Ed Williams, best known for playing lab scientist Ted Olson alongside Leslie Nielsen in Police Squad! and The Naked Gun films, has died at 98. His granddaughter confirmed he passed away in Los Angeles on Oct. 2, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Born Edwin Wallace Williams on Nov. 26, 1926, in San Jose, California, he served in the U.S. Navy before moving to Hollywood with his wife, Nancy, in 1955. Though he began acting in plays, Williams paused his career to teach broadcasting at the Don Martin School of Radio and Television Arts and later at L.A. City College.
Years later, he returned to acting and landed his breakout role as the quirky scientist Ted Olson in the short-lived Police Squad! series (1982). Despite lasting just six episodes, the show led to three hit films – The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991), and Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994). Williams and Nielsen were the only two actors to appear in both the series and all the movies.
Outside the franchise, Williams often played reverends and priests, including the minister in Father of the Bride (1991). His other credits include Crazy Like a Fox, Ratboy (1986), Nickel & Dime (1992), High Strung (1992), Carnosaur (1993), and an appearance on House with Hugh Laurie.
Reflecting on his long career, Williams once joked, “I made up for lost time and got a fairly decent part to start coming back into acting.”
