William Orr

William T. Orr (Sept 27, 1917 – Dec 25, 2002), winner of the 1959 Golden Globe for Television Achievement, was an American television actor and producer associated with several detective and Western programs in the genres’ heyday of the 1950s and 1960s.

He was born William Ferdinand Quinn Jr. in New York City, the son of stockbroker William Ferdinand Quinn Sr. and his wife, Gladys; however, his parents divorced when he was six, his mother re-marrying businessman Morrison B. Orr, after which he was known as William Turner Orr.

When he was 18, his family moved to Los Angeles, where he started to work as an actor. He quickly landed a contract with Warner Bros; during World War II, he became an officer in the Army Air Force and appeared in several training films for the studio.

After the War, he turned to production where, as head of the newly formed Warner Bros. television department, he launched such now-iconic shows as Cheyenne, Maverick, and 77 Sunset Strip.

From 1945 to 1970, he was married to Jack Warner’s stepdaughter, Joy Page. They had a daughter, Diane, and a son, Gregory, now a filmmaker. Orr died of natural causes in his home in Los Angeles.