William Windom, well-known character actor and USCF Life Member, has died at age 88, according to multiple reports. He played Commodore Decker in the planet-killer episode of the original “Star Trek,” among (many) other roles.
timem.com/starwebs/williamwindom/
I recall a feature on Mr. Windom in Chess Life many years ago. He played OTB tournament chess in CA in between acting projects, I believe.
I thought he also did some public venue free simuls. Since he was a C player, the average walkup player could play for a while and actually have a chance for a good game (maybe even a win).
I heard that at his highest rating he was a bit above 1600. There may be an article or part of an article on William Windom and other actors who played chess in an old CL or CL&R. He was one of the few actors who played in USCF tournaments. He was a well respected character actor.
Bill Windom was an active member of Lina Grumette’s private chess club in Hollywood, The Chess Set, throughout the 1980s, and perhaps for long before that, as I only arrived in LA in early 1980. I think he generally played in the Class C group; events were weekly, with each group having a specific night, and Masters playing on Sunday afternoons, though sometimes one made up a game on a different day and got a chance to meet other members that way, as well as at Lina’s annual new year’s eve party. He was always warm and friendly.
Bill performed portions of his one-man James Thurber show for some of Lina’s events, such as at her Memorial Day Classic tournament, which featured entertainment by a number of her celebrity actor and magician members during the mid to late 1980s. I also had the pleasure of accompanying Lina to one of his full public performances, which was superb. I’m sure, too, that it was he who arranged (through Lina) for me to spend one morning on the Universal Studios soundstage where Murder, She Wrote, was filmed; my job was to select a position and help Angela Lansbury and Tom Bosely through a scene that had them playing chess while discussing - …well, what else would they discuss? (It turns out that chess is a useful device in TV and movies when a scene would otherwise be just two talking heads, locked in close one-to-one conversation with nothing otherwise “going on”.)
Not everyone may know or remember Thurber’s famous character, Walter Mitty, an ordinary man who famously daydreams of himself as the hero in any of a thousand situations - taking the first steps on the moon, striking out the side in the last inning of the final game of the World Series, etc. Walter Mitty lives within pretty much all of us, and Bill brought him to life for tens or hundreds of thousands of people via the stage, as well as those millions who saw him on TV.
RIP, Bill. Thanks for a lot of great years on the LA chess scene, and more.
Bravo, Hal Bogner! Thank you!
I would like to add that, ‘back in the day’, a class ‘B’ player was a strong player, capable of beating the occasional GM, as C.O. Wood proved when he beat GM John Fedorowicz in the first round of the 1980 US Open.
Armchair Warrior
I remember that. After the first round that night a small fire at the hotel forced everyone out of bed and Fedorowicz joked, “I guess I’m the prime suspect.” 