The Naked Gun star Ed Williams has passed away surrounded by family, following an illustrious Hollywood career spanning 40 years. The 98-year-old’s death was announced by his granddaughter, Stephanie Williams, who shared with The Hollywood Reporter that he died in Los Angeles on October 2, although the cause of his death is yet to be revealed. Ed rose to fame in Hollywood playing priests and reverend characters, before nabbing a part in the short-lived 1982 TV series Police Squad! alongside Leslie Nielsen.
Despite the show’s cancelation, it went on to find new life in the movie franchise The Naked Gun, which followed Leslie’s bumbling detective Frank Drebin. Ed played Ted Olsen, a lab scientist, in all three films, including in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (1991) and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994). The franchise was rebooted in 2025, starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson in the lead roles.
He also gained notoriety for portraying the reverend and wedding officiant in 1991’s Father of the Bride, which co-starred Steve Martin and the late Diane Keaton, who passed away aged 79 on October 11 following a battle with pneumonia. Ed also starred in Ratboy (1986), Nickel & Dime (1992), High Strung (1992) and Carnosaur (1993), and made cameos in Madame’s Place, Cheers, MacGyver, LA Law, Matlock, Hooperman and Sisters.
His final credited role, as per IMDb, was in the TV series Hollywood Radio Players from 2022 to 2023, proving that he worked well into his 90s. Ed moved to Hollywood with his wife, Nancy, in 1955, and got a job teaching at The Don Martin School of Radio and Television Arts and Sciences.
Despite his acting dreams, he chose to focus on his teaching work rather than spend his time auditioning. “I do not approve of professors that go out and moonlight and make a lot of money on the side and neglect their classes,” he told Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters. “That used to make me mad to hear that.” This meant that Ed went 24 years without an acting gig.
© ABCEd portrayed Ted Olsen in The Naked Gun film franchise
He continued: “I felt like the [guy] who’s been trained to be a surgeon, but he didn’t quite get in the operating room. I wanted to get in the operating room.” The father of two added that his agent “loved to put” him in parts where he portrayed ministers and priests, which meant that he “got stuck on a lot of ministers for a long time there”.
© ABCHis Hollywood career planned four decades
His time working on Father of the Bride as a reverend was “a pleasure”, he said, and Ed was “grateful to be in it”. As for his most famous role in The Naked Gun franchise, the veteran actor shared that his co-star, Leslie, was “a consummate professional” who “really knew how to do it and do it well”.
© Pacific Pioneer Broadcast/YouTubeHe is survived by his wife and two kids
Ed is survived by his wife, Nancy, whom he married in 1954, as well as his sons, Fred and Ian, and his grandchildren, Stephanie and Maureen.
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