Hal Williams, '227' Star and 'Sanford and Son' Regular, Dies at 91
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Hal Williams, the TV veteran who appeared in American sitcom staples
like "227" and "Sanford and Son," has died, according to his manager.
He was 91.

"227" ran from 1985 to 1990, and followed a group of middle-aged
tenants living together in an apartment building. Williams starred
as Lester Jenkins, who, in the show, was husband to Marla Gibbs'
Mary Jenkins and father to Regina King's Brenda Jenkins. "227" aired
116 episodes across five seasons on NBC. Series star Jackee Harry
won an Emmy for best supporting actress for her work on the show in
1987. Other cast members included Helen Martin, Alaina Reed-Hall and
Curtis Baldwin.

Williams appeared in 22 episodes of "Sanford and Son" as Officer
"Smitty" Smith. The character was part of a duo with Howard Platt's
Officer "Hoppy" Hopkins. The pair had a recurring bit where Hopkins
would lead by outlining a case with complicated police jargon, and
it would be up to Smith to spell it all out again in layman's terms.

In a recent interview with WKYC, Williams explained how the Smitty
and Hoppy gag came to be: "We did it in one time in rehearsal and
the producers thought it was funny. We did it in the first or second
episode and it clicked. Some days, we would come to rehearsal and
they didn't have anything solid. [The producers would then say,]
'Go out, take a break for two hours, and bring us something back.'"

Williams' other TV credits include "On the Rocks," "The Waltons,"
"Private Benjamin" and "The Sinbad Show." His most recent TV role
was on CBS' "Matlock" remake. On the film side, Williams appeared in
"Hardcore," "The Rookie," "Percy & Thunder," "Guess Who" and
"Flight."



<https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/hal-williams-dead-227-sanford-and-son-1236812244/>






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