Actor William Lucking, known for his roles in Sons of Anarchy, Star Trek, and The A-Team, has passed away at the age of 80.
“Although William often played toughs and strongmen, in his actual life he was an elegant man with a brilliant intellect who loved to argue about politics and current affairs, discuss philosophy and physics and assert fine-pointed opinions about art and poetry,” said his wife Sigrid Insull Lucking in an obituary posted on Facebook, and he died in his Las Vegas home on October 18th.
Lucking was born on June 17th, 1941, in Vicksburg, Michigan. Shortly afterwards, his family moved to California where he would then study literature at UCLA and continue in theater studies at the Pasadena Playhouse. Friend and fellow actor Stephen Macht, who met Lucking on the set of Big Hawaii in 1977, described him as a “lion.”
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“I asked him, ‘Why did you become an actor!?’ Bill’s answer, ‘Some asshole clapped!’” recalled Macht. “Bill transcended all the trappings of the ‘biz’ and reached a rare, splendid, powerful art of acting and will forever live in my memory.” As well as starring in Sons of Anarchy as Piermont “Piney” Winston, Lucking played Army Col. Lynch in The A-Team and Furel in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine between 1995 and 1997.
In 1986, he and The A-Team co-star Dana Elcar founded the Santa Paula Theater Center in California, acting as an instructor of the free acting workshop and joint artistic manager and director. Lucking and Elcar’s approaches to the craft contrasted and so suited the array of actors coming to the company to train, and during their five seasons as artistic managers they produced plays like The Zoo Story, The Hothouse, Major Barbara, Camino Real and All the King's Men.
He is survived by his wife Sigid and his two daughters, Marjet Lucking and Juliana Ryan, along with two granddaughters, Quinlan and Lilian. “The family requests you toast his memory and celebrate his legacy,” concluded Macht’s post to Facebook.
Featured Image Credit: FX NetworkTopics: TV And Film