefighting duo who appeared on 22 episodes of the classic show. His partner, Officer \u201cHoppy\u201d Hopkins \u2014 played by Howard Platt \u2014 would often lead off a scene with an \u201cofficial\u201d stiff police explanation of their investigation. Smitty would then interpret in plain English for Fred and Lamont \u2014 played by Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson, respectively.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tFor viewers, watching the duo walk into a scene was akin to seeing Aunt Esther appear: You knew something funny was about to happen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tWilliams once told WKYC that the origins of the characters\u2019 schtick came in rehearsal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t\u201cWe did it in one time in rehearsal and the producers thought it was funny,\u201d the actor recalled. \u201cWe did it in the first or second episode and it clicked. Some days, we would come to rehearsal and they didn\u2019t have anything solid. [So the producers would say,] \u2018Go out, take a break for two hours, and bring us something back.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tHe also appeared again as Smitty on five episodes of NBC\u2019s <em>Sanford<\/em> in 1980, which saw Foxx return to the titular role.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&amp;apos;Sanford and Son&amp;apos;s&amp;apos; Hal Williams, known for his role as Officer Smitty, joins 3News\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-Bx3n1cx-2c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tWilliams\u2019 career stretched for the better part of six decades and he worked steadily. Though his role on <em>Sanford<\/em> may be the most recognizable, he had even longer stints on ABC\u2019s <em>On the Rocks<\/em> (24 episodes) and the full run of the <em>Private Benjamin<\/em> TV adaptation, on which he played the curmudgeonly Sgt. Ted Ross. Another extended stint came as Rudy Bryan on 20 episodes of <em>The Sinbad Show<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tFrom 1985-1990, Williams was a key part of <em><a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/227\/\" id=\"auto-tag_227\" data-tag=\"227\">227<\/a><\/em>, on which he played Lester Jenkins. That show was a cultural touchstone as the only other Black middle class family series on at the time besides <em>Coby<\/em>. The star-studded cast included Helen Martin, Marla Gibbs, Regina King, Jack\u00e9e Harry, Paul Winfield and others. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThroughout his 55-year career, Williams earned guest appearances on TV staples such as <em>That Girl, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Cannon, Police Woman, Gunsmoke, Police Story, Quincy M.E, Good Times, Knots Landing, The Waltons, The Dukes of Hazzard, Webster, Hill Street Blues, Magnum P.I., Night Court, L.A. Law, Suddenly Susan, Moesha <\/em>and <em>Parks and Recreation<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tMost recently, he made two special guest appearances on the rebooted <em>Matlock<\/em> starring Kathy Bates. He recurred as \u201cAutry,\u201d a local resident whose testimony impacts the firm\u2019s cases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t<strong>DEADLINE RELATED VIDEO:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tOn the big screen, Williams appeared opposite George C. Scott in Paul Schrader\u2019s <em>Hardcore<\/em>, alongside Clint Eastwood in <em>The Rookie<\/em>, with James Earl Jones, Billy Dee Williams and Courtney B. Vance in <em>Percy &amp; Thunder<\/em>, opposite Ashton Kutcher, Bernie Mac and Zoe Salda\u00f1a in <em>Guess Who<\/em> and as Denzel Washington\u2019s father in <em>Flight<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe actor was a longtime board member of the Los Angeles Actors\u2019 Theatre (LAAT) founded by Ralph Waite. Decades ago, Williams established the Mark K.A. Williams Memorial Scholarship Foundation to provide funds to students of color pursuing college degrees in television\/communications. The Foundation is named for the actor\u2019s late son, Mark, a broadcasting major, who died on a camping trip in the Angeles National Forest at 20 years old.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tWilliams is survived by two children, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by Mark.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Veteran actor Hal Williams, who is probably best known for playing Officer \u201cSmitty\u201d Smith on Sanford and Son, died this morning at his home in Rancho Mirage, according to his representative. He was 91. As Smitty, Williams was one half of a crimefighting duo who appeared on 22 episodes of the classic show. His partner,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Hal-Williams-Sanford-Son.jpg?w=1000","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}