Actor / Director Profile

This veteran New York-born character actor was named after his great-grandfather, Lincolnesque politician William Windom. Born in 1923, he attended Williams College and the University of Kentucky, among others, before serving the Army during WWII. After the war, he studied at both Fordham and Columbia universities in New York City before settling on an acting career. Trained at the American Repertory Theatre (1946-1961), he made his minor Broadway debut with the company in November of 1946 with revolving productions of "Henry VIII", "What Every Woman Knows", "John Gabriel Borkman" and "Androcles and the Lion". The following year, he continued building up his Broadway resume with roles in "Yellow Jack" and as the "White Rabbit" in a production of "Alice in Wonderland".In the early 1950s, a new avenue opened up to him: television. For the duration of the decade, he shifted between stage, which included Broadway roles in "A Girl Can Tell" (1953), "Mademoiselle Colombe" (1954), "Fallen Angels" (1956), "The Greatest Man Alive" (1957) and "Viva Madison Avenue!" (1960), and TV drama, with stalwart work in such programs as "Robert Montgomery Presents" (1950) and "Hallmark Hall of Fame" (1951).Major attention came Windom's way on TV moving into the following decade. In addition to hundreds of guest appearances on the most popular shows of the day ("Combat!" (1962), "The Fugitive" (1963), "All in the Family" (1968), "Dallas" (1978), "Highway to Heaven" (1984)), his standout work included a co-starring role opposite the luminous Inger Stevens in the popular light comedy series "The Farmer's Daughter" (1963). On the show, Windom portrayed widower "Glenn Morley", a congressman who eventually falls in love with his pert and pretty Swedish governess "Katy Holstrum" (Stevens). Prior to this success, both he and Ms. Stevens had been singularly recognized for their sterling performances on various episodes of "Twilight Zone" (1959). Following this success, Windom enjoyed critical notice as the cartoonist/protagonist whose vivid imagination causes problems on the homefront on the Thurberesque weekly series "My World and Welcome to It" (1969). Despite the show's critical merit and Windom's "Best Actor" Emmy win, the show, years ahead of its time, lasted only one season. Decades later, Windom would play James Thurber on stage in a one-man show.The native New Yorker went on to essay a number of loungy Southerners and down-home types with incredible ease--both heroes and villains. He offered strong support in his film debut as Gregory Peck's opposing counsel in the Alabama-based To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), and went on to play prelate Norman Vincent Peale's father in One Man's Way (1964) starring Don Murray. Windom demonstrated the maturity to carry off the character even though he was only 5 years older than Murray. He also delivered a variety of pungent roles in such films as The Detective (1968) (as a closeted gay married man), Robert Altman's Brewster McCloud (1970) (as a mayor facing a series of murders) and The Man (1972) (TV) (as a rascist politician).Growing slier and stockier over the years, Windom provided TV audiences with a colorful gallery of ingratiating, cantankerous and, often times, unscrupulous characters. He became a regular for over a decade on the Angela Lansbury whodunnit series "Murder, She Wrote" (1984), joining the show in its second season as "Dr. Seth Hazlitt". He briefly left "Murder" to work on another series, "Parenthood" (1990), which was based on the highly popular 1989 movie starring Steve Martin. Here, Ed Begley Jr. took over the Martin part and Windom assumed Jason Robards's patriarchal role as Begley's father. The show was off the air within a few months, however, and Windom was invited back to the mystery series -- a semi-regular until the show folded in 1997.In addition, he has reprised a "Star Trek" (1966) part as "Commodore Matt Decker"; appeared in scores of mini-movies; given voice to various book readings; presented a second one-man show, this time that of combat reporter Ernie Pyle; and continues to film at age 80+, his latest being Yesterday's Dreams (2005). The five-times-married Windom has been wed to writer Patricia Veronica Tunder for 31 years. A chess, tennis and sailing enthusiast, he has four children.