“The Actor known as “Officer Smitty” Has Died

” VETERAN ACTOR HAL WILLIAMS PASSED AWAY AT 91″

As a child in the 70’s, the Sitcom Sanford and Son had an amazing impact on me as I watched these Characters on my

TV Screen once a week come to life.Watching this tall 6ft 3 Black Actor with an Afro walk through the door and deliver his laid

back Suttle lines of humor was unfotgettable. Of course Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson and most Actors from the show have

since passed away

..Hal Williams was the only living cast Member from that Iconic Sitcom from the 70’s.

Hal Williams, the veteran actor best known for roles on “Sanford and Son” and “227,” has died. He was 91.

Williams died the morning of Wednesday, July 15, at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, his representative confirmed with

USA TODAY. Deadline was first to report the news.

Williams’ most famous role was starring in the Red Foxx and Demond Wilson-led series as Officer “Smitty” Smith, a notably

friendly Los Angeles Police Department cop who has a recurring bit translating his partner, Officer Hoppy’s (Howard Platt) police

speak into plain language and slang for Fred and Lamont Sanford. He returned to the role for NBC’s spinoff “Sanford” in 1980.

“We did it one time in rehearsal, and the producers thought it was funny, so the writers started asking us to bring [them] stuff that

was current,” Williams told WKYC Cleveland days before his death. “And so that Hoppy, and Swanny before Hoppy, would be

very official about it, and then I would interpret because Red and Demond didn’t know what he was talking about.”

Demond Wilson, ‘Sanford and Son’ star, dies at 79

A decade later, he would play Lester Jenkins, another counter-stereotypical role as the steady high school sweetheart of Marla

Gibbs‘ Mary and present father of Regina King’s Brenda on “227.” He originally met Gibbs while cast in guest roles on “The

Jeffersons,” her breakout role, before he was cast in the 1985 comedy. He would tell “Today” during a 2020 reunion that the show

“set the bar a little higher because it was a totally intact family.”

Marla Gibbs, 94, shares ‘The Jeffersons’ memories and why she keeps acting

Born in Columbus, Ohio, Williams got his start in Ohio theater productions before moving to Hollywood in 1968 and becoming a

regular television presence. He went on to be cast in dramas, including “The Waltons” (1972) and “Roots: The Next Generations”

(1979), as well as consistent comedy appearances, including the comedy “On the Rocks” (1975), and guest appearances on “Good

Times” in the 1970s and “Private Benjamin,” as Sgt. L.C. Ross, following his role in the 1980 film of the same name. By 1993, he

continued his comedy career in “The Sinbad Show” as Rudy Bryan.

He also occasionally starred in films, including 1979’s “Hardcore,” 1982’s “The Escape Artist,” “The Rookie” with Clint Eastwood

in 1990, the 2005 movie “Guess Who” with Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher and “Flight” as Denzel Washington’s offscreen father

in the 2012 film.

In addition to dozens of TV movies, he also made a handful of guest appearances in “The New Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Knots

Landing,” “The Dukes of Hazzard,” “S.W.A.T.,” “Webster,” “Magnum P.I.,” “Tales from the Crypt,” “Moesha,” “Parks and

Recreation,” and, most recently, “Matlock.”

Williams is survived by two children, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, and was predeceased by one son.