Biography
Paul Hamilton Williams Jr. (born September 19, 1940) is an American composer, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for writing and co-writing popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s, including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song" and "Out in the Country", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World", Biff Rose's "Fill Your Heart", and the Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days and Mondays". Williams is also known for writing the score and lyrics for...
Known For
Complete Filmography

The Muppet Script
2025
Original Music Composer
When most people think of the Muppets, they think of the colorful characters made out of fleece and foam. But as with every movie, it all starts on th...

Killing Me Softly with His Songs
2022
as Self
A musical documentary about the life and work of composer Charles Fox, known for pop hits such as 'Killing Me Softly with His Song', 'I Got a Name', '...

Jim Henson’s Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas
2021
Songs
Based on Jim Henson’s beloved television special, this tuneful tale takes us to Frogtown Hollow where Ma and Emmet Otter risk what little they have to...

Superman: Red Son
2020
as Brainiac (voice)
Set in the thick of the Cold War, Red Son introduces us to a Superman who landed in the USSR during the 1950s and grows up to become a Soviet symbol t...

Phantom of Winnipeg
2019
as Self
When Brian De Palma's 1974 film Phantom of the Paradise was released, it was considered a failure almost everywhere. Except in the Canadian city of Wi...

Waiting for Ishtar
2017
as Self
A conversation about guilty pleasures turns into one man's quest to find others on a library waiting list, while simultaneously examining the fate of ...

Baby Driver
2017
as The Butcher
After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.

Bridget Jones's Baby
2016
Dialogue Editor
After breaking up with Mark Darcy five years earlier, Bridget Jones' happily-ever-after hasn't quite gone according to plan. Fortysomething and single...

The Bandit
2016
as Self
THE BANDIT is a film about 70s superstar Burt Reynolds, his best friend, roommate and stunt-double Hal Needham, and the making of their unlikely smash...

Daft Punk Unchained
2015
as Self
Daft Punk Unchained is the first film about the pop culture phenomenon that is Daft Punk, the duo with 12 million albums sold worldwide and seven Gram...

Guillermo del Toro Interviews Paul Williams
2014
as Self
Director Guillermo del Toro interviews actor-composer Paul Williams about his career and his experience with Brian De Palma's film Phantom of the Para...

The Diamond Jubilee Concert 2012
2012
Executive Producer
In the presence of HM the Queen and the royal family, an array of stars from the last sixty years of rock, pop and classical music perform on a specta...

The Ghastly Love of Johnny X
2012
as Cousin Quilty
A truly mad concoction, blending 1950s juvenile delinquents, sci-fi melodrama, song-and-dance, and a touch of horror, everything in just the right com...

Paul Williams Still Alive
2011
as Self
Filmmaker and longtime fan Stephen Kessler's portrait of the award-winning 1970s singer-songwriter-actor, who disappeared for much of the 1980s and '9...

Valentine's Day
2010
as Romeo Midnight (voice)
Intertwining couples and singles in Los Angeles break-up and make-up based on the pressures and expectations of Valentine's Day.

A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa
2008
as Elf
When Gonzo forgets to mail three letters to Santa, he convinces Kermit and the gang to help him deliver the notes to the North Pole. Along the way, th...

A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa
2008
Songs, Teleplay, Story
When Gonzo forgets to mail three letters to Santa, he convinces Kermit and the gang to help him deliver the notes to the North Pole. Along the way, th...

The Happening
2008
Construction Coordinator
When a deadly airborne virus threatens to wipe out the northeastern United States, teacher Elliot Moore and his wife Alma flee from contaminated citie...

Georgia Rule
2007
as Mr. Wells
Rebellious, uncontrollable teenager, Rachel is hauled off by her dysfunctional mother to spend the summer with her estranged grandmother, Georgia. Her...

Paradise Regained: Brian de Palma's 'Phantom of the Paradise'
2006
as Himself
A 50-minute documentary on the making of the film featuring director Brian De Palma, producer Edward R. Pressman, the late star William Finley, star a...
Behind the Scenes in Frogtown Hollow
2005
as Self
Interviews with key participants from and behind-the-scenes footage of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977).

Nowhere Man
2005
as Bar Patron
A desperate man ventures into a dangerous and sordid underworld of crime and pornography in search of his severed genitalia which is held for ransom b...

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
2004
as Lord Harmony
Mia Thermopolis is now a college graduate and on her way to Genovia to take up her duties as princess. Accompanied by her friend Lilly, Mia continues ...

The Rules of Attraction
2002
as Duty Doctor
The incredibly spoiled and overprivileged students of Camden College are a backdrop for an unusual love triangle between a drug dealer, a virgin and a...

Close to You: The Story of the Carpenters
2002
Documentary detailing the career of The Carpenters from their formative years through to specially shot footage of Richard Carpenter in the recording ...

The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick
2001
as Himself
Writers, publishers, fans, and friends share their perspectives and memories of sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick. In his career, Philip Kindred Dick (1928...

A Regular Frankie Fan
2000
as Narrator
A Regular Frankie Fan is a 2000 documentary film on the fans of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was narrated by Paul Williams and written and direct...

Postal Worker
1998
A time bomb is ticking in a small regional postal facility and his name is Oren Starks (Brad Garrett). Oren fits the profile of a new breed of killers...

Firestorm
1996
as Dr. Tangu
In the year 2024, a fierce battle rages between a ruthless villain and an android resistance group

Headless Body in Topless Bar
1995
as Carl Levin
An ex-con holds a group of people hostage in a topless bar.

A Million to Juan
1994
as Jenkins
Romantic comedy about an honest Mexican immigrant who struggles without a green card by selling oranges on a street corner. One day a limousine pulls ...

Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die
1994
as Duke
The Harts find themselves in the middle of a dangerous murder plot, but it isn't clear if the plot it a famous author's fictional murder-mystery, or a...

The Town Santa Forgot
1993
as Pomp the Elf
A spoiled brat sends a very long list to Santa Claus who misdelivers the gifts to a town with the same name as the boy, who learns it's better to give...

Nick & Noel
1993
as Barnaby (voice)
A singer and her dog move next door to a widowed father, his little girl and her cat. Despite a rough start, the neighbors grow close, just in time fo...

The Muppet Christmas Carol
1992
Songs
A retelling of the classic Dickens tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, miser extraordinaire. He is held accountable for his dastardly ways during night-time vis...

Solar Crisis
1992
as Freddy the Bomb (voice)
A huge solar flare is predicted to fry the Earth. Astronauts aboard the spaceship Helios must go to the Sun to drop a bomb equipped with an Artificial...

The Last Halloween
1991
as Gleep (Voice)
Four Martians crash-land on Earth in search of candy for their home planet.

The Doors
1991
as Warhol PR
The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.

Voices That Care
1991
as Self - Choir Member
Behind the scenes making of the charity single "Voices That Care".

Frogs!
1991
as Gus
Gus, a former frog prince turned lounge singer, shows up on his friend's doorstep just when Arlo has little time to help him. But when Gus tangles wit...

People Like Us
1990
as Ezzie Fenwick
When a wealthy scriptwriter and socialite's daughter is murdered, he feels let down by the courts, and so decides to use his powerful position to enab...

Sam Kinison: Banned
1990
as Attorney
Sam Kinison live at the Felt Forum, 2/14/89. Also has opening act Carl Labove plus Sam's 3 MTV videos.

The Search for Haunted Hollywood
1989
as Himself
1989 TV documentary looking into the haunted legends of old Hollywood.

Old Gringo
1989
as Cinematographer
A writer forms a triangle with a schoolmarm and a Mexican general on the run.

Chill Factor
1989
as Clifford White
After a day of filming her popular "Window On The World" television series, hostess Katherine returns to her hotel room to find Clifford, an ex-CIA ...

Twelfth Night
1987
as Curio
Viola and Sebastian are lookalike twins, separated by a shipwreck. Viola lands in Illyria, where she disguises herself like her brother and goes into ...

Ishtar
1987
Songs
Two terrible lounge singers get booked to play a gig in a Moroccan hotel but somehow become pawns in an international power play between the CIA, the ...

Frog
1987
as Gus
Arlo Anderson loves his reptiles, and so when he decides to buy a rare breed of frog with his date money he winds up with more than he bargained for! ...

The Blinkins: The Bear and the Blizzard
1986
as Grog the Frog (voice)
A little girl, Molly, loses her doll, Belinda, in the Blinkin wood and the Blinkins find it and make it their mission to return her to the owner. In t...

The Muppet Revue
1985
as Self
Kermit and Fozzie take a stroll down Muppet Memory Lane in this rollicking revue which contains both original production and material from the best of...

My Little Pony: Escape from Catrina
1985
as Rep (voice)
All the little ponies and their young friend Megan must save Baby Surprise and their ponies, magical rainbow locket from the evil Cartrina. If they do...

The Night They Saved Christmas
1984
as Ed
An oil company is exploring two Arctic sites for oil. The needed blasting at the first site rocks Santa Claus' North Pole village. He realizes that an...

Smokey and the Bandit Part 3
1983
as Little Enos
The Enos duo convince Cletus, aka The Bandit, to come out of hiding and help them promote their new restaurant. With a little coaxing, he agrees, prod...

Rooster
1982
as Rooster Steele
A physically small police psychologist and a physically large insurance detective team up on an arson case.

Rooster
1982
Writer
A physically small police psychologist and a physically large insurance detective team up on an arson case.

The Secret of NIMH
1982
Lyricist
A widowed field mouse must move her family -- including an ailing son -- to escape a farmer's plow. Aided by a crow and a pack of superintelligent, es...

Smokey and the Bandit II
1980
as Little Enos Burdette
The Bandit goes on another cross-country run, transporting an elephant from Florida to Texas. And, once again, Sheriff Buford T. Justice is on his tai...

Stone Cold Dead
1979
as Julius Kurtz
Sergeant Boyd's police search to find a sniper who has been shooting hookers.

The Muppet Movie
1979
as El Sleazo Pianist
The Muppets gather to watch their newly-finished big-budget rich-and-famous feature film: a talent agent persuades Kermit the Frog to leave the swamp ...

The Muppet Movie
1979
Original Music Composer, Songs
The Muppets gather to watch their newly-finished big-budget rich-and-famous feature film: a talent agent persuades Kermit the Frog to leave the swamp ...

The Muppets Go Hollywood
1979
as Self
Kermit the Frog throws a glamorous party at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub to celebrate the premiere of the Muppets' first feature film, The Muppet Movi...

The Wild Wild West Revisited
1979
as Michelito Loveless, Jr.
The intrepid team of Old West government intelligence agents are brought out of retirement after 10 years to hunt down a cunning new adversary, the so...

The Cheap Detective
1978
as Boy
A spoof of the entire 1940s detective genre. San Francisco private detective, Lou Pekinpaugh is accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of...

The End
1978
Original Music Composer
Wendell Lawson has only six months to live. Not wanting to endure his last few months of life waiting for the end, he decides to take matters into his...

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
1977
Songs, Music
A poor otter family risks everything for the chance to win the cash prize of a talent contest for Christmas.

The Beatles Forever
1977
as Self
A musical salute to The Beatles.

The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula (Parts 1 & 2)
1977
as Allison Troy
While in Europe searching for their missing father, the Hardy Boys meet Nancy Drew and team up on a case that takes them to a rock festival in Transyl...

Smokey and the Bandit
1977
as Little Enos
A race car driver tries to transport an illegal beer shipment from Texas to Atlanta in under 28 hours, picking up a reluctant bride-to-be on the way.

The People's Command Performance: '77
1977
as Self
A celebrity lineup selected by a “specially conducted nationwide survey” entertains.

Flight to Holocaust
1977
as Colorado Davis
A team of troubleshooters is called to a skyscraper where a plane has crashed into the 20th floor and is stuck in the side of the building.

Flight to Holocaust
1977
Music, Songs
A team of troubleshooters is called to a skyscraper where a plane has crashed into the 20th floor and is stuck in the side of the building.

A Star Is Born
1976
Songs
Drunken, has-been rock star John Norman Howard falls in love with unknown singer Esther Hoffman after seeing her perform at a club. He lets her sing a...

Bugsy Malone
1976
Original Music Composer, Songs
New York, 1929, a war rages between two rival gangsters, Fat Sam and Dandy Dan. Dan is in possession of a new and deadly weapon, the dreaded "splurge ...

Phantom of the Paradise
1974
as Swan
Singer-songwriter Winslow Leach seeks revenge on the nefarious music producer Swan, who steals both Winslow's music and his favorite singer for the gr...

Phantom of the Paradise
1974
Original Music Composer, Songs
Singer-songwriter Winslow Leach seeks revenge on the nefarious music producer Swan, who steals both Winslow's music and his favorite singer for the gr...

The Stranger Who Looks Like Me
1974
Songs
A young woman searching for her birth parents in order to fulfill her sense of identity joins with an organization that fights the bureaucracy keeping...

Battle for the Planet of the Apes
1973
as Virgil
The fifth and final episode in the Planet of the Apes series. After the collapse of human civilization, a community of intelligent apes led by Caesar ...

Watermelon Man
1970
as Employment Office Clerk
A racist insurance agent lives in a typical suburban neighborhood, but his bigoted world of taunting and harassing black people on and off the job is ...

The Chase
1966
as Seymour
The escape of Bubber Reeves from prison affects the inhabitants of a small Southern town.

The Loved One
1965
as Gunther Fry
Newly arrived in Hollywood from England, Dennis Barlow finds he has to arrange his uncle's interment at the highly-organised and very profitable Whisp...
Loaded up and Trucking: The Making of Smokey and the Bandit
N/A
as Self
a “making of” documentary on Smokey and the Bandit