Leonard Williams (born

West Derby West Derby ( ) is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, in the east of the city. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382. History West Derby Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', West Derby achieved significance far earlier tha ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

1914, died London 15 November 1962) was an English actor. He was best known for playing Sergeant Percy Twentyman on the police television series ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...

''. According to

Brian Blessed Brian Blessed ( ; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor. He is known for his distinctive bushy beard, booming voice, and exuberant personality and performances. He portrayed PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars''; Augustus in the 1976 BBC television ...

he was "the joker of the cast", who spent his time on set making his colleagues laugh. Williams also played the characters of Theodore Craythorpe and Harry Whittle in the BBC radio comedy series '' The Clitheroe Kid''. He also made regular appearances opposite Harry Worth on television. He died of a heart attack at his flat in Lexham Gardens,

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

. He was father to two children, Leon and Marianne, and husband to Imelda. He was the nephew of actor George Carney.

Everton and Johnny Todd

Just five days prior to his death, Williams had attended Everton's 5-0 victory over Blackpool in the First Division at Goodison Park. Noting that Williams was at the ground, the club played Johnny Todd, the Z Cars TV Theme over the public address before the game. After William's death, the club played it again at the next home game in tribute to him. Again the Merseysiders won comfortably, 3-0 against Sheffield United. When Everton's next home game, where Johnny Todd wasn't played, ended in a draw, fans began writing to the club stating that the tune was a lucky omen and should be reinstated. Everton did so, the team won again and went on end a twenty-four year wait to be crowned League Champions. The tune has since been adopted as the official anthem of the club.

Selected filmography

* ''

The Magnet ''The Magnet'' was a British weekly boys' story paper published by Amalgamated Press. It ran from 1908 to 1940, publishing a total of 1,683 issues. Each issue contained a long school story about the boys of Greyfriars School, a fictional publ ...

'' (1950) * '' Orders Are Orders'' (1954) * '' Make Me an Offer'' (1954) * ''

The Passing Stranger ''The Passing Stranger'' is a 1954 British crime film written and directed by John Arnold, and starring Lee Patterson, Diane Cilento and Duncan Lamont. It was produced by Anthony Simmons, who also wrote the original film story, and Ian Gibson ...

'' (1954) * '' The Love Match'' (1955) * '' Ramsbottom Rides Again'' (1955) * ''

Timeslip ''Timeslip'' is a British children's television series, children's science fiction television series made by Associated TeleVision, ATV for the ITV (TV network), ITV network, and broadcast in 1970 and 1971. It was first shown on Monday evenings ...

'' (1955) * '' Behind the Headlines'' (1956) * ''

The Gay Dog ''The Gay Dog'' is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Wilfred Pickles, Petula Clark and Megs Jenkins. The screen-play was by Peter Rogers based on the 1952 play of the same title by Joseph Colton; also starring P ...

'' (1959)

References

External links

* 1914 births 1962 deaths Male actors from Liverpool English male film actors English male television actors 20th-century English male actors {{UK-film-actor-stub