THE PHANTOM

TREAT WILLIAMS

TREAT WILLIAMS embraces the role of Xander Drax with the commitment of a man seeking to conquer the Universe. Off camera, he's exactly what he appears to be, a nice guy.
This multi-talented actor's career began in the musical theater. Reared in Connecticut, he graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania before heading to Broadway. His first name, incidentally, comes from an ancestor on his mother's side, Robert Treat Payne, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Upon his arrival in New York City, Williams became understudy to John Travolta in "Grease," later taking over the Broadway role and making it his own.
Williams made his film debut in "Deadly Hero," but acheived stardom when director Milos Forman cast him in the movie adaption to the Broadway hit, "Hair." The actor later starred in Steven Spielberg's "1941," and the romantic comedy, "Why Would I Lie?" before tackling the dramatic role of the troubled New York cop-turned-informant in Sidney Lumet's "Prince of the City."
Other film roles include "The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper," "Flashpoint," "Once Upon a Time in America," "Smooth Talk," "The Men's Club," "Mulholland Falls," and "Things To Do in Denver When You're Dead," for which he received critical raves.
Williams has taken periodic turns back to Broadway in "Once in a Lifetime," "The Pirates of Penzance" and "Love Letters." Television audiences saw him in "Dempsy," the story of the famed heavyweight boxing champ, and as Stanley Kowalski in the ABC production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire." He also appeared as Hollywood executive Michael Ovitz in HBO's "The Late Shift."
Williams describes his villainous role in "The Phantom" as simply "a very wealthy New York businessman of the '30s, very much a sportsman, elegant -- and also childish, petulant and a murderer." Of his current run of films, he adds, "It's the most exciting time I've had in my career in years."

TM The Hearst Corporation