- Born
- Died
- Birth nameWilliam Edward Hickey
- Height5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
- Son of Edward & Nora Hickey. Best known as the ancient Mafia don in Prizzi's Honor (1985), Hickey had a long, distinguished career in film, television, and the stage. Began career as a child actor on the variety stage. Made Broadway debut as walk-on in George Bernard Shaw's "Saint Joan" (1951 production, starring Uta Hagen). Performed often during the golden age of television, including appearances on Studio One and Philco Playhouse. His most important contribution to the arts, however, remains his teaching career at the HB Studio in Greenwich Village, founded by Hagen and Herbert Berghof. George Segal, Sandy Dennis, and Barbra Streisand all studied under him.- IMDb Mini Biography By: <anthony-adam@tamu.edu>
- ParentsEdward HickeyNora Hickey
- Usually played macabre characters
- Gaunt frame
- Gravelly yet high-pitched voice
- Began his acting career on the radio at age 10.
- Hickey turned down some roles in Europe because he couldn't bring his dog with him.
- He studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village in New York City.
- Hickey co-stared in two films with Debbie Harry, Tales from the Darkside (1990) and Sandman (1995), a short film where they play romantic interests.
- While playwright Mart Crowley was a 2009 guest on the CUNY TV - Thirteen/WNET talk show "Theater Talk," Crowley said that during the first production of his 1968 play "The Boys in the Band," William Hickey was originally cast in that play, in the role of Emory (eventually played both on stage and in the 1970 movie by Cliff Gorman). Crowley remembered that Hickey "was a terrific actor, of course, and I don't think it's telling any stories out of school [to say] that he had a problem with addiction, because he was always struggling, and losing parts, and not being hired because of it. And after he auditioned, got the part, we only had a--what, a week? to get it up--the play, the workshop production, and he didn't show up for rehearsal the first day. And then when he didn't come the second day, the director, Robert Moore, said to me, 'we just can't. we've got to go with somebody else. Who was that guy who was so over-the-top who came in?' We looked down the list and it was Cliff Gorman. So we called him quick!".
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