Thomas Nicol Williamson (September 14 1936 – December 16 2011) was a British stage and film actor, probably best known to most audiences today for his Merlin in John Boorman's Excalibur.
Williamson gained great renown in the late 1960s and early 1970s for his stage performances of William Shakespeare's plays and other classics, as well as the works of such contemporary playwrights as John Osborne and Samuel Beckett, both of whom hailed him as among the best interpreters of their plays. He also possessed a fine singing voice, though he swore off musicals after the failure of 1976's Rex, where he played Henry VIII.
For whatever reason, Williamson never found similar success in the film world; all of the films made in the late 1960s and early '70s that tried to capitalize on his stage renown were commercial and critical failures. For much of the rest of his career, Williamson usually appeared in supporting roles in low-profile films and made-for-TV movies. Eventually, his stage career faded as well due to his often erratic behavior and heavy drinking.
When he died of esophageal cancer in December of 2011, Williamson hadn't appeared on stage for over a decade or on screen for nearly 15 years, having by his own admission largely lost interest in acting.
Film appearances of Nicol Williamson:
- Black Widow (1987)
- Columbo (S07 E4 Episode "How to Dial a Murder")
- The Cheap Detective
- Excalibur
- The Exorcist III
- The Goodbye Girl
- Hamlet (1969 film)
- The Hour of the Pig
- The Human Factor
- Laughter in the Dark (1969 film)
- Macbeth (1982 TV movie)
- Of Mice and Men (1968 TV movie)
- The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1972 TV movie)
- Return to Oz
- Robin and Marian
- The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976 film)
- Spawn (1997)
- Venom (1981)
- The Wind in the Willows (1996)
