Ed Williams, an actor best known for playing Ted Olson, the lab scientist who made all sorts of comical gadgets in the Naked Gun films and Police Squad! TV series, has died at age 98. Williams’ granddaughter, Stephanie Williams, told The Hollywood Reporter that the actor died in Los Angeles on October 2.
Born on November 26, 1926, in San Jose, California, Williams had a somewhat circuitous route to getting his part in the beloved cop spoof franchise, which starred Leslie Nielsen as the buffoonish Det. Frank Drebin.
After serving in the U.S. Navy, Williams did voice performances in more than 200 radio plays produced by Lillian Fontaine, mother of Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine. He auditioned for big films like Stalag 17 and The Robe but was not cast, and in 1955 he moved to Los Angeles to teach at The Don Martin School of Radio and Television Arts and Sciences, later moving over to L.A. City College. During this period, he more or less stopped acting, and didn’t audition for anything for nearly a quarter-century.
In the early 1980s, though, he decided to start acting again. Abrahams and the Zucker brothers, Jerry and David, cast him to play Ted Olson in the TV series Police Squad! The show, which premiered in March 1982, only ran for six episodes before it was canceled. In 1988, though, it was revived in movie form as The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! Williams and Nielsen were the only actors to be in both the series and the films.
Williams played Ted in The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear and Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult. He did not appear in the 2025 remake, which starred Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr.
Ed Williams Appeared in Other Movies and Shows in Addition to The Naked Gun
In a 2017 interview, Williams said he “made up for lost time and got a fairly decent part to start coming back into acting.” In addition to his memorable role in The Naked Gun, he played the man who married the titular bride in 1991’s Father of the Bride.
He had minor roles in other films, including The Giant of Thunder Mountain (1991) and Carnosaur (1993). On TV, he made appearances in shows like Cheers, MacGyver, Matlock, L.A. Law, and House.
He is survived by his wife, Nancy, their two sons, and two grandchildren.
