William Duell

William Duell (August 30, 1923 – December 22, 2011) was an American actor and singer. He was known for his roles as Andrew McNair in the musical 1776, Jim Sefelt in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and Johnny the Snitch on the 1982 crime comedy series Police Squad!. Described as a short, odd-looking character actor with a Shakespearean background, he had many minor roles in plays, films and TV series. His last work was a cameo in the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. He was born George William Duell in 1923, but sometime in his youth, his mother legally changed his name to Darwin William Duell. Duell never cared for his given name, and always went by William. Duell graduated from the Green Mountain Junior College (now Green Mountain College) (Illinois), Illinois Wesleyan University, and Yale University. A theatre scholarship at GMC is named after him. He portrayed Congressional Custodian Andrew McNair in the Broadway version of 1776, which made him the one actor who stayed throughout the entire run of the show and was never understudied.

Actor