Richard Blaine Williams was an American singer and actor. He was one of the three older brothers of Andy Williams, and the two of them appeared together as The Williams Brothers.
Biography
Richard Blaine "Dick" Williams was born in Wall Lake, Iowa, the son of Jay Emerson and Florence Williams. While living in Cheviot, Ohio, he attended Western Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He finished high school at University High School, in West Los Angeles, because of his family's move to California. Williams had three brothers: Bob, Don, and Andy. One of his first performances was in a children's choir at the local Presbyterian church. He and his brothers formed the Williams Brothers quartet in late 1938, and they performed on radio in the Midwest, first at WHO, in Des Moines, Iowa. In July 1940 the family moved to Chicago and received a job at WLS, in Chicago, and WLW, in Cincinnati. Moving to Los Angeles in 1943, the Williams Brothers sang with Bing Crosby on the hit record "Swinging on a Star". They appeared in four musical films: Janie, Kansas City Kitty, Something in the Wind and Ladies' Man. The Brothers were signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to appear in Anchors Aweigh and Ziegfeld Follies but, before they went before the cameras, the oldest brother, Bob, was drafted into military service and the group's contract was canceled. Kay Thompson, a former radio star who was now head of the vocal department at MGM, had a nose for talent and hired the remaining three Williams brothers to sing in her large choir on many soundtracks for MGM films, including The Harvey Girls. When Bob completed his military service, Kay hired all four brothers to sing on the soundtrack to Good News. By then, Thompson was tired of working behind the scenes at MGM so, with the four Williams boys as her backup singers and dancers, she formed a nightclub act called Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers. They made their debut in Las Vegas in 1947 and became an overnight sensation. Within a year, they were the highest paid nightclub act in the world, breaking records wherever they appeared. When the Thompson and Williams Brothers act ended in 1953, the brothers broke up and they went their own ways developing their own solo acts. Dick Williams went to sing with the Harry James band and later in August 1951 landed on Broadway. In 1998, Andy, Don, Dick and their sister Jane, visited Wall Lake for the dedication of the Williams family home as a historic site and tourist attraction.
