An exceptionally handsome and charismatic performer with a sexy baritone voice, Guy Williams was born Armand Joseph Catalano (nicknamed "Armando" by his family) of Italian parentage in New York City on January 14, 1924. The elder child of an insurance broker (he had a younger sister, Valerie), he was raised in the Washington Heights area. ...
Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects
Movies
Captain Sindbad, Damon and Pythias, The Sign of Zorro, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Seven Angry Men, The Man from the Alamo
TV Shows
Lost in Space, Zorro
Star Sign
Capricorn
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Trademark
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Statuesque, athletic physique
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Often played charismatic heroes
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His fencing skills
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Charming, luminous smile
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Gravelly, commanding voice.
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Quote
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[on playing Don Diego de la Vega in Zorro (1957)] [Tyrone] Power played Don Diego as a sissy, a real gay caballero. It was OK for him to do that once in a movie, but I knew that it wouldn't work every week on TV. It would get tiresome, not to mention this was the '50s and a show with an audience including kids. So, I had to play Don Diego 'neutral,' which was difficult because it means nothing. How do I make 'nothing' interesting? Don Diego became acceptable, not peculiar, an OK guy.
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[on Zorro (1957)] Zorro was set in California, we didn't call it a Western, but a South-Western. We called the actors 'stuntmen' because the scripts were being changed at the last minute, and to learn new dialogue and film it immediately was the real stunt. The work on Zorro was interesting. Nobody was doing any better fencing than we were, and working with the production people was fun. I could have kept doing it on and on.
Grew his trademark mustache back, after Lost in Space (1965), where he made guest-appearances wearing it.
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Outside of the Lost in Space (1965) set, his co-star Bill Mumy did not socialized or hung out with him.
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He was widely known to be a very private person.
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Was not very happy with his starring role on Lost in Space (1965), as it became a campy series, all the while, focusing on Jonathan Harris's character.
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Both Williams and Britt Lomond auditioned for the Don Diego De La Vega/Zorro role along with the Capitan Monastario role in Zorro (1957). Eventually it was decided that Guy would have played Zorro and Britt would have played Monastario.
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He and his good friend, Christopher Dark, were both avid amateur astronomers. Sometimes, they would point their telescopes at each other's homes and wave through them.
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Although he is often thought of as Hispanic, he is actually of Italian descent. He lived in Argentina in his later years which accounts for the confusion.
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In 1960, his name was connected to a proposed Disney television series called "Gold.".
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Best remembered by the public for his starring role as John Robinson in Lost in Space (1965) and as the title character in Zorro (1957).
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Was nicknamed "the Comb" by Lost in Space (1965) co-star Bill Mumy, because he would frequently comb his hair between takes on the set.
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Owned a 40-foot ketch called The Oceana.
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He was an amateur astronomer and loved to read and listen to all kinds of music, mostly classical.
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An avid fencer (obviously) and chess player, he also played the guitar, was a wonderful cook and was an expert on tropical fish.
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Had two children from his steadfast marriage to Janice Cooper. Both Steven and Antoinette (Toni) dabbled in acting.
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One of his last appearances in the United States was on _"Family Feud" (1983) where he joined some of the cast from Lost in Space (1965) in 1982.
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While starring on Lost in Space (1965), he spent much of his spare time buying and selling on the stock market...even during shooting breaks.
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Throughout the last several years of his life, he was in Argentina where Zorro (1957) had an understandably huge cult following.
John Robinson, Williams' character on Lost in Space (1965), was ranked #38 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [20 June 2004 issue].
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Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Malibu, California, USA.
$4 Million
