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Things You Didn’t Know About William Smith
He was a seriously accomplished guy.
I write a lot about old TV shows, movies and actors. One man you might have seen a lot of, but not know by name is William Smith. You may remember him as Texas Ranger, Joe Riley, in the TV series, “Laredo.” Or maybe you remember him from the epic climactic street fight with Clint Eastwood in “Any Which Way You Can.”
Some TV/movie tough guys are faking it, but William Smith was the real thing. In addition to physical feats, Smith was a really smart guy. He actually had one of the more interesting backgrounds in Hollywood. So, here are some things you might not have known about William Smith.
1: Smith won numerous arm-wrestling competitions.
So, when it came time to play an arm twister, or breaker, Smith was imminently qualified.
2: While Smith played a number of memorable heavies, perhaps his most memorable TV heavy was Jude Bonner of “Gunsmoke” fame.
Bonner took Miss Kitty hostage, beat her, apparently raped her and shot her in the back. He did all that in an effort to stop his murderous brother from hanging.
