Bill Willard Photograph Collection (PH-00333)

Writer, actor, and producer Bill Willard was born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1913. He followed his father into the arts and began studying theater and art in 1930. During the Second World War, Willard was drafted into the U.S. Army, and he worked at Torney General Hospital in Palm Springs and Birmingham Hospital in Van Nuys, both in California. During his tour of duty, he produced radio shows broadcasted by the Armed Forces Radio Network. He was discharged in 1946, but he continued working for the Armed Forces Radio Network until 1949, when he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to produce a radio show for the Last Frontier Hotel. Although his first radio show was never launched, Willard stayed in Las Vegas rather than returning to Hollywood, California. He produced shows for Las Vegas radio stations KENO and KRAM, and he became the entertainment editor for the Las Vegas Sun.

In 1949 the Thunderbird Hotel hired Willard to write and direct the “Branding Iron” revue. He also performed in the Birdcage Theatre at the Last Frontier Village, and he became a regular performer with Hank Henry. During the 1950s, he performed at several venues, and eventually he started his own public relations agency, Public Relation Advertising (PRA). In 1966 he briefly suspended his agency while he worked as the executive director of the Nevada State Council on the Arts, and he returned to the PRA in 1967. In addition to his work as an agent and producer, Willard remained active as a performer as well. He was the co-anchor of the nightly news on KSHO TV, a contributor to KLAS TV, and he co-starred in plays at the Meadows Playhouse in the 1970s and 1980s.

In 1983 he became the entertainment critic of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. In 1989 he became Director of the Arnold Shaw Popular Music Research Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Willard died in 2000.

Sources:

“Bill and Lucy Willard,” Arnold Shaw Center. University of Nevada, Las Vegas. http://asc.unlv.edu/willard.html