Great American songwriter Paul Williams

Can't think of one song of his that I Iiked. Hard pass.

For some reason, Rainbow Connection gets a bit emotional. Maybe it's Kermit.

Wasn't he always on THE LOVE BOAT or FANTASY ISLAND?

He had a distinctive voice?

Paul Williams' physical appearance always gave me the creeps, but no doubt he's a prolific and talented pop music icon.

Great songwriter and definitely under appreciated. I saw him with my Mom back in the seventies. I still remember when he started to sing “Evergreen” & everyone in that theater got up and started to cheer.

I thought he was a midget when I was a kid.

I remember her when I was young. She was a bit scary.

What a freak!

Dare you to watch it and not cry

I got him confused with Randy Newman and “Short People”.

Supremely talented OP - thank you for the thread

Great songwriter and performer. But man he looks like such a lesbian in OP’s pic.

Upon accepting the Academy Award with Barbra: “I was going to thank all the little people, then I remembered, I am the little people.”

He's actually a wonderful man in person with a great sense of humor. I can listen to him talk for hours. His songs are great, even the ones you've never heard of. He survived the music industry of the 70's and should be sainted just for that fact.

Erotic teddy bear?

My favorite thing he did is Bugsy Malone! Wish they'd release the DVD in the US. Paul's awesome-what was controversial about the biopic? I think I have it saved on Netflix but have yet to watch it.

I'm a child of the 70s. I remember seeing him everywhere. I really liked the documentary. And I liked that he was able to get through his drug addiction. He is an amazing songwriter.

An underappreciated masterpiece from the Master: Jessica Harper sings his "Old Souls" in Phantom of the Paradise (1973)

Perhaps my favorite from TMM.

He was on an episode of The Odd Couple. Felix took his daughter to see him, because she was a big fan. Then he got him to come by the apartment because Oscar somehow had a connection to him through the newspaper. I thought he was a strange person to have as a teen idol, wouldn’t Bobby Sherman or David Cassidy be more appropriate for that time period?

He was Mike Douglas's cohost about 20 time between 1974 and 1978.

Love his "Phantom Of The Paradise" & Bugsy Malone" soundtracks too.

Loved him in Willie Wonka.

Made many solo albums in the 70s. His songs with Roger Nichols are great. His singing voice is an acquired taste...but I have acquired it. For your consideration: What Would They Say (theme from The Boy in the Plastic Bubble).

Liked his songs for Three Dog Night "Old Fashioned Love Song" and "Out In The Country". Supposedly, he was singing over a bank commercial featuring a young married couple, when the Carpenters recognized his voice. They called him up and asked if he could make a full song from that commercial, which spawned "We've Only Just Begun".

This is him singing in this bank commercial from 1970. We've Only Just Begun ". Sounds good!

Rainbow Connection, sung by Debbie Harry and friend

R17 the guy who made Still Alive is borderline abusive to Paul Williams in the film. Many critics panned it and many fans were outraged.

Paul wrote this for The Carpenters, but they didn't record it. Three Dog Night recorded it and it became a big hit.

Paul co-wrote this gem.

Wasn't he a drunk and harrasser of women?

He played the son of Dr. Miguelito Loveless in a Wild WIld West tv movie.

R32 Hugely messed up on coke and booze for many years until he sobered up in the 90s. I haven't heard any harassment stories...do you have any to relate?

R3 and R22 Yes, he was ubiquitous during the 70s because, in his words, "I was such a little media-whore". He blacked out/forgot many TV appearances due to the drugs and alcohol.

I wish he'd tell the truth about who composed "Evergreen". I still think that the greedy bitch Babs added herself to the songwriting credits without actually writing any of the song. Her contribution was probably nothing more than the addition of "(Love Theme from A Star Is Born)" to the song title.

A short article from 2013 with updates on what he's been doing lately.

He’s come a long way since The Shire.

R36 Streisand sent Evergreen back to him 33 times asking for alterations. He said "Working with Barbra Streisand is like trying to have a picnic at the end of an [airport] runway"

As I said the last time Phantom of the Paradise came up (all of seven weeks ago):

[quote]Broadway seems to be so intent on turning 2nd and 3rd rate movies into stage musicals these days that I've long wondered why no one has tried it with a good film like PotP. Someone should, ideally while Paul Williams is still around.

If we make it to 2021, every deity out there will owe us big time. I'll take Phantom on Broadway, please.

Well he was in “Smokey and the Bandit” with that beautiful man, Mr. Burt Reynolds, so he can’t be all that bad.

When I think of Paul Williams, I know the first word that always pops up is EROTIC.

Besides Mike Douglas, he was also a frequent guest singer on Carson

^^^ You iz bad!

No r44, that's actually him. PW was in a Planet of the Apes Movie. And I also saw this documentary on him that a superfan made. The superfan basically stalked him the whole time, and Paul came across as annoyed (who wouldn't be?) but I think superfan managed to get an interview in the end. I cannot remember TBH.

I didn't know that, R45 - thanks for the correction - R44

He was great in The Loved One.

“You and Me Against The World” sang by Helen Reddy is just gorgeous. If you love your mom, give it a listen.

Paul as Swan in Phantom of the Paradise (1973)

He made a fabulous and very funny villain.

he's OK

He was scary in Don't Look Now

He sort of looks like Bud Cort

I was low key fascinated with him after seeing PotO (I was 8). But then I had crushes on Elton John and Gene Wilder, so my taste in men was questionable even then.

He played one of the Orangutans in the 1973 movie Battle For The Planet Of The Apes.

R41 in that picture he is with the crazy Pat McCormick

[quote]“You and Me Against The World” sang by Helen Reddy is just gorgeous.

Oh, dear.

oh dear what

SUNG, not SANG.

oh DEAR

That Helen reddy song makes me cry buckets as does rainbow connection

Fug but talented

He just gave me a creepy vibe as a kid. Plus he resembled Ms. Miller, my high school PE teacher.

[quote]He just gave me a creepy vibe as a kid

Ditto. He wrote some beautiful songs, but sure gave off super creepy vibes when he was on talk shows. If as a kid you saw him in a park and he offered candy, definitely best to run the other direction.

He was actually something of a teen-idol in the early 70s. The pre-teen girls found him cute and cuddly.

In the last two weeks I've been rediscovering Three Dog Night (worthy of their own thread) and I was surprised to find that Williams had written "Out In The Country." That's really typical with his songs: you listen to them and really like them, but don't associate them with him. I have a huge Paul Williams songbook, and I'm always amazed at just how many great songs he wrote -And how many I didn't know were his.

His songs were emblematic of what was wrong with 1970s top 40 music--vapid, sappy, ecch! I get him confused with John Williams, the schlocky film composer.

r43 Too many banana daiquiris!

I like two other songs he did for the Carpenters, "I Won't Last A Day Without You", and a short, but very nice song called "Let Me Be The One".

I like his songs from the Muppets Christmas Carol

The Carpenters version of Let Me Be The One. Karen's vocals are beautiful.

I am sorry... I can't with The Carpenters. Her voice is like death.

[quote] ^^^ You iz bad!

As others pointed out that picture is legit. He was still filming and came to the Carson taping straight from shooting. He came out from behind the curtain in his full costume and makeup and played it perfectly straight with no ape shtick. But the more he did Paul Williams as a golden ape the more Carson and the audience cracked up. The whole bit used to be on youtube but apparently no longer so I had to settle for that picture from that night.

I poop

Always just assumed Dana Carvey's character was based on Paul Williams' insipid lyrics.

R71 your insane

R43 & R72: Williams said that of the 50+ Tonight Show appearances he did, he only remembers 5 or 6 of them (due to booze). I wonder if that night was one of them.

Paul Williams delivered my favorite line from Smokey and the Bandit:

Smokey: "Why do want that beer so bad?" Little Enos: "Because he's thirsty, dummy."

Why were three piece suits such a big trend in the 70s? And white ones at that. I remember Paul Williams being everywhere from Love Boat to Carson in that little white three piece with his flowing blond locks and snorkeling goggles. Was he the trendsetter?

Vimeo has part of the Paul Williams Tonight Show golden ape performance.

"Still Here" is free for Amazon Prime members.

Rita Coolidge did a lovely job with "Isn't That What Friends Are For?" on her "It's Only Love" album.

I, too, grew up in the 70's, and can attest to the fact that this guy was everywhere on TV. There was just no escaping him. Talk shows, game shows, sitcoms, variety shows, you name it, that obnoxious little garden gnome was sure to pop up somewhere practically every week, often drunk.

Hahaha! The Boy in the Plastic Bubble was on the other night. Paul Williams wrote and performed the theme song. Of course he did!! He was everywhere in the 1970s! What a crazy, dated film. I actually enjoyed it. BEAMISH WAS THE SHERRY SIPPING NURSE!! Aaron Spelling loved to reuse actors hence why they show up in multiple of his productions.

Kenny Loggins put over this song.

Carol Burnett said he was the WORST guest she ever had. INSUFFERABLE

I was happy to see him on Goliath

r79 what the hell is he singing?

R87 "Here's That Rainy Day" (!)

If you have the chance, watch The Cheap Detective. He has a small scene towards the end where Peter Falk makes him slap himself to death.

I wanna see his Muppet Show episodes!

Paul had his very own Muppet:

^^^*muppets.

r91 you led me down a rabbit hole on You Tube, now I've been listening to The Carpenters (they were one of the suggestions on You Tube)

Yeah, I was a child of the 70s and that little guy was everywhere -- on tv, movies and the radio. I liked his songs but I found his tv appearances obnoxious. Suddenly, he disappeared around the late 80s .... I thought he was dead until I saw him in Goliath on Amazon Prime where he played Thornton's old lawyer buddy. He seems to have mellowed in old age and sobriety. He seems like a nice guy now.

R94 He crashed and burned in the 80s and got sober in the 90s. The [italic] Still Alive [/italic] documentary (free on Amazon, I believe) tells most of the story. He seems to have turned into a real sweetheart.

R93 Check out the song at R19

OP Still Alive.

The film maker, whose name is Fuckface McFuckwit is a dick. It makes it all about himself, and when you have a subject with a story like this, there is no need for your story. Squid, indeed.

SPOILERS - Without the clips Paul gives him at the end, the film would be shit.

Love this.

Loved Evergreen. It really complimented Streisand's voice.

Now it got me listening to Anne Murray and the tears are flowing, my Dad used to play her tapes in the car when I was a kid.