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Van Williams, TV's original Green Hornet and Fort Worth native, dies at 82

Van Williams, who also attended TCU, starred with martial arts expert Bruce Lee in the short-lived TV series in the 1966.

Van Williams, the Fort Worth-born actor who portrayed masked crime fighter The Green Hornet, has died at age 82. 

Williams died Nov. 29 of kidney failure at his Scottsdale, Ariz., home, his wife, Vicki, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The former Texas Christian University student starred with martial arts expert Bruce Lee in the short-lived TV series in 1966. It was a companion series to Batman, which was developed by 20th Century Fox executive producer William Dozier.

Actor Van Williams from "The Green Hornet" appeared on ABC's "Nanny and the Professor" in an...
Actor Van Williams from "The Green Hornet" appeared on ABC's "Nanny and the Professor" in an episode titled "The Visitor."

Williams also played private eye Kenny Madison on Bourbon Street Beat and Surfside 6.

But it was his role as playboy-turned-crime fighter Britt Reid that perhaps best defined his acting career.

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The Green Hornet was an adaptation of a 1930s radio serial. Green Hornet, along with Kato (played by Lee), appeared in a two-part crossover episode during Batman's second season. The show's premise revolved around the Green Hornet — wearing a fedora and long coat — fighting crime after his father died in jail for a crime he didn't commit.

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"When I was a kid, I had actually been a fan of The Green Hornet when it was on the radio and in those serials at the theater, but I didn't know if I wanted to star in a TV series like that," Williams said in a 2007 interview on ClassicImages.com.

"It was very similar to Adam West's show ... and seemed like something that would probably be the kiss of death to my career," he said. "You do that type of show and become so identified with it, like Superman's George Reeves was, and you can never get away from it.

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"But my agency, William Morris, really wanted me to do The Green Hornet, so that is what I did."

The show lasted 26 episodes and left the air in March 1967. A year later, Batman also ended.

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In the late 1970s, Williams was a reserve deputy sheriff and volunteer firefighter for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Williams, who was born Van Zandt Williams, made occasional TV appearances on shows including The Beverly Hillbillies and The Dick Van Dyke Show, before retiring from acting in 1982.

"I didn't really care that much for the acting business," he said in 2007. "I didn't like the people in it, the way they operated and all the phoniness and back-stabbing. It was not a very pleasant education for a guy from Texas whose handshake was his word. Plus, I'd gone into acting looking at it as a business, not wanting necessarily to be a celebrity."

Farris Rookstool III, a Dallas-based historian, said he attended the Fort Worth Stock Show with Williams and had dinner with him numerous times.

"He was truly a gentleman and did not have the typical Hollywood-inflated ego," Rookstool said.

Williams is survived by his wife; children Nina, Tia, Britt, Lynne and Lisa; and eight grandchildren.