William Reynolds, who portrayed Special Agent Tom Colby for six seasons on the television series The F.B.I., died August 24 from non-COVID-19 complicated pneumonia, his son Eric Regnolds confirms. He was 90.
Born in Los Angeles, Reynolds was born William de Clercq Regnolds on December 9, 1931. He began his career under contract to Universal Pictures and had credits in Carrie (1952) as Laurence Olivier’s son and The Son of Ali Baba where he was Tony Curtis’ best friend. For 20th Century Fox, he portrayed Rommel’s son opposite James Mason in The Desert Fox.
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Following his military service in Japan during the Korean War, Reynolds co-starred in Cult of the Cobra (1955). In 1959, he starred as trumpeter Pete Kelly in the television series Pete Kelly’s Blues. In 1960-1961, he starred as air charter entrepreneur and adventurer Sandy Wade on the ABC Warner Bros. Television series, The Islanders, while also appearing as a World War II officer in Rod Serling’s acclaimed Twilight Zone episode, The Purple Testament.
Other film credits include The Battle at Apache Pass, Francis Goes to West Point, The Mississippi Gambler, Gunsmoke, There’s Always Tomorrow, Away All Boats and The Land Unknown. Television work included roles in Bronco, Wagon Train, The Roaring 20s, Cheyenne, Dragnet and Maverick.
After making guest appearances on the first two seasons of The FBI, Reynolds won the big break of his career, taking on the part of stalwart and heroic Agent Colby, opposite Efrem Zimbalist’s Inspector Erskine, for six seasons on the hit ABC series.
Reynolds quit Hollywood after his role on The F.B.I. and became a businessman. He was married for 42 years to actress Molly Sinclair, until her passing in 1992. The couple had two children, Carrie Regnolds Jones (Brian Jones) and Eric Regnolds (Nikki Camello), two grandchildren, Anthony Regnolds Jones and Nicholas Camello Regnolds, and one great grandchild, Gianni Camello Regnolds.
A public memorial service and tribute to William Reynolds will be held at 1:00 p.m on Saturday, September 10th at the Miller Jones Menifee Memorial Park (26770 Murrieta Road, Menifee, California, 92585).