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| Ron Williams started out as an actor before turning to cartooning. The political cartoonist died of AIDS-related complications July 25. |
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: Josef Molnar
COMMENTS |
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Whether on stage or with a pen or brush, Ron Williams made an impact, which is
why the recent death of the artist, actor, political cartoonist and longtime
resident of New Orleans was such a loss to friends and readers of gay newspapers
where his work appeared.
Williams died July 25 in Santa Fe, N.M., from complications related to AIDS.
He was 45.
Williams moved to New Orleans and started acting and designing stage sets
shortly after leaving his home state of Pennsylvania. He graduated from Pennsylvania
State University with a major in film.
“He was a great big, strapping kid from Pennsylvania, just laughing
all the time,” said David Cuthbert, who met Williams when both started
working at the Bayou Plaza Hotel’s dinner theater.
Ricky Graham, a playwright and fellow actor who knew Williams since their
time together on the play “Women Behind Bars” in 1991, said they
had a mutual interest in live theater and dead movie stars.
“Ron was by far the most optimistic and ‘up’ person I have
ever known, almost to the point of nausea, I often pointed out, and he cheerfully
concurred,” he said.
“But it was always to him that I went when I needed sensible advice
and a spiritual lift,” Graham added.
Williams’ disposition made him an ideal match for light-hearted roles,
and he established his reputation as Jeffrey in the play of the same name and
Dash Daryl, in “Daryl’s Perils.” He later helped to found
the True Brew Theatre at 200 Julia St., as well as the first dog-centered Mardi
Gras Krewe of Barkus, for which his chow-retriever mix Tad served as king for
two years in a row.
Williams also established a reputation for integrity when he had the opportunity
to act in a play at Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre, the nation’s oldest
community theater. Even though none of the actors in the play would be paid,
the company was willing to pay him for his talents.
He declined the offer.
“He said, ‘I wouldn’t feel right being paid when my fellow
artists aren’t,” Cuthbert said. “He was a very principled
person.”
Williams’ talent with a pen or brush gave him another creative outlet,
and he painted colorful indoor and outdoor murals, illustrations and lettering
for restaurants and other businesses around New Orleans. Cuthbert said there
were few areas of the city that weren’t touched by his brush.
“He did work everywhere, on everything,” he said. “He once
told me, ‘I walk around and I feel like this whole city is my canvas.’”
The next phase of Williams’ life came about 10 years ago, when he shifted
his focus from acting to cartooning. His first political cartoons appeared
in Impact, a weekly gay newspaper in New Orleans that closed in 2002, and other
Window Media newspapers, including Southern Voice, the Houston Voice and the
Washington Blade.
“Ron brought color and a biting wit to the op-ed pages of our newspapers,” said
Chris Crain, editorial director for Window Media. “His work is sorely
missed.”
Williams’ cartoons ranged from the humorous to those with a cutting
edge, poking fun at President Bush or drug abusing “circuit queens.”
Although he continued to illustrate and paint, Cuthbert said Williams was
satisfied the most with his new career.
“I talked to him about it, and he said, ‘I spent years trying
to find my voice,’ and finally this feels right. This is it,’” Cuthbert
said.
Williams moved to Santa Fe, N.M. three years ago when his health deteriorated
due to complications from AIDS. He drew cartoons for the Reporter and remained
active in the community until his health declined.
Survivors include his mother, Ellen Williams Evans, and his stepfather, Sherwood
J. Evans, both of Bangor, Pa.; his brother, Richard of Cincinnati, Ohio; his
stepbrother, John Jr. of Hewitt, N.J.; his sister, Connie Treskot of Bethlehem;
and several nieces and nephews.
Donations may be made to Aid & Comfort, P.O. Box 1981, Santa Fe, N.M.
87504.
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