Conrad was born William Cann in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of a theatre-owner who moved to southern California, where he excelled at drama and literature while at school. Starting work in radio in the late 1930s in California, Conrad went on to serve as a fighter pilot in World War II. He entered the army in 1942, and was commissioned at Luke Field, Arizona in 1943 (now Luke Air Force Base). On the day of his commission he married June Nelson. He returned to the airwaves after the war, going on to accumulate over 7,000 roles in radio by his own estimate. Among Conrad's various film roles, where he was usually cast as threatening figures, perhaps his most notable role was his first credited one, as one of the gunmen sent to eliminate Burt Lancaster in the 1946 film The Killers. He also appeared in Body and Soul (1947), Sorry, Wrong Number, Joan of Arc (both 1948), and The Naked Jungle (1954). As a producer for Warner Brothers, he made a string of feature films, including An American Dream (1966, retitled See You in Hell, Darling for British release), A Covenant With Death (1966), First to Fight (1967) and The Cool Ones (1967), and also directed My Blood Runs Cold, Brainstorm and Two on a Guillotine (all 1965).
Movie | The Past Tense | James Moore | 2020-08-12 |
Movie | The Box | Self (voice) (uncredited) | 2009-10-29 |
Movie | Hudson Hawk | Narrator (voice) | 1991-05-23 |
Series | Jake and the Fatman | Jason McCabe | 1987-09-26 |
Movie | Vengeance: The Story of Tony Cimo | Jim Dunn | 1986-11-01 |
Movie | Killing Cars | Mr. Mahoney | 1986-02-13 |
Movie | In Like Flynn | Sgt. Dominic | 1985-08-14 |
Movie | The Mikado | The Mikado | 1983-08-18 |
Series | Manimal | Narrator (uncredited) | 1983-09-30 |
Series | Trauma Center | 1983-09-22 | |
Movie | Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid | (in "The Killers") (archive footage) | 1982-05-21 |
Series | Police Squad! | Stabbed Man | 1982-03-04 |
Movie | Shock-Trauma | Dr. R. Adams Cowley | 1982-10-27 |
Series | Nero Wolfe | Nero Wolfe | 1981-01-16 |
Movie | Side Show | Ring Announcer (voice) | 1981-06-05 |
Movie | The Murder That Wouldn't Die | William Battles | 1980-03-09 |
Movie | The Return of the King | Lord Denethor (voice) | 1980-05-11 |
Movie | The Return of Frank Cannon | Frank Cannon | 1980-10-31 |
Movie | Buck Rogers in the 25th Century | Opening Narrator / Draconian officer (uncredited) (voice) | 1979-03-02 |
Series | Buck Rogers in the 25th Century | 1979-09-20 | |
Movie | Night Cries | Dr. Whelan | 1978-01-29 |
Movie | Keefer | Col. Keefer | 1978-03-16 |
Series | How the West Was Won | The voice | 1977-02-06 |
Series | Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected | Narrator | 1977-02-02 |
Movie | The City | Narrator (voice) | 1977-01-12 |
Movie | The Force of Evil | Narrator (voice) | 1977-03-13 |
Movie | Moonshine County Express | Jack Starkey | 1977-06-01 |
Movie | The Making of Star Wars | Narrator (voice) | 1977-09-16 |
Movie | The Macahans | Narrator (voice) (uncredited) | 1976-01-19 |
Movie | Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan | Narrator (voice) (uncredited) | 1975-02-20 |
Series | Cannon | Frank Cannon | 1971-09-14 |
Movie | Chisum | Narrator - Opening Credits (voice) (uncredited) | 1970-07-23 |
Movie | The Brotherhood of the Bell | Bart Harris | 1970-09-17 |
Series | The Dudley Do-Right Show | 1969-04-27 | |
Movie | Countdown | TV Newscaster (voice) (uncredited) | 1967-08-20 |
Movie | Chamber of Horrors | Narrator | 1966-10-19 |
Movie | Brainstorm | Mental Patient (uncredited) | 1965-05-05 |
Movie | Battle of the Bulge | Narrator (uncredited) | 1965-12-16 |
Series | The Fugitive | Narrator | 1963-09-17 |
Movie | -30- | Jim Bathgate | 1959-11-11 |
Series | This Man Dawson | 1959-10-15 | |
Series | The Bullwinkle Show | Narrator (voice) | 1959-11-19 |
Movie | The Ride Back | Sheriff Chris Hamish | 1957-04-28 |
Movie | Zero Hour! | Narrator (voice) (uncredited) | 1957-11-13 |
Movie | The Conqueror | Kasar | 1956-03-28 |
Movie | Johnny Concho | Tallman | 1956-07-01 |
Movie | 5 Against the House | Eric Berg | 1955-06-10 |
Movie | The Naked Jungle | Commissioner | 1954-03-03 |
Movie | Cry of the Hunted | Goodwin | 1953-05-08 |
Movie | The Desert Song | Lachmed | 1953-05-30 |
Movie | Lone Star | Mizette | 1952-10-24 |
Movie | The Racket | Det. Sgt. Turk | 1951-10-25 |
Movie | Cry Danger | Louie Castro | 1951-02-23 |
Movie | The Sword of Monte Cristo | Major Nicolet | 1951-03-03 |
Movie | One Way Street | Ollie | 1950-04-01 |
Movie | Dial 1119 | Chuckles | 1950-11-03 |
Movie | The Milkman | Mike Morrel | 1950-10-17 |
Movie | Tension | Lt. Edgar Gonsales | 1949-11-25 |
Movie | Any Number Can Play | Frank Sistina | 1949-07-15 |
Movie | East Side, West Side | Lt. Jacobi | 1949-12-22 |
Movie | Arch of Triumph | Policeman at Accident (uncredited) | 1948-02-17 |
Movie | Sorry, Wrong Number | Morano | 1948-09-24 |
Movie | Four Faces West | Sheriff Egan | 1948-08-03 |
Movie | Joan of Arc | Guillaume Erard, a Prosecutor | 1948-12-22 |
Movie | To the Victor | Farnsworth | 1948-10-26 |
Movie | Body and Soul | Quinn | 1947-11-11 |
Movie | The Killers | Max | 1946-08-30 |
Movie | Pillow to Post | First Motorcycle Cop (uncredited) | 1945-06-09 |