- published: 27 Sep 2011
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Clarence Williams III (born August 21, 1939) is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his role as "Linc Hayes" on the iconic "hippie" cop show The Mod Squad (1968-1973). He is a stage, film and television actor, who occasionally directs. He was married to and divorced from actress Gloria Foster.
Born in New York City, New York, Williams was the son of a professional musician Clay Williams, and grandson of jazz and blues composer/pianist Clarence Williams and his singer-actress wife, Eva Taylor. Raised by his paternal grandmother, he became interested in acting after accidentally walking onto a stage at a theater below a Harlem YMCA.
Williams began pursuing an acting career after spending two years in the United States Air Force. He first appeared on Broadway in The Long Dream (1960), and received a Theatre World Award and Tony nomination for the three-person play Slow Dance on the Killing Ground (1964). Continuing his work on stage, he appeared in Walk in Darkness (1963), Sarah and the Sax (1964), Doubletalk (1964), and King John. He also served as artist-in-residence at Brandeis University in 1966.