Guy Williams

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Zorro (1957–1959, 1960–1961)

Early in 1957, Williams appeared twice in the role of Steve Clay in the television series Men of Annapolis, a military drama set at the United States Naval Academy. He also appeared in the Rod Cameron drama State Trooper in the episode "No Fancy Cowboys" about the defrauding of guests at a dude ranch.

About this time, the Walt Disney Company was casting for Zorro, a television series based on the character created in 1919 by Johnston McCulley: the young nobleman Don Diego de la Vega and his masked alter ego Zorro. To play the main character, the chosen actor would have to be handsome and have some experience with fencing. Walt Disney interviewed Guy Williams, telling him to start growing a mustache "neither very long or thick." The exclusive contract paid Williams the then very high wage of $2,500 per week, equivalent to $21,000 in 2024. Williams resumed his professional training in fencing with the Belgian champion Fred Cavens (who also trained Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power), since the show required sword fights in most episodes. He also took guitar lessons with the famous Vicente Gomez. Williams' first appearance as Zorro was on the Disney anthology television series The Fourth Anniversary Show, wherein he challenged the notion that Zorro was a fictional character.

The series of half-hour episodes debuted on ABC on October 10, 1957. It was an instant hit in the U.S. Seventy-eight episodes were produced over two seasons (1957–1959), and two movies were edited from TV episodes: The Sign of Zorro (1958) and Zorro the Avenger (1959). The theme song was composed by Norman Foster and George Bruns and performed by The Mellomen; it reached #17 on the Hit Parade. In 1959, a legal dispute arose between Disney and ABC, causing a hiatus and the eventual cancellation of Zorro. However, four hour-long episodes were produced with the original primary cast, including Williams. These episodes were released as part of the Walt Disney Presents series between October 30, 1960, and April 12, 1961.

On March 5, 1959, as Zorro was ending its original run, Williams was a guest star, along with Sally Brophy and Tom Nolan, on The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.

In 1962, Williams played Sir Miles Hendon in Walt Disney's The Prince and the Pauper, shot in England.

First visit to Argentina (April 1973)

Williams always had a frank and open temperament, was a great connoisseur of wine, a chess and fencing enthusiast and a great lover of travel. As early as 1969, at the end of Lost in Space, he was disappointed that no job offer materialized. He then decided to retire to enjoy his small fortune earned by investing in various businesses.

Starting on January 2, 1967, Channel 13 television in Buenos Aires broadcast "Zorro" during the daytime every day from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. and evenings from 7:00 to 7:30 p.m., with great success. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, toy stores, kiosks and newsstands throughout Argentina sold action figures, costumes, and all kinds of Zorro-related merchandise.

Due to the success of the series, Channel 13 management had the idea to meet with Williams to see how he would feel about starring in a variety of children's programming at the station. The journalist Leonardo Gleizer was tasked with traveling to the US to make contact with Williams:

When I arrived in New York it was very difficult to know where Williams would live. After several unsuccessful inquiries, it occurred to me to look in the telephone directory. To my surprise, Guy Williams lived in California. I called him and got an answer from a woman (Janice, Williams' wife). I spoke with him, telling him that I had come all the way from Argentina to look for him and that I thought he would be attracted to the idea. She told me to go see him at his home in California. He picked me up at the airport. When I saw him without a mustache, I suggested he grow one. A fortnight after that first call, we went to Buenos Aires.

Willams's arrival at the Ministro Pistarini International Airport of Ezeiza, on Sunday, 1 April, 1973, was a tremendous event. Thousands of children with their parents came to the Airport to greet the actor. Guy agreed to dress up as Zorro in several programs of Channel 13 (something he had emphatically rejected in the USA) and to make a small fencing exhibition in the program Teleshow (Channel 13, Monday to Friday from 2:30 to 5:00 p.m.) hosted by Víctor Sueiro.

Such was the success of the presentation in Sueiro's program that the channel's wardrobe department made a costume similar to the one in the popular series, with which Williams also appeared in Porcelandia (Wednesdays from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m.), where Jorge Porcel had a sketch called El Sorro con S; in this program they needed to recreate a fencing scene. Williams' contender was the very young Argentine fencing champion Fernando Lupiz (who in 2005 presented a daily TV show where he taught fencing and showed Zorro cartoons), who was about to turn 20 years old.

Each program where Williams appeared achieved ratings of over 90 points, something historic for the Channel, so another trip was planned for that same year.

Second visit to Argentina (July 1973)

On Saturday July 14, 1973 Guy Williams made his second visit to Argentina. About 50,000 people (children and adults) crowded the runway of the Ezeiza international airport, shouting “Zorro, Zorro!”, waiting for the arrival of Pan Am flight 201. First, Williams and his wife Janice got off the plane and were welcomed by Leo Gleizer, the journalist who had arranged Williams' first trip to Argentina.

Suddenly, a thunderous roar was heard from the crowd: the lyric baritone and actor Henry Calvin — the obese Sergeant Demetrio López García from the El Zorro series — who was recognized in spite of his emaciated appearance (he had an undiagnosed throat cancer). When asked how he had stopped being fat, Calvin said he had set out to lose 80 kilos, and he had succeeded. He had begun his career in the 1930s as a singer (he had a baritone voice, which he once showed in El Zorro).

Channel 13 assigned an assistant, a translator and a driver to attend them. On the day of their arrival in Argentina, they had dinner at a restaurant on the Río de la Plata waterfront. The next day they attended a tanguería in the emblematic area of Caminito, in the La Boca neighborhood, where Williams learned to dance the Tango. There Williams tried Mate, while his companion continued drinking beer and white wine mendocino. They both agreed on meals: Argentine asado (barbecue) and marinated suckling pig were their favorite dishes. They also visited schools and public hospitals, where they signed autographs for the children. During this stay, Zorro fought a duel at Carlitos Balá's Magic Circus and was seen for the first time at Mirtha Legrand’s lunchtime show, which aired on Sundays from noon to 2:30 p.m. and where it was common for the host to invite different artists to join her for a live lunch at the table. This scene would be repeated over the following years, by which time Williams had already decided to settle in Buenos Aires.

Calvin accompanied him to Channel 13, where they did a show (each in costume). Such was the popularity that Williams and Calvin enjoyed in Argentina that Channel 9 (Telefe) called them to attend Susana Giménez's program, which was broadcast on Sundays from 8 pm to 10:30 p.m. Both would soon return to California, where Guy continued his business of making Panetone (Italian sweet bread).

Guy Williams

Guy Williams

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Biography

Early life

First artistic steps

Early Hollywood (1951–1957)

Zorro (1957–1959, 1960–1961)

European films

Bonanza (1964)

Lost in Space (1965–1968)

First visit to Argentina (April 1973)

Second visit to Argentina (July 1973)

Third visit to Argentina and circus tour in America (1974 and 1979)

Film cancelled with Palito Ortega

Final years in Argentina (1980–1989)

Death

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