Ed Williams, the actor and former broadcasting teacher best known for playing lab scientist Ted Olson in Police Squad! and the original Naked Gun films, passed away on October 2, 2025, in Los Angeles.
The sad news was confirmed by his granddaughter, Stephanie Williams, to The Hollywood Reporter.
Ed Williams lived a remarkably full life before stepping in front of the camera. Born in San Jose in 1926, Williams served in the Navy, worked as a radio salesman at KSJO, and became a booth announcer at KCET Television.
He later taught broadcasting at L.A. City College while honing his craft in live theater, all before making his iconic TV debut as the warped police scientist Ted Olson in Police Squad! He was also the creative mind behind—and demonstrator of—some of Police Squad!’s most outrageous gadgets, from the Swiss-army shoe to the anti-graffiti wall and the dart-shooting cufflinks.
