And she was an impressionable lady, totally, totally devoid of any knowledge of underworld and nefarious activity. And we can't get, you know, cough syrup and so on, so on. And some of the guys were all sniffling and coughing and sniffling and coughing. And so she was out at Rikers Island one time at the church service. I do remember one thing was she was a - her name was Helen (ph). I doubt seriously they'll let children go over there. GROSS: Did you ever go with her to Rikers Island? But no, it wasn't a major thing in our lives at all. And the only reason why I did see a bit of it from time to time because we lived over the funeral parlor. I mean, we'd never talked about it at home at all. But no, I mean, she didn't bring that stuff home. She played there for many, many years prior to her passing. And also, interestingly, my grandmother played the organ for church services at the prison on Rikers Island in New York City - prison in the harbor. WILLIAMS: Well, no, not really, because, I mean, I didn't spend my time around it. GROSS: So when you were young, though, you were constantly exposed to other people's tragedies. I never really thought about it that much. And that's stuck in my mind, but that's the only time I really think about it. If persons were there or if they were not there, he wanted music playing while she was laying in repose and had this big glass coffin of sort of - Cinderella-ish. And he had hired my grandmother to play music all day long. But evidently, he was a big-time underworld-type figure. ![]() And it was a man whose name I don't know. And then I would wait.Īnd she would play because a lot of times - I remember this one particular funeral. And I would bring it to the funeral parlor. And sometimes I'd have to bring her lunch when I came home from school or early dinner. And plus, with my grandmother, obviously, you know, working at funeral parlors - 'cause I used to - when I used to come home from school sometimes - because unfortunately, a lot of times, I mean, she was booked like four or five, you know, a day, and and so she would go from one to the other. I mean, it's sort of like that's where I lived, and so it was normal. You know, it's true - it's an interesting question. GROSS: Were you impressionable and superstitious? WILLIAMS: And so it was it was my first encounter with Gray's anatomy without having "Gray's Anatomy." And when you took the trash out, you'd have to go through the embalming room to the back alley to put it away. And we lived - my sister and I lived with her for a part of the time, and we lived above the funeral parlor. in New York City, in Harlem, there was a Griffin-Peters Funeral Home, which a lot of people may have seen because it was like four doors down from the world-famous Smalls Paradise nightclub, where a lot of the magnificent jazz musicians all through the years have played back in the heyday of the '40s, '50s and part of the '60s. TERRY GROSS: Now, I read that you grew up over a funeral parlor, yes? Death - it comes in many strange packages. You know, it keeps them from smelling and decomposing before the service. We shoot them real good with embalming fluid mainly. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Yo, man, what kind of drug do their people be needing? The only drugs I know about are those that have to do with the deceased. ![]() (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TALES FROM THE HOOD")ĬLARENCE WILLIAMS III: (As Mr. He opens up a series of coffins and terrifies the dealers with supernatural stories behind the death of each of the corpses. ![]() The mortician, who seems to come from the world of the dead, is played by Clarence Williams. When Terry spoke to him in 1995, he was in the comic horror film "Tales From The Hood," about three young dealers looking for a lost drug shipment at an address that turns out to be a funeral home. He played a killer in "52 Pick-Up," an abusive father in Prince's film "Purple Rain" and a heroin addict in "Sugar Hill." He also had comedic roles in Dave Chappelle's film "Half Baked" and in Keenen Ivory Wayans blaxploitation parody "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka." And he had guest appearances in nearly 40 TV series, including "Hill Street Blues" and "Empire." In the 1980s, Clarence Williams became known for specializing in quirky, sometimes brutal characters. ![]() It was one of the first shows to focus on the counterculture generation and one of the first to feature an interracial cast. Williams got his start on Broadway, but his big break was being cast on "The Mod Squad," which ran from 1968 to 1973. We're going to listen back to our interview with Clarence Williams III, best known for playing Linc Hayes, one of three hippie-delinquents-turned-undercover-cops in the ABC series "The Mod Squad." Williams died June 4 at the age of 81.
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