Roger Williams

To anyone who responds to our "what happened to Roger Williams", please read this. Many of us have done extensive searching through the California Death Records database and the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) - so please don't suggest these as sources. And please don't suggest the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) as the description there was authored prior to new info becoming available. We have also checked various other sources such as: the Colorado School of Mines, Los Angeles area newspaper archives and obits, some online cemetery records, some census records, some trade publications from the late 1930s (such as the 1934-35 Motion Picture Almanac, the 1936 Film Daily, etc.). Also checked with Republic expert Jack Mathis since Williams did some work at that production company. Hopefully, a Williams family member may contact us ... or an Old Corral visitor may have obscure or surprise information that will solve the "whatever happened to Roger Williams" question.

Les Adams' trusty database has Williams in 112 sound era films - 85 westerns, 13 cliffhangers, and 14 other/non-western features.

In the Williams filmography on the next webpage, note that his career was brief, with all of these films being released during the period from 1933 - 1939. Williams appeared in 13 productions at Republic Pictures during 1937 - 1939, and these consisted of six Three Mesquiteers' adventures, one Roy Rogers, two Gene Autrys, three serials, and a non-western feature starring Grant Withers.

Williams' primary work was not at Republic or Universal or Columbia - his usual employers were the Poverty Row production companies of the 1930s that were churning out sagebrushers starring Tim McCoy, Ken Maynard, Fred Scott, Tom Tyler, Jack Perrin, Kermit Maynard, Harry Carey, Rex Bell, Rex Lease and Reb Russell.

What happened to Roger Williams? Did he exit Hollywood or was he injured, ill or did he pass away around 1939? Keep reading.

Roger Williams
Tidbits and Hollywood Confusion ...

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is an ad for Williams from a 1936 trade publication. Note the Lafayette 6242 telephone number. We've been unable to find an ad for Williams in later trade publications.

Jack Tillmany had Standard Casting Directories for 1933, 1936 and 1937. Roger Williams is listed in the Actors Telephone List of the June-July 1933 edition: GRanite 3111.

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is a bio on Williams from the pressbook to the Kermit Maynard SONG OF THE TRAIL (Ambassador-Conn, 1936). In that film, Williams was a member of the gang which was bossed by Wheeler Oakman. If the above is correct - and Williams had earned college degrees and was in Hollywood in 1915, then his birth year would be around 1890 or so.

Jack Tillmany e-mailed about an error in the above bio mention of the film THE WHITE FATHER and directed by Rupert Julian. There was a two-reeler titled A WHITE FEATHER VOLUNTEER (Universal, 1915) which was directed by Rupert Julian.

Note the mention of Williams having four children, his hobby was farming, and he loved to fish and hunt.

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is a 1934-35 trade paper bio on a Roger Williams who was born in Germany and also attended the School of Mines in Denver. Conjecture is that this Roger Williams is a technical/production person - not our Roger Williams, the B western actor. As to the biography similarities, that may be just some confusion with the person who authored the above and mixed the bios and background of the two Roger Williams' together. Incorrect and inflated biographies were not uncommon.

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is a blurb from the pressbook to HEROES OF THE ALAMO (1937). Originally released by Anthony J. Xydias as a Sunset Productions, Inc. film, Columbia Pictures purchased it in 1938 and sent it back out as one of their own. Williams' role was Alamo defender Jim Bowie, and the biographical info is the same as the above SONG OF THE TRAIL pressbook info from a year earlier.

In the pressbook biographies above, there's mention of Williams attending and graduating from the Colorado School of Mines (their website is http://www.alumnifriends.mines.edu/Alumni/). In mid August, 2004, I connected with Janet Blair of their Alumni Association and we exchanged several e-mails on the elusive Mr. Williams. I asked Janet about a "Roger Williams" as well as any Williams that had a middle name/initial of "Roger" or "R". Result of her search: no Roger Williams. Excerpts/quotes from her e-mails follow:

"We do not find a record of Roger Williams in our database. We have everyone who ever graduated from the School of Mines in our database."
"I did go through all of the Williams in our database (179 of them) and I check all the middle initial "R" ones, and I'm sorry to say, no Roger."
"It is also possible that Mr. Williams attended the School of Mines but did not graduate. We only have information for those students who finished their degrees."

The last film work that Les Adams has for Williams is with Harry Webb's Metropolitan Pictures company in 1939. Les adds:

"Harry S. Webb made two Rin-Tin-Tin films films back-to-back in the San Bernardino Mountains in 1939 with virtually the same cast on both: FANGS OF THE WILD and LAW OF THE WOLF. Some sources think they are the same film, but they aren't. I have tapes of both films. Dennis Moore and Luana Walters star in both, and the two casts are virtually identical, with a couple of exceptions. A main exception is Roger Williams, who is in LAW OF THE WOLF but not in FANGS OF THE WILD. My guess is that Roger Williams, the actor, died on location while working on these two films."

The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) has information on Roger Williams (but the biography is wrong): http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0931572/

Roger Williams
1889 - 1939
Is This Our B-Western and Serial Villain Roger Williams? Appears the answer is NOPE!
(I'll leave this piece online for a while as it's a good example of the difficulty in finding and tracking some of these B movie performers.)

B film performers such as Roger Williams didn't make a whole lot of money doing films. Depending on their roles, they might be paid a day-at-a-time or a week-at-a-time. To supplement their income, many had other jobs. B western heroes like Bob Steele, Reb Russell and Ken Maynard did public appearances, circuses, etc. Even Roy Rogers did public appearances to supplement his income. Perhaps our movie Roger Williams had a second (or primary) job and was this "Public Accountant Roger Williams" who is detailed below.

Another conjecture is that Williams' primary job was accounting, but due to the Depression, his regular business work dried up ... and he somehow worked his way into film roles to supplement his income.

The info and tidbits below were collected over a six month period, from about December, 2004 through July, 2005.

There's two common threads with our "Public Accountant Roger Williams" - these are Ohio and a Mother's maiden name of Boyer.

Tom and Debbie Bahn (Slim Whitaker family members) found the following July 8, 1939 funeral notice in the LA Times archives:

WILLIAMS. Suddenly at Wildyrie, Cal., Roger Williams, beloved husband of Mrs. Ethel Moore Williams of 214 North Oakhurst street, Beverly Hills. Funeral services today at 2:30 p.m. from the chapel of W. A. Brown, 1815 South Flower street.

(Footnote on this obituary notice: there's a bit of controversy regarding the 214 North Oakhurst street address. I'm told that this is an error and that street does not exist, but 214 North Oakhurst Drive does. Death certificate and house photo below refer to 214 North Oakhurst Drive.)

Wildyrie is around the Mammoth Lakes area where many movie exteriors were filmed - for example, some of the exteriors for the Republic chapterplay HAWK OF THE WILDERNESS (1938) were lensed at Mammoth Lakes. Jerry Schneider's Movie Locations Guide has a bit more info on Mammoth Lakes: http://employees.oxy.edu/jerry/mammoth.htm

Dale Crawford and Jim Sorensen sent me a copy of the death certificate on the above mentioned Roger Williams. It lists the following:

Full name: Roger Williams (no middle name or initial; no Social Security number is shown)
Passed away on July 6, 1939 at Wildyrie Camp, Town of Mammoth, California, Mono County
Cause of death: Angina Pectoris
Occupation: Public Accountant, Hotel Auditor (with a notation that he'd worked in that occupation for 5 years)
Birthdate and location: July 13, 1889 in Dayton, Ohio
Residence: 214 North Oakhurst Dr., Beverly Hills (plus a notation that he'd lived in California for 16 years)
Wife: Ethel Moore Williams
His father's name: C. I. Williams; his mother's maiden name: Boyer

Jack Tillmany found the following Ohio Military veteran record:

Roger Williams
First Lieutenant
Race: W
Residence: 809 Frand Ave., Dayton, O.
Birth Place: Dayton, O.
Birth Date / Age: 13 July 1889
Assigns Comment: 2 Lieutenant Quartermaster Corps 15 Aug 1917 from CL; 1 Lieutenant 4 March 1918; Captain 7 Oct 1918. Fort Harrison Ind 17 May 1917 to 15 Aug 1917. Quartermaster Corps to Discharge Cp Sherman O; American Expeditionary Forces 30 Sept 1918 to 17 July 1919. Honorable discharge 6 Aug 1919.

Jack also found 1900 and 1930 census records:

Year: 1900; Census Place: Dayton Ward 4, Montgomery, Ohio; Roll: T623 1306; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 48.
Name: Roger Williams
Home in 1900: Dayton Ward 4, Montgomery, Ohio
Age: 10
Estimated birth year: 1890
Birthplace: Ohio
Race: White
Relationship to head-of-house: Son (youngest of four sons of Charles and Susan Williams)

Year: 1930; Census Place: Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California; Roll: 124; Page: ; Enumeration District: 826; Image: 382.0.
Name: Roger Williams
Age:
Estimated birth year: abt 1890
Birthplace: Ohio
Relation to head-of-house: Head
Spouse's Name: Ethel M Williams
Race: White
Home in 1930: Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California
Other info included in the census record: lists RW as an auditor, occupation public accountant, place of work is accounting office; also WW veteran.

The California Death Records database and Social Security Death Index (SSDI) have info on Ethel Moore Williams: born 8/9/1888 in Michigan and she passed away on 4/30/1984, Mother's maiden name was Morris, and her last residence was La Jolla, California.

The SSDI has no listing on a Roger Williams who passed in 1939.

Dale Crawford and Jim Sorensen got in touch with the library in Mono County (California) who responded with:

"The following appears on page 1 of the July 13, 1939 Bridgeport Chronicle Union, a weekly paper. Unfortunately we are unable to make a physical copy of the microfiche, but this is the verbatum text:

Roger Williams died suddenly of a heart attack on the morning of June 6 at a summer cabin in the Twin Lakes Fall track at Mammoth at the age of fifty. Mr. and Mrs. Williams arrived from their home in Beverly Hills some two weeks before, planning to spend the summer at the cabin. Mr. Williams was apparently in good health during this time and retired the night before at the usual time. About 3 AM the following morning he was striken and died within a few minutes.

Coroner Walter Evans was called and after an investigation, the body was taken to Bishop by undertaker Dewey Albright and from there shipped to his home in Beverly Hills.

There was no further mention of Mr. Williams in the July 20 paper. I hope this will be of some use to you.

Sincerely,
Bridgeport Library"

Dale and Jim found some additional records on the VitalSearch website for a Louis Boyer Williams, and this appears to be the brother of our "Public Accountant" Roger Williams:
Louis Boyer Williams
born 9/1/1882 in Ohio
passed away in the Los Angeles area on 5/9/1946
Mother's maiden name of Boyer

Jim and Dale did some further checking on Louis Boyer Williams and they were in contact with Forest Lawn cemetery who replied:
"Mr. Williams was cremated by Forest Lawn and his cremated remains were sent to Woodland Cemetery- Dayton, Ohio." And they re-confirmed with Forest Lawn that this info was for Louis Boyer Williams: "Thank-You for rechecking. This information is for Louis."

More checking by Dale and Jim and the following is a summary from several e-mails: Roger Williams is in Woodland Cemetery in Dayton Ohio, Section 36, lot 1530 - the same location as his brother Louis Boyer Williams. Ethel Moore Williams isn't there as she died in San Diego, California. I talked to the Cemetery this morning. They told me an interesting tid-bit about Roger Williams. He didn't die on the 6th. He died on the 5th of July. Woodland Cemetery was notified on the 6th and he was laid to rest on the 8th.

Jim Tipton's Find A Grave website has a photo of the marker for Roger Williams at the Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, Dayton, Ohio: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13282644

More info from Jim and Dale: we found the "Roger Williams Agency" in the Mid-Wilshire Dist. His phone was Laf 6424 ... we found his wife ... we found his personal phone number:

Williams, Roger Mrs, r 214 N Oakhurst Dr. Bv Hls, CR 6-9054. CR stands for Crestview. The r stands for residence.

RW's personal phone number was OX 4366 ...

The Lafayette telephone exchange in the trade publication ad for RW stands for the Mid-Wilshire Dist. The Mid-Wilshire District is where all the talent agencies were. It has always been a wealthy area. It starts at La Brea Avenue and Wilshire Blvd. and goes west to Wilshire Blvd and Santa Monica Blvd. it's about 4 miles in length. Beverly Hills starts at San Vincente and Wilshire Blvd's.

The phone number posted on the trade publication ad/photograph (Laf 6242) on your web site belonged to Roger. He was his own agent. The people called me who now live there and told me me this. They do not have a computer. Roger had his offices in the Mid-Wilshire Dist. His offices are now gone.

Roger Grimes Williams (1898 - 1964)
This looks like our guy!

Above - photo and signature of Roger Grimes Williams from his 1920 passport. That certainly looks like our B western and serial Roger Williams ... including the cleft on his chin and the high forehead.

(Image courtesy of Jack Tillmany)

Above - a production still of Roger Williams circa 1937. Blowup/crop of this image shown below.

Lila Ashear did some sleuthing and was able to locate census information as well as Williams' draft registration and a 1920 passport (which includes the passport photo/signature shown on the left). Lila writes:

The Roger Williams we seek was born in Denver to Charles H. Williams. Given that I wasn't having much luck in searching on Roger, I determined to go after Charles H. Williams and found him in the 1900 Colorado Census with his family; including his son Roger G aged 2. His birth is recorded as February 1876. His mother's name is listed as Evangelina and she was born in Pennsylvania. There is also a brother Charles Ed, aged 1/12 (born May 1900).

Given that information, I searched and found the family in 1910 located on North Hicks street in Los Angeles. We have again Charles H, Eva, Rodger (sic), Charles E., and now added Thomas L, Violet E., Albert L, and Harmon M. Note, they are living in California in 1910, Roger is only 12, and he wouldn't have had the ability to graduate from Denver North or the school of mining.

The 1920 Census finds Evangelina as Head Of Household but still listed as "M" (married). Roger is living with his mother, age 21 but listed as "D", divorced. His occupation is listed as "general utility"; I have no idea what that is. The other children remain with the family but a new daughter, Frances M, aged 9, is now in the household.

I cannot locate Charles H., Evangelina, or Roger in the 1930 census.

WW I Registration has Roger G. Williams born February 8, 1893 in Denver, Colorado. This was either intentional to make him older or is a just an error since the three census records would tend to prove this incorrect. His occupation is listed as "paper maker". He is listed as a Private in the Field Artillery, Battery A, California. The document is signed as of June 5, 1917.

The passport info lists his father as being Charles H. Williams living on West 38th Avenue in Los Angeles, California, but lists Roger's permanent residence as Denver, Colorado (odd). This document lists his birth date as 8 February 1898. He was intending to go through Nogales, Arizona into Mexico on October 1, 1920 and be back within 6 months.

The California Death Index lists the following:
Roger G. Williams
Mother's maiden name: Lloyd
Birth Date: 8 February 1898
Birth place: Colorado
Date of Death: 18 December 1964
Death Place: Los Angeles

I have been unable to locate an obituary or marriage record or birth record for children.

Lila Ashear
September, 2009

Lila was kind enough to provide the passport registration/photo page along with the draft registration (both in jpg image format). If anyone would like copies, shoot the Old Corral webmeister an e-mail.

The passport has a tie-in with Roger Grimes Williams and Denver, Colorado. On the page with the photo is an identification section. Swearing that he knew Roger Grimes Williams for 22 years and that Williams was a US Citizen was one William E. Lloyd who is listed as a grocer at 712 Pearl Street, Denver, Colorado. Also on the page is a Description of Applicant which notes that Williams was 5' 11" tall, has a cleft in his chin and a small scar on his left cheek.

The photo left is a blowup/crop of the production still. See if you can spot a scar on his left cheek.

But there's still a mystery to solve. What happened to our movie baddie circa late 1930s to cause him to stop making films. And what occurs during the remaining years of his life including marriage, children, work, etc. Inquiring minds want to know.