# William Wiard

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American film director

William Orphie Wiard Born (1927-12-03)December 3, 1927 Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, U.S. Died July 3, 1987(1987-07-03) (aged 59) Los Angeles, California, U.S. Occupation Film director Years active 1955–1985 Spouse Georgiana Judith Sherman ​ ​ (m. 1951)​ Children 3

**William Wiard** (3 December 1927 – 3 July 1987) was an American film and television director. He directed over 150 episodes of television, several TV films, and the theatrical film *[Tom Horn](/source/Tom_Horn_(film))*.

## Life and work

William Orphie Wiard was born in Los Angeles and began his film career in 1955 as a sound editor for *[Dragnet](/source/Dragnet_(1951_TV_series))*. In the mid-1960s he moved on to directing.

Wiard was best known as a director of television westerns and detective shows, such as *[Mister Roberts](/source/Mister_Roberts_(TV_series))*, *[Get Smart](/source/Get_Smart)*, *[Daniel Boone](/source/Daniel_Boone_(1964_TV_series))*, *[The High Chaparral](/source/The_High_Chaparral)*, *[Room 222](/source/Room_222)*, *[Bonanza](/source/Bonanza)*, *[M*A*S*H](/source/M*A*S*H_(TV_series))*, *[The F.B.I.](/source/The_F.B.I._(TV_series))*, *[Barnaby Jones](/source/Barnaby_Jones)*, *[Cannon](/source/Cannon_(TV_series))*, *[The Streets of San Francisco](/source/The_Streets_of_San_Francisco)*, *[The Rockford Files](/source/The_Rockford_Files)*,[1] *[Bret Maverick](/source/Bret_Maverick)*, *[Scarecrow and Mrs. King](/source/Scarecrow_and_Mrs._King)*, and *[Spenser: For Hire](/source/Spenser%3A_For_Hire)*.

From 1976 to 1986 he directed several television films in the horror and thriller genres,[2] including *Scott Free* (1976) with [Michael Brandon](/source/Michael_Brandon), *When Walls Kill* (1981) with [Parker Stevenson](/source/Parker_Stevenson), *Help Wanted: Male* (1982) with [Suzanne Pleshette](/source/Suzanne_Pleshette) and [Gil Gerard](/source/Gil_Gerard), *High School Killer* (1983) with [Diane Franklin](/source/Diane_Franklin), and *Kicks* (1985) with [Anthony Geary](/source/Anthony_Geary) and [Shelley Hack](/source/Shelley_Hack).

Though he worked mainly in television, Wiard also directed the theatrical film *[Tom Horn](/source/Tom_Horn_(film))*, starring [Steve McQueen](/source/Steve_McQueen) in one of his last roles.

Wiard was married to Georgiana Sherman, daughter of director [George Sherman](/source/George_Sherman),[3] they had three children. He died in Los Angeles of cancer at the age of 59.[4]

## Selected filmography

### Film

- 1980: *[Tom Horn](/source/Tom_Horn_(film))*

### TV films

- 1976: *Scott Free*

- 1978: *Ski Lift to Death*

- 1980: *[The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything](/source/The_Girl%2C_the_Gold_Watch_%26_Everything_(film))*

- 1981: *[This House Possessed](/source/This_House_Possessed)*

- 1981: *The Seal*

- 1982: *Help Wanted: Male*

- 1982: *Fantasies*

- 1983: *[Deadly Lessons](/source/Deadly_Lessons)*

- 1985: *Kicks*

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Abbott_1-0)** Abbott, Jon (2009). [*Stephen J. Cannell Television Productions: A History of All Series and Pilots*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Dc0TF0GHAmAC&q=William+Wiard&pg=PA67). McFarland. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0786441730](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0786441730).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Deal_2-0)** Deal, David (2007). *Television Fright Films of the 1970s*. McFarland. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0786493838](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0786493838).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** William O. Wiards Take Wedding Trip. *The Los Angeles Times,* Los Angeles, California, Thursday, July 5, 1951, Page 54. [newspapers.com](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-wiard-wedding-tr/153907824/)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** William O. Wiard - funeral announcement. *The Los Angeles Times,* Los Angeles, California, Tuesday, July 7, 1987, Page 61. [newspapers.com](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-william-o-wiard/153906235/)

## External links

- [William Wiard](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0911926/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

- [Filmography of William Wiard in The New York Times](https://web.archive.org/web/20160325132406/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/116686/William-Wiard)

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