Roger Williams was a multi-talented individual who had a career spanning multiple fields. He was an actor, serving as a heavy in over 100 westerns, serials, and features from 1933 to 1939. During this period, he worked with notable stars such as the Three Mesquiteers, Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry, primarily for Poverty Row production companies.
Born on February 8, 1898, in Denver, Colorado, to Charles H. Williams and Eva/Evangeline Lloyd, Roger's family relocated to Los Angeles around 1910. He served in the Army during World War I, achieving the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery and serving from June 23, 1917, to January 8, 1919.
Before and after his brief time in Hollywood, Williams held various jobs, including paper maker, iron works general utility, ox welder, mechanic, designer, stage manager, and engineer for prominent companies like Douglas Aircraft, McDonnell Aircraft, and Northrop Aircraft. He also attended college for four years, likely after his World War I military service.
Around 1939-1940, Williams left the movie industry and began working in the airplane industry. In the 1940 census, he was employed by Douglas Aircraft in California, and by late 1942, he was working for McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis, Missouri. Despite his new career, he still had an "acting bug."
In 1943, Williams directed a play for McDonnell Aircraft's in-house dramatic group, the MAC Players. By the late 1940s, he and his family returned to California, where he worked as an engineer for Northrop Aircraft Corporation.
Roger was married three times. His first marriage was to Vera Paloma Bennett in 1916, which ended in divorce in 1919. His second marriage was to Ruby Bell Noe in Utah in 1920, and they had a daughter, Juanita, in 1921. Ruby passed away from tuberculosis in December 1922. His third marriage was to Ellen, with whom he had two sons and a daughter: Dolores Evangelina (born 1928),Roger Lincoln (born 1930),and Arthur Francis (born 1932).
In their later years, Roger and Ellen resided in Paramount, Los Angeles County, California. Roger passed away on December 18, 1964, at St. Helens Hospital in Bellflower, California, due to arteriosclerotic heart disease. He and Ellen are buried at Westminster Memorial Park in Westminster, Orange County, California.
