William Boyett (January 3, 1927 – December 29, 2004) was an American actor best known for his roles in law enforcement dramas on television from the 1950s through the 1990s. Early years Boyett was born in Akron, Ohio, the son of Harry Lee and Margaret D. Boyett. Harry Lee's parents were Dorsey H. and Carrie Evelyn Flowers, who married in McLennan Co., TX, on July 9, 1899. Dorsey and Carrie lived in Waco, Ft. Worth and San Antonio, TX. Boyett often played roles of characters in uniform. His paternal grandfather, Dorsey, participated in the Spanish American War as a corporal in Co. F, 2nd TX Infantry and was also stationed in Laredo, TX, in 1917, in charge of all non-commissioned officers in Co. M, 37th Infantry, while the United States was in conflict with Mexico. Carrie remarried and in the 1930 U.S. Census, Harry William is enumerated as "Harry" with Carrie, William Cason, and his older brother, Wallace, at 2103 Proctor Avenue in Waco, TX. Harry William, who was then known as Harry, attended Waco High School, where he was active in theater, the Rostra Literary Society, the Junior Classical League, Boys Chorus, and as a junior was a Texas Interscholastic League contestant in Declamation. He won a Shakespeare competition in high school, which led to acting jobs in radio. The 1940 U.S. Census shows that although he was living in Los Angeles on April 1, 1935, he had returned to Waco, and he was again living with his grandmother, Carrie, and his step-grandfather, William Cason. He later permanently moved with his family to Los Angeles, California. His father, Harry Lee Boyett, served in WW I in the Navy. Harry Lee married Margaret on September 4, 1925, in St. Clair Co., Michigan, while working as a rubber worker. On a ship's registry sailing from Havana to New Orleans, in October of 1932, he listed his address as Paramount in Hollywood, CA. It also reports his birth date is February 15, 1899, and he was born in Waco, TX. He died at age 36 after having emergency surgery. He and his mother, Carrie, are buried in Rosemound Cemetery, Waco, TX. Military service Boyett served in the Navy during World War II and afterward performed on the stage in both New York City and Los Angeles. Television In 1954, Boyett played respected settler Jim Hardwicke in the Death Valley Days episode "11,000