Treat Williams, the prolific actor best known for playing Dr. Andy Brown on Greg Berlanti’s Everwood and George Berger on Hair, passed away on June 12th after being involved in a motorcycle accident. He was 71
Treat Williams, Pic/Golden Globe Awards and Rotten Tomatoes
Treat Williams, the prolific actor best known for playing Dr. Andy Brown on Greg Berlanti’s Everwood and George Berger on Hair, passed away on June 12th after being involved in a motorcycle accident. He was 71.
ADVERTISEMENT
Williams’ family issued a statement to Deadline, which partially reads, “Treat was full of love for his family, for his life and for his craft, and was truly at the top of his game in all of it. … To all his fans, please know that Treat appreciated all of you and please continue to keep him in your hearts and prayers.”
The death was confirmed to PEOPLE by Williams’ agent of 15 years Barry McPherson.
"He was killed this afternoon. He was making a left or a right [and] a car cut him off," McPherson says. "I'm just devastated. He was the nicest guy. He was so talented."
"He was an actor's actor. Filmmakers loved him. He's been the heart of the Hollywood since the late 1970s," McPherson continues. "He was really proud of his performance this year. He's been so happy with the work that I got him. He's had a balanced career."
Jacob Gribble, the fire chief for Dorset, Vermont, told PEOPLE that the accident occurred around 5 p.m. on Monday, June 12th on Route 30 by Long Trail Auto near Dorset, Vermont. The crash seemingly involved Williams and one Honda SUV driver, who didn’t see the motorcycle turning round the bend. Williams was flung from his motorcycle and airlifted to Albany Medical Center, New York via helicopter, but was pronounced dead upon arrival.
The driver of the SUV, who was uninjured, was not referenced further. The assigned police officers stated that investigation into the collision was ongoing, and that they would return to the scene to process the event and evidence further.
The actor’s career spanned nearly a half century. In 1975, he debuted in the thriller Deadly Hero. From there, he began to take on more film roles, including 1976's The Ritz and The Eagle Has Landed. The actor’s effortless performance in the film version of ‘Hair’, based on a Broadway musical of the same name was his big break – earning him his first Golden Globe nomination.
Treat also had a long and successful stint on Broadway. He started off as an understudy to the four male leads of ‘Grease’. Within a couple of weeks, he was up on stage and performing! He would later appear in six Broadway shows from 1974-2001, collecting several feathers in his cap including Follies, Love Letters and the original production of The Pirates of Penzance.
The star was a well-seasoned professional by the time he performed in Everwood in 2002, the show with which his name became simultaneous in the last two decades.
Williams became the kindly Dr. Andrew "Andy" Brown on the WB show, and fans seemed to think the actor suited the role perfectly. He starred on Everwood for all four seasons, and earned two Screen Actors' Guild nominations for outstanding performance by a male actor.
Williams seemed to enjoy his life in Vermont, and often used to post on social media, sharing his appreciation and gratitude of his farm, country life and everyday living in Vermont. His final tweet came less than an hour before his death.
“I’ve always had an enormous love for Vermont, both in winter and summer. There was something incredibly special about it to me, and the people here are incredibly honest, real, and good-humored,” he told an interviewer in 2022. “There’s also always something new to discover somewhere on a dirt road that you’ve never traveled on before. Every day I wake up so grateful to see the view that I see out of my window and to be living up here.”
(With inputs from PEOPLE, NBC News and Deadline)