“He Was an Actor’s Actor”: Hollywood Pays Tribute to Treat Williams

Hollywood is mourning the loss of Treat Williams, the veteran film and television actor who died Monday in a motorcycle accident at 71.

His agent, Barry McPherson of APA, confirmed Williams’ death in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “He was an actor’s actor. Filmmakers loved him. He’s been the heart of Hollywood since the late 1970s,” McPherson told People.

In a career that spanned six decades, Williams was best known for playing a New York City neurosurgeon who moves his family to Colorado on the WB series Everwood and in such films as Sidney Lumet’s Prince of the City and Milos Forman’s Hair. Most recently, he was a series regular on the popular Netflix drama Chesapeake Shores.

Actor James Woods tweeted, “Treat and I spent months in Rome filming Once Upon a Time in America. It can be pretty lonely on the road during a long shoot, but his resilient good cheer and sense of humor was a Godsend. I really loved him and am devastated that he’s gone. #RIP #TreatWilliams”

Famed critic Richard Roeper tweeted, “I loved following the wonderful Treat Williams, who shared so many warm and lovely and peaceful Tweets with us over the years. So deeply sorry to hear of his passing.”

“What a shock. Treat Williams was a wonderful actor (and a lovely, generous presence here),” tweeted writer Mark Harris. “Check out his starmaking turn in Hair, set aside three hours and give yourself the gift of Sidney Lumet’s great Prince of the City, and don’t miss his funny/startling role in The Ritz.”

“Treat Williams was an all around great guy,” tweeted best-selling writer Don Winslow. “He was a friend and someone I also worked with on a television series. We communicated frequently and his performance in PRINCE OF THE CITY remains one of the biggest performances I have EVER seen. RIP brother.”

Below are some more tributes to Williams.