Treat Williams, who played Danny in the original stage version of Grease, has died in a road accident at the age of 71.
Williams was, according to U.S. police, riding a motorbike in Vermont on Monday but was thrown off it after being hit by a people carrier which turned into him.
He was airlifted to hospital but pronounced dead on arrival.
Variety Magazine published a statement from his family which expressed their “shock”.
"Treat was full of love for his family, for his life and for his craft, and was truly at the top of his game in all of it,” it read.
Who was Treat Williams?
Williams starred on stage in Stephen Sondheim’s Follies and as Danny Zuko in the original theatre version of Grease.
His big on-screen break came with the musical Hair in 1979, in which he played hippie George Berger. This led to him going on to record more than 130 screen credits. He was also well-known for starring in the U.S. TV drama Everwood.
Born Richard Treat Williams, he is survived by his wife of 35 years Pam Van Sant and their two children.
"He was an actor’s actor,” his agent Barry McPherson said. “He was the nicest guy.”
What were Treat Williams’s movies and TV shows?
After Hair, Williams was able to land roles in Stephen Spielberg’s 1941 in 1979 before Once Upon A Time In America and Dead Heat in the 1980s.
He also appeared in Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead and Deep Rising in the late 1990s. At the turn of the century, Williams began to appear in more television roles - including Chesapeake Shores, Blue Bloods and Chicago Fire as well as Everwood.
