Williams Treated: Everwood & Hare Actor Dies in Car Accident

Actor Treat Williams, who starred in the musical film Hair and the US TV series Everwood, has died in a car accident at the age of 71.

Police said Williams was thrown from his motorcycle in Vermont on Monday after he was hit by an SUV that turned left.

He was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries, but was pronounced dead on arrival.

The actor has scored more than 130 screen credits in a career that has spanned nearly 50 years.

“As you can imagine, we are deeply devastated and bereaved at this time,” said a family statement published by Variety.

“Therapy was filled with love for his family, his life, and his profession, and he was really on top of his game in it all.”

Williams’ agent of 15 years ago, Barry McPherson, described him as “the nicest guy” and “very talented”.

“He was an actor,” McPherson told People magazine, adding that Williams has been “in the heart of Hollywood since the late ’70s.”

Actor Wendell Pierce described Williams on social media as a “passionate… creative man” whose adventurous spirit was infectious.

After his 1979 breakthrough in poetry as hippie George Berger, Williams appeared in Steven Spielberg’s 1941 (1979), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Dead Heat (1988), Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (1995) and Deb Rising (1998).

He was also known for his stage acting, with roles in Stephen Sondheim’s Follies and as Danny Zuko in the original Broadway production of Grease.

In the early 2000s, Williams appeared as the widowed Dr. Andy Brown in four series of the American television drama Everwood, and also had roles in Chesapeake Shores, Blue Bloods, and Chicago Fire.

He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work in the 1996 TV movie The Late Shift, and received three Golden Globe Award nominations during the 1980s.

Born in Connecticut in 1951, Richard Treat Williams was survived by his wife, Pam Van Sant, whom he married in 1988. The couple had two children.