Cast & creator
William Hootkins
Best known for The West Wing, Agatha Christie's Poirot, NOVA
William Michael Hootkins was born on July 5, 1948, in Dallas, Texas. He moved to London, England in the early '70s and lived there up until 2002. Hootkins was an actor at Theatre Intime while attending Princeton University where he learned how to speak fluent Mandarin Chinese. He also trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and attended St. Marks, where he was in the same theater group as Tommy Lee Jones. The imposingly bulky and heavyset Hootkins first began acting in films and TV shows alike in the mid '70s. His more noteworthy parts include the first of the Rebel fighter pilots to get killed while attacking the Death Star in "Star Wars", scientist Topol's bumbling oaf assistant in "Flash Gordon", Major Eaton, sent by the US government in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", one of Rod Steiger's demented sons in "American Gothic", a corrupt police lieutenant in "Batman", a disgusting sleazy voyeur in "Hardware", a coarse South African police chief in "Dust Devil", the mysterious and duplicitous Mr. X in "Hear My Song", a haughty corporate executive in "Death Machine", Santa Claus in "Like Father, Like Santa", and an opera-singing vampire in "The Breed". Moreover, Hootkins had small parts in two "Pink Panther" pictures: he's a taxi driver in both "The Trail of the Pink Panther" and "Curse of the Pink Panther". Among the TV shows he did guest spots on are "Yanks Go Home", "Agony", "Play for Today", "Tales of the Unexpected", "The Life and Times of David Lloyd George", "Brett Maverick", "Cagney and Lacey", "Taxi", "Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense", "Poirot", "Chancer", "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles", "The Tomorrow People", "The West Wing", and "Absolute Power". Hootkins received many accolades for his outstanding performance as Sir Alfred Hitchcock in Terry Johnson's hit play "Hitchcock Blonde". In addition to his substantial film and TV credits, Hootkins was also a popular and prolific voice artist who recorded dozens of plays for BBC Radio Drama; he supplied the voices for such iconic individuals as Orson Welles, J. Edgar Hoover, and Winston Churchill. William Hootkins died of pancreatic cancer on October 23, 2005. IMDb Mini Biography
Also known as: Bill Hootkins, William Michael Hootkins
87
film credits
34
television credits
121
1965–2013 · acting roles
6.4
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (121)
Showing 121 of 121 credits
The West Wing
U.S. Translator
1999
Agatha Christie's Poirot
FBI Agent Burt
1989
NOVA
Voice of Methuselah
1974
American Playhouse
FBI Agent
1982American Playhouse
Phil Cooper
1982American Playhouse
Buddy Bliss
1982
Taxi
Agent #2
1978
Cagney & Lacey
1982
Tales of the Unexpected
Peter Bligh
1979Tales of the Unexpected
Harry Chester
1979
BBC Play of the Month
Little Bilham
1965
Remington Steele
Chester Harcourt
1982
Playhouse
Mr. Bowles
1974
Bergerac
Eugene Field
1981Bergerac
Karl Goldman
1981
Star Wars
Red Six (Porkins)
1977
Blackadder
Monk
1983
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Major Eaton
1981
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
Loch Ness Monster (voice)
1994
Justice League
Commander (voice)
2001
Van der Valk
Frank Garvin
1972
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
Diaghilev
1992
Batman
Eckhardt
1989
Iron Man
Crimson Dynamo (voice)
1994
Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime
Hamilton Betts
1983
Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense
Lou Delmart
1984
The New Statesman
Willoughby Guzzler
1987
A River Runs Through It
Murphy
1992
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Harry Howler
1987
Lytton's Diary
Sam Wexler
1985
Trail of the Pink Panther
Taxi Driver
1982Premiere
Kolossov
1977
Oppenheimer
FBI Agent
1980
Flash Gordon
Munson
1980
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Kiril
1996
Philip Marlowe, Private Eye
Frank Dorr
1983
Hardware
Lincoln Wineberg Jr.
1990
The NeverEnding Story III
Bark Troll / Falkor (voice)
1994
Extreme Machines
Narrator
1997
Laurence Olivier Presents
Postman
1976
Yanks Go Home
Colonel Richter
1976
Curse of the Pink Panther
Taxi Driver
1983
Haunted Honeymoon
Reporter
1986
White Nights
Chuck Malarek
1985
The Miracle of Medjugorje
judge Marulic
1995
This World, Then the Fireworks
Jake Krutz
1997
The Cement Garden
Commander Hunt (voice)
1993
Death Machine
John Carpenter
1995
The Miracle Maker
Lucifer (voice)
2000
Twilight's Last Gleaming
Sgt. Fitzpatrick
1977
The Lost Boys
Charles Frohman
1978
Hanover Street
Beef
1979
The Lady Vanishes
Party Guest
1979
Sphinx
Don, Tour Guide
1981
Funny Bones
Al
1995
The Princess and the Goblin
Curdie's Father (voice)
1991Clouds of Glory
Reverend Dewey
1978
Water
Ben
1985
Valentino
Fatty
1977
The Pope Must Die
Cardinal Verucci
1991
Bad Timing
Col. Taylor
1980
Town & Country
Barney
2001
Dear Wendy
Marshall Walker
2005
Predators of the Wild: Snake
Narrator
1993
Dreamchild
1st Radio Actor
1985
The Omega Code
Sir Percival Lloyd
1999
Biggles
Chuck
1986
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Myron Spellman
1987
Hear My Song
Mr. X
1991
A State of Emergency
Earl Linton
1986
Colour Me Kubrick
Frank Rich
2005
Something to Believe In
Car Dealer
1998
American Gothic
Teddy
1987
The Breed
Fusco
2001
Zina
Walter Adams
1985
Dust Devil
Capt. Cornelius Beyman
1992
Crusoe
Auctioneer
1989
Blessed
Detective Lauderdale
2004
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Espionage Escapades
Sergei Diaghilev
2000
Hussy
1st. Punter
1980
Like Father, Like Santa
Santa Claus
1998
The Magnificent Ambersons
Uncle George
2002
Age of Treason
Senator Garrus
1993
The Tempest
Caliban
1982
The Life and Times of David Lloyd George
Winston Churchill
1981
The Billion Dollar Bubble
Lloyd Edens
1978
The Milky Life
Julian Reilly
1993
Rhinoceros Hunting in Budapest
The Man
1997
U.S. Marshals: Waco & Rhinehart
August T. Mirch
1987
Monkeys
James Hoffman
1989
The Lost Boys
Charles Frohman
1978Gummed Labels
1992
Charlie Muffin
U.S. Embassy Photographer
1979
Hamilton Mattress
Senor Balustrade (voice)
2002
Come Back, Little Sheba
Postman
1977Mars: Pioneering the Planet
2003
The Ambassadors
Little Bilham
1977
Animated Epics: Moby Dick
Starbucks (voice)
2000
American Gangster
Narrator
2000
Predators of the Wild: Shark
Narrator
1992
Big Zapper
Kono's Henchman
1973
Survivor Science: The Dead Man Walking
Narrator (voice)
1999
Predators of the Wild: Giant Tarantula
Narrator
1993
Time Life Animal Oddities: The Meanest Animal Alive
Narrator
1995
Predators of the Wild: African Survival
Narrator
1994
The Paradise Run
Party Guest
1976
Ancestors Of Ancient Rome: The Etruscans
Self / Narrator
2013
Black Carrion
Lou Delmart
1984
Predators of the Wild: Hawk
Narrator
1993
Predators of the Wild: Wolf
Narrator
1993
Predators of the Wild: Hunters and Hunted
Narrator
1992
Predators of the Wild: Polar Bear
Narrator
1993
Predators of the Wild: Cheetah and Leopard
Narrator
1992
Predators of the Wild: Bats
Narrator
1991
Predators of the Wild: Tiger
Narrator
1993
Predators of the Wild: Crocodiles and Alligators
Narrator
1994
Predators of the Wild: Killer Whale
Narrator
1992
Predators of the Wild: Lion
Narrator
1992
Before Water Lilies
Mel
1981
Rabbit Pie Day
Kolossov
1980
Predators of the Wild: Grizzly Bear
Narrator
1992