Conrad was born William Cann in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of a theatre-owner who moved to southern California, where he excelled at drama and literature while at school. Starting work in radio in the late 1930s in California, Conrad went on to serve as a fighter pilot in World War II. He entered the army in 1942, and was commissioned at Luke Field, Arizona in 1943 (now Luke Air Force Base). On the day of his commission he married June Nelson. He returned to the airwaves after the war, going on to accumulate over 7,000 roles in radio by his own estimate. Among Conrad's various film roles, where he was usually cast as threatening figures, perhaps his most notable role was his first credited one, as one of the gunmen sent to eliminate Burt Lancaster in the 1946 film The Killers. He also appeared in Body and Soul (1947), Sorry, Wrong Number, Joan of Arc (both 1948), and The Naked Jungle (1954). As a producer for Warner Brothers, he made a string of feature films, including An American Dream (1966, retitled See You in Hell, Darling for British release), A Covenant With Death (1966), First to Fight (1967) and The Cool Ones (1967), and also directed My Blood Runs Cold, Brainstorm and Two on a Guillotine (all 1965).
Movie | The Box | Self (voice) (uncredited) | 2009-10-29 |
Movie | Hudson Hawk | Narrator (voice) | 1991-05-23 |
Series | Jake and the Fatman | Jason McCabe | 1987-09-26 |
Movie | Killing Cars | Mr. Mahoney | 1986-02-13 |
Movie | Vengeance: The Story of Tony Cimo | Jim Dunn | 1986-11-01 |
Series | Matlock | Unknown | 1986-03-03 |
Movie | In Like Flynn | Sgt. Dominic | 1985-08-14 |
Series | Trauma Center | 1983-09-22 | |
Movie | The Mikado | The Mikado | 1983-08-18 |
Series | Manimal | Narrator (uncredited) | 1983-09-30 |
Series | Police Squad! | Stabbed Man | 1982-03-04 |
Movie | Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid | (in "The Killers") (archive footage) | 1982-05-21 |
Series | Hotel | Unknown | 1982-08-21 |
Series | Nero Wolfe | Nero Wolfe | 1981-01-16 |
Movie | Side Show | Ring Announcer (voice) | 1981-06-05 |
Movie | The Return of Frank Cannon | Frank Cannon | 1980-10-31 |
Movie | The Return of the King | Lord Denethor (voice) | 1980-05-11 |
Movie | Buck Rogers in the 25th Century | Opening Narrator / Draconian officer (uncredited) (voice) | 1979-03-02 |
Series | Buck Rogers in the 25th Century | 1979-09-20 | |
Movie | Night Cries | Dr. Whelan | 1978-01-29 |
Movie | Keefer | Col. Keefer | 1978-03-16 |
Series | How the West Was Won | The voice | 1977-02-06 |
Movie | The City | Narrator (voice) | 1977-01-12 |
Series | Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected | Narrator | 1977-02-02 |
Movie | The Force of Evil | Narrator (voice) | 1977-03-13 |
Movie | Catastrophe | Narrator (voice) | 1977-04-20 |
Movie | The Making of Star Wars | Narrator (voice) | 1977-09-16 |
Movie | Moonshine County Express | Jack Starkey | 1977-06-01 |
Series | The Sonny & Cher Show | Unknown | 1976-02-01 |
Movie | Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan | Narrator (voice) (uncredited) | 1975-02-20 |
Series | Tony Orlando and Dawn | Unknown | 1974-12-04 |
Series | The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts | Unknown | 1973-09-14 |
Series | The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour | Unknown | 1971-08-01 |
Series | Cannon | Frank Cannon | 1971-09-14 |
Movie | Chisum | Narrator - Opening Credits (voice) (uncredited) | 1970-07-23 |
Movie | The Brotherhood of the Bell | Bart Harris | 1970-09-17 |
Series | The Dudley Do-Right Show | 1969-04-27 | |
Series | The Name of the Game | Unknown | 1968-09-20 |
Movie | Countdown | TV Newscaster (voice) (uncredited) | 1967-08-20 |
Series | Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In | Unknown | 1967-09-09 |
Series | The High Chaparral | Unknown | 1967-09-10 |
Movie | Chamber of Horrors | Narrator | 1966-10-19 |
Movie | Brainstorm | Mental Patient (uncredited) | 1965-05-05 |
Series | F Troop | Unknown | 1965-09-14 |
Series | The Dean Martin Show | Unknown | 1965-09-16 |
Movie | Battle of the Bulge | Narrator (uncredited) | 1965-12-16 |
Series | The Fugitive | Narrator | 1963-09-17 |
Series | General Electric True | Unknown | 1962-09-30 |
Series | Target: The Corruptors! | Unknown | 1961-09-29 |
Series | The Aquanauts | Unknown | 1960-09-14 |
Series | This Man Dawson | 1959-10-15 | |
Series | The Man and the Challenge | Unknown | 1959-09-12 |
Movie | -30- | Jim Bathgate | 1959-11-11 |
Series | The Bullwinkle Show | Narrator (voice) | 1959-11-19 |
Series | Bat Masterson | Unknown | 1958-10-08 |
Series | Have Gun, Will Travel | Unknown | 1957-09-14 |
Movie | The Ride Back | Sheriff Chris Hamish | 1957-04-28 |
Movie | Zero Hour! | Narrator (voice) (uncredited) | 1957-11-13 |
Movie | The Conqueror | Kasar | 1956-03-28 |
Movie | Johnny Concho | Tallman | 1956-07-01 |
Movie | 5 Against the House | Eric Berg | 1955-06-10 |
Series | Gunsmoke | Unknown | 1955-09-10 |
Movie | The Naked Jungle | Commissioner | 1954-03-03 |
Movie | The Desert Song | Lachmed | 1953-05-30 |
Movie | Cry of the Hunted | Goodwin | 1953-05-08 |
Movie | Lone Star | Mizette | 1952-10-24 |
Movie | Cry Danger | Louie Castro | 1951-02-23 |
Movie | The Sword of Monte Cristo | Major Nicolet | 1951-03-03 |
Movie | The Racket | Det. Sgt. Turk | 1951-10-25 |
Movie | One Way Street | Ollie | 1950-04-01 |
Movie | The Milkman | Mike Morrel | 1950-10-17 |
Movie | Dial 1119 | Chuckles | 1950-11-03 |
Movie | Any Number Can Play | Frank Sistina | 1949-07-15 |
Movie | Tension | Lt. Edgar Gonsales | 1949-11-25 |
Movie | East Side, West Side | Lt. Jacobi | 1949-12-22 |
Series | The Ed Sullivan Show | Unknown | 1948-06-20 |
Movie | Arch of Triumph | Policeman at Accident (uncredited) | 1948-02-17 |
Movie | Four Faces West | Sheriff Egan | 1948-08-03 |
Movie | Sorry, Wrong Number | Morano | 1948-09-24 |
Movie | Joan of Arc | Guillaume Erard, a Prosecutor | 1948-12-22 |
Movie | To the Victor | Farnsworth | 1948-10-26 |
Movie | Body and Soul | Quinn | 1947-11-11 |
Movie | The Killers | Max | 1946-08-30 |
Movie | Pillow to Post | First Motorcycle Cop (uncredited) | 1945-06-09 |