{"id":2096167,"date":"2025-10-16T20:38:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2096167"},"modified":"2025-10-16T20:38:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:38:21","slug":"naked-gun-police-squad-star-dies-at-98","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/naked-gun-police-squad-star-dies-at-98\/","title":{"rendered":"Naked Gun, Police Squad! star dies at 98"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2025%2F10%2F113591284.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Ed Williams, the actor best known for his roles in the\u00a0\u201cPolice Squad!\u201d TV show and the original\u00a0\u201cNaked Gun\u201d films, has died. He was 98.<\/p>\n<p>The late star\u2019s granddaughter confirmed that Williams passed away in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 2, according to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/ed-williams-dead-police-squad-naked-gun-1236402916\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Born Edwin Wallace Williams in San Jose, California, on Nov. 26, 1926, Williams served in the US Navy before moving to Hollywood with his wife, Nancy, in 1955, per the outlet.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Ed Williams as lab scientist Ted Olson in \u201cPolice Squad!\u201d <span class=\"credit\">ABC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>George Kennedy, Leslie Nielsen and Ed Williams in 1991\u2019s \u201cNaked Gun 2 1\/2: The Smell of Fear.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Although he started out performing in plays, Williams temporarily put his acting career aside and began teaching broadcasting at the Don Martin School of Radio and Television Arts and Sciences following his move to LA.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>But years after moving to LA City College in 1961, Williams once again began auditioning for roles and ultimately landed the role of lab scientist Ted Olson opposite Leslie Nielsen\u2019s Det. Frank Drebin in \u201cPolice Squad!\u201d in 1982.<\/p>\n<p>Despite only lasting six episodes, the show later found new life at Paramount Pictures and moved to the big screen. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Ed Williams as lab scientist Ted Olson in \u201cPolice Squad!\u201d <span class=\"credit\">ABC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Leslie Nielsen as Det. Frank Drebin and Ed Williams as lab scientist Ted Olson in \u201cPolice Squad!\u201d <span class=\"credit\">ABC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Both Williams and Nielsen returned for three movies, including \u201cThe Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!\u201d\u00a0(1988), \u201cThe Naked Gun 2 1\/2: The Smell of Fear\u201d\u00a0(1991) and\u00a0\u201cNaked Gun 33 1\/3: The Final Insult\u201d\u00a0(1994). They were the only two actors to appear in both the original series and films.<\/p>\n<p>With the exceptions of \u201cPolice Squad!\u201d and the \u201cNaked Gun\u201d movies, Williams often portrayed reverends, priests and ministers. <\/p>\n<p>He appeared in the Steve Martin and\u00a0Diane Keaton classic \u201cFather of the Bride\u201d (1991) as the priest who weds Annie Banks (Kimberly Williams) and Bryan MacKenzie (George Newbern).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ed Williams, the actor best known for his roles in the\u00a0\u201cPolice Squad!\u201d TV show and the original\u00a0\u201cNaked Gun\u201d films, has died. He was 98. The late star\u2019s granddaughter confirmed that Williams passed away in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 2, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Born Edwin Wallace Williams in San Jose, California, on Nov. 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