Austin Willis, CM (1917 - April 4, 2004) was a Canadian actor and television host.
He was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 2002, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. He is best known internationally for his appearance as Simmons, the man whom Auric Goldfinger beats at cards in the opening scenes of the James Bond film, Goldfinger. Originally he was to have played Felix Leiter but at the last minute, fellow Canadian Cec Linder switched roles with him.
In Canada, he had a varied film and TV career, ranging from the early science-fiction series Space Command, to hosting Cross-Canada Hit Parade for several years in the 1950s. In the 1970s he found new fans as the host of the humorous game show This Is the Law.
Filmography
- Guests of Honour (1945)
- Bush Pilot (1947) - Red North
- Sins of the Fathers (1948) - Dr. Ben Edwards
- Space Command (1953) - Dr. Fleming
- Cross-Canada Hit Parade (1955) - Host (1955â€"1958)
- The Cage (1956)
- Wolf Dog (1958) - Clem Krivak
- The Mouse That Roared (1959) - United States Secretary of Defense
- Upstairs and Downstairs (1959) - McGuffey
- A Dangerous Age (1959) - Police officer
- Q.E.D. (1960) - Host
- Crack in the Mirror (1960) - Hurtelaut
- I Aim at the Stars (1960) - John B. Medaris
- The Barbarians (1960)
- Too Young to Love (1960) - Mr. Collins
- television drama "The Night They Killed Joe Howe" (1960) (TV drama), starring Douglas Rain, Austin Willis (as William Annand) and James Doohan, was located in Maitland, Nova Scotia
- Arch Oboler's 1+1: Exploring the Kinsey Reports (1961) - Sam Tooray, 'The Divorcee'
- Goldfinger (1964) - Mr. Simmons
- Seaway (1964)(TV) - Admiral Henry Fox
- Affair with a Killer (1966)
- One Hundred Years Young (1967) (TV) - Host
- Eight on the Lam (1967) - Mr. Pomeroy
- Hour of the Gun (1967) - Anson Safford
- The Rat Patrol - Season 1, Episode 26 (1967) - Dr. Anderson
- The Boston Strangler (1968) - Dr. Nagy
- Flick (1970) - Cantwell
- The Silent Force (1970) - episode "The Octopus"
- Face-Off (1971) - Graydon Hunter
- This Is the Law (1972-1976) - Host
- C.H.O.M.P.S. (1979) - Head Engineer
- The Last Flight of Noah's Ark (1980) - Slabotsky
- Firefox (1982) - Walters
- The Boy in Blue (1986) - Bainbridge
References
External links
- Austin Willis at the Internet Movie Database
- Order of Canada citation