William Watson

William C. Watson (October 5, 1938 – November 5, 1997) was an American actor. Career Born in Chicago, Illinois, Watson appeared in many television series and films, In the Heat of the Night (1967), Lawman (1971), The Hunting Party (1971), Chato's Land (1972), Executive Action (1973) and Wholly Moses! (1980). In the 1960s and 1970s, he guest-starred on several TV series such as The Rat Patrol, The High Chaparral, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Streets of San Francisco, Kojak, Hawaii Five-0, The Rookies, Starsky and Hutch (in the episode "Captain Dobey, You're Dead"), The Rockford Files, M*A*S*H, The Dukes of Hazzard, Emergency!, CHiPs, Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected (in the episode "The Force of Evil"), and many more. His last appearance was in the film It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987) with Michael Moriarty. He was best remembered as the slave trader who captured young Kunta Kinte in the TV miniseries Roots. He appeared in two episodes of Cannon entitled "Perfect Alibi" and "Madman", which aired on 31/10/73 and 3/3/76 respectively. Filmography 1966: Girl on a Chain Gang - Sheriff Sonny Lew Wymer 1967: In the Heat of the Night - McNeil 1971: Lawman - Choctaw Lee 1971: The Hunting Party - Jim Loring 1972: Chato's Land - Harvey Lansing 1972: Hawaii Five-0Good Night Baby Time to Die!-L.B.Barker 1973: The Marcus-Nelson Murders (TV Series) - Det. Matt Black 1973: The Mack - Jed 1973: Executive Action - Technician - (Leader of Team B) 1974: M*A*S*H (S3 E12 A Full Rich Day) - Lt Smith 1974: Gunsmoke (S20E11&12) Island in the Desert - Gard Dixon 1975: Captain Dobey, You're Dead (TV Series) - Leo Moon 1975: The Rockford Files (S1 E23 The Four Pound Brick) - Ross 1976: Emergency! (S6 E10 Welcome to Santa Rosa County) - Tom 1976: The Passover Plot - Roman Captain 1977: Roots (TV Mini-Series) - Gardner 1977: Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected (TV Series) - Teddy Jakes 1977: Heroes - Bartender (uncredited) 1978: Stingray - Lonigan 1979: CHiPs (TV Series) - Sgt. Chapman 1980: Dallas (TV Series) - Hutch McKinney 1980: Wholly Moses! - Bandit 1982: The Sword and the Sorcerer - Karak 1986: Magnum, P.I. (TV Series) - Donald Hayes 1987: It's Alive III: Island of the Alive - Cabot (final film role)