Clarence Williams III

File:Clarencewilliamsiii.jpg

Clarence Williams III in 'Sugar Hill'

Clarence Williams III in 'Cold Case: Officer Down'

Clarence Williams III (1939 - )

Film Deaths

• Purple Rain (1984) [Frances L]: Shoots himself (off screen) in the head after Prince arrives at his house; the scene cuts after we hear a gun shot to Clarence being taken away by an ambulance with a large wound being covered on his head (It's not certain as to whether Clarence dies, but a later scene where Prince dedicates a song to Clarence does imply that he might be dead).

• 52 Pick-Up (1986) [Bobby Shy]: Shot to death by John Glover while Clarence is running up the staircase.

• Deep Cover (1992) [Taft]: Shot by Jeff Goldblum; he dies in Laurence Fishburne's arms shortly afterwards.

• Sugar Hill (1994) [A.R. Skuggs]: Dies of a heroin overdose while his son (Michael Wright) looks on in impassively. His body is shown again later on when his other son (Wesley Snipes) discovers him.

• Life (1999) [Winston Hancock]: Fatally beaten (off-screen) by Ned Vaughn, after Clarence slashes Ned's face; he dies after collapsing in front of Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy (who are framed for Clarence's murder).

• Reindeer Games (2000) [Merlin]: Burned to death after being squirted by a liquid gun and being lit on fire by Ben Affleck (he then falls through a window onto a parked car windscreen, his body is shown at the beginning of the film that then leads up to his death).

• American Gangster (2007) [Bumpy Johnson]: Dies of a heart attack in the middle of an electronic store while talking to Denzel Washington.

• Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013) [Maynard]: Presumably dies (off-screen) of old age/natural causes between the 1930's scenes and the present.

TV Deaths

• Miami Vice: A Tale of a Goat (1985) [Legba]: Shot to death in a shootout with Philip Michael Thomas, causing Clarence to fall overboard from his boat.

• Against the Wall (1994) [Chaka]: Shot to death by SWAT officers during the Attica prison riot.

• Cold Case: Officer Down (2009) [Henry "Pops" Walters]: Dies (off-screen) after being shot in his store by Mateo Arias. He's seen when Jeremy Ratchford enters the store after Thom Barry is shot as well. The shooting is later seen in a flashback. He later appears as a ghost/figment of imagination to Thom at the end of the episode.

Notable Connections

• Ex-Mr. Gloria Foster
• Grandson of Clarence Williams (musician)