Actor From Iconic CBS Show Dead at 98: RIP to William Smithers

A TV actor who appeared on plenty of hits shows from the 1960s through the 1990s has died.

William Smithers, who is credited on 50 Dallas episodes, died on May 26, according to The Santa Barbara Independent. He was 98.

He played Jeremy Wendell on Dallas, who fans will remember as an evil rival oil executive at odds with J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman). While that role on the iconic CBS series is his most prominent role he had a storied career as a guest actor on major programs and as a supporting actor in films.

Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Hawaii Five-O, The Six-Million-Dollar Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, Tarzan, Guiding Light, Peyton Place, Ironside, The F.B.I. and Walker, Texas Ranger. He also starred in the short-lived CBS show Executive Suite, which led to him successfully suing producer MGM Television (Smithers vs. MGM) due to a dispute surrounding his billing and pay on the program.

In the cinematic world, he appeared as Warden Barrot in the iconic Steve McQueen prison-escape drama Papillon. He also popped up in the 1973 spy movie Scorpio and the post-apocalyptic cult film Deathsport in 1978.

In the later part of his career, Smithers went on to be a prominent figure in the arts and media world of Santa Barbara, California,.