Actor Jordan Williams?
deb...@comcast.net
couldn't find an obit. The guy's got tons of movie & TV credits-
deb...@comcast.net
News Obituary Article
ATLANTA: Jordan Williams, 50, aspired to be a 'star'
By KAY POWELL
Red-carpet, big money movie stardom eluded Atlanta actor Jordan
Williams, who had a successful 27-year acting career locally.
The carpenter turned actor performed with the Wits End Players. He was
still remembered as Beau Catlin in the 1982 TBS series "The Catlins."
He starred in his own movie, "Final Cut," available through Amazon.com.
His filmography includes 25 titles as familiar as "My Dog Skip" and
"Tank" in theaters and on television, "Oldest Living Confederate Widow
Tells All," "Savannah," and "Elvis."
Still, it frustrated him every day of his life that he never reached
Hollywood stardom, said his friend Susan Blaine of Atlanta. "He came so
close, he could almost touch it," she said.
In one of his college acting classes, students were naming all sorts of
lofty, artistic goals. "When it came Jordan's turn," she said, "he was
quizzical about everybody else's answers and said simply, 'I want to be
a movie star.' "
"He always had that kind of ham in him," she said. "He was absolutely
confident that was the path he was meant to take."
Memorial service plans for Mr. Williams, 50, who died of complications
from pancreatitis at his Atlanta residence March 13, will be announced.
The body was cremated. H.M. Patterson & Son, Oglethorpe Hill, is in
charge of arrangements.
Mr. Williams moved to Atlanta in 1978. "Almost immediately he started
getting work. His first job here was as a hand model feeding a chunk of
meat to a lion," Ms. Blaine said. "It just sort of built and built from
there."
Born Lawrence Thomas Jordan, he changed his name to Jordan Williams
after moving to Atlanta, Ms. Blaine said. In earlier cast lists, he
appears as Larry Jordan.
"He hit his stride in the '80s," said actress and public relations firm
owner Sarah Cotton of Atlanta, who portrayed the big haired lady in
LongHorn Steakhouse television commercials. "He was a very creative
spirit."
He was an obvious choice to play legendary Memphis record producer Sam
Phillips in "Elvis," Ms. Blaine said. "You take a picture of Jordan and
Sam Phillips and put them side by side. They're dead ringers."
Mr. Williams admitted in a 1990 Atlanta Journal article that as a shy,
overweight child he dreamed of being like Elvis Presley. Being cast in
the part of Sam Phillips was like recreating a childhood dream, he
said.
"I guess all those years of singing 'Love Me Tender' to myself finally
paid off," he said.
"Final Cut," the horror movie he wrote and starred in, quickly went
into video. "It was not the greatest piece of art, but for him it was
the best time of his life," Ms. Blaine said.
Most recently, Mr. Williams had been doing voice-overs for radio,
television and training films. His voice, said Ms. Blaine, who hires
voice-over talent, was "deep, warm and wonderful."
"He did the basic warm fuzzy read. He was wonderful on long reads where
you don't want to put the listener to sleep. He had an engaging voice."
He worked with Ms. Cotton on voice-over projects, and she considered
him an excellent talent. "No one else was quite like him," she said.
He created other art --- whimsical drawings, paintings and sculptures
--- which Ms. Blaine plans to exhibit at his memorial service.
Survivors include a half-sister, Charlotte "Sherry" Mattingly of
Tennessee; and a half-brother, Charles Arnold Jr. of Atlanta.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rep
Glad you found that. I had been looking in various papers online since
your first post. Got to agree, he was a "ringer" for Sam Phillips.
Brad Ferguson
<deb...@comcast.net> wrote:
> He was an obvious choice to play legendary Memphis record producer Sam
> Phillips in "Elvis," Ms. Blaine said. "You take a picture of Jordan and
> Sam Phillips and put them side by side. They're dead ringers."
Well, yeah, especially *now*.