Most older folks first noticed Clarence Williams III in the TV show THE MOD SQUAD. Or younger older folks as Prince's father in PURPLE RAIN. But I was first knocked out by his acting in Shirley Clarke's 1963 masterpiece, near the top of my list of all-time favorite films, THE COOL WORLD, where he plays brilliantly a teenage gang leader in Harlem who becomes a junkie.
In my LA years I was lucky enough to get to know him and have the chance to tell him that and what a great actor I thought he was always, despite the career and personal challenges he faced. I really really liked the guy, not just his acting, and am sorry to hear of his passing. Rest in well-deserved peace, Clarence.
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