Legendary music icon Don Williams who partnered with Andy Williams and their brothers, Dick and Bob, in a singing quartet that performed on the radio, in the movies, and with Bing Crosby and Kay Thompson, passed away aged 100. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a US-based news outlet, Williams died on Friday of natural causes at his home in Branson. Don, who was born on October 9, 1922, was the middle child of the Wall Lake, Iowa-raised quartet. In the early mornings, he and his brothers in Des Moines, Iowa, would put on their live radio show before leaving for school.
Before they arrived in Los Angeles and accompanied Crosby on his 1944 hit “Swinging on a Star,” the boys had appeared on stations in Chicago and Cincinnati. Their father, a railroad worker, relocated the family around so the kids could perform in bigger towns. Later, they joined forces with Thompson to create a well-known nightclub act (they had a stint at the Plaza in New York). The brothers joined the studio choir under the direction of Thompson, chief of MGM`s vocal department, and they appeared in movies like Anchors Aweigh (1945), Ziegfeld Follies (1945), The Harvey Girls (1946), and Good News (1947). Additionally, they featured in the musicals Ladies` Man (1947), Something in the Wind (1947), Kansas City Kitty (1944), and Janie (1944). (1947).
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Don appeared on Playhouse 90 without his brothers in a 1956 episode and performed as the headliner at the Tropicana hotel soon after it debuted in Las Vegas in 1957. Additionally, he sang songs in commercials, The Tonight Show, and shows with Eddie Fisher and Nat King Cole as the hosts. Later, he switched careers and started working as an agent and manager, his clients being Mary Tyler Moore and singers Ray Stevens and Roger Miller. During WWII, he and Dick served in the United States Merchant Marine, and they were both radio operators on the same tanker. (Both Bob and Andy were in the Merchant Marine; Andy was too young).
Don Williams County Park is named for him in Boone County, Iowa. Andy Williams was born in 1927 as the youngest of three boys and is best known for his easy-listening classics “Moon River,” “Days of Wine and Roses,” and “Where Do I Begin?” as well as his long-running TV variety programme. He died at the age of 84.
Andy Williams was born in 1927 as the youngest of three boys and is best known for his easy-listening classics “Moon River,” “Days of Wine and Roses,” and “Where Do I Begin?” as well as his long-running TV variety programmE, he died at the age of 84. Bob Williams, the oldest child, died in September 2003 at 85. Dick, who was born in 1926, passed away in May 2018 at the age of 91.
Don is survived by his twin sons, David and Andy, and a grandson, Harrison, in addition to his wife of 41 years. His sons also recorded under the name the Williams Brothers, with songs such as “What`s Your Name” and “Can`t Cry Hard Enough.”
(With inputs from ANI)
