William Marion "Sonny" Landham III (February 11, 1941 – August 17, 2017) was an American actor. He portrayed Billy Bear in 48 Hrs. (1982), tracker Billy Sole in Predator (1987), and 'Chink' Weber in Lock Up (1989).
Early life and education Landham was born February 11, 1941, in Canton, Georgia, and raised in Rome, Georgia. He was half Cherokee descent, one-eighth Seminole descent, and speculated the rest as German, English, and Irish descent. Landham had at least one sibling, a sister, Dawn.
He attended Saint Mary's Catholic School and Darlington School before playing football for a year at the University of Georgia. Subsequently, he transferred to and graduated from Oglethorpe University. After college, he did a stint in the U.S. Army, worked in an oil field, as an ordained Baptist minister, and a model.
Career Acting career Landham studied acting for two years at Pasadena Playhouse before moving to New York in 1968 to pursue a career in acting. At the beginning of his acting career, Landham was an actor in pornographic films for financial reasons. He also posed for nude layout for Playgirl. He then became a mainstream movie actor and appeared in a number of Hollywood films, including The Warriors (1979) as a subway policeman whose leg gets broken by a baseball bat-wielding Michael Beck, 48 Hrs. (1982), Predator (1987), Action Jackson (1988), and Lock Up (1989).
Politics In 2003, Landham ran in the Republican Party primary election for the post of Governor of Kentucky, hoping to repeat the success of his Predator castmate Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura; later that same year, Arnold Schwarzenegger (another Predator castmate) was elected governor of California. He based his candidacy on opposition to an amendment which endorsed the Kentucky Family Court, saying his bad experiences at the hands of the family court had convinced him it was for the benefit of lawyers rather than families or children. He was unsuccessful in gaining the party's nomination. He ran briefly as an independent candidate, but withdrew on June 18, 2003, and endorsed the Republican slate.
In January 2004, Landham announced his candidacy for the 27th State Senate District of Kentucky. That year he was the keynote speaker at the official launch party of the radio show, The Political Cesspool. In 2005, Landham spoke at the Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC) convention.
On June 25, 2008, Landham announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat held by Mitch McConnell, as a Libertarian.
On July 23, 2008, Landham appeared on the political radio show The Weekly Filibuster, where he was asked, in relation to past comments of his quoted in the Louisville Courier-Journal, if he was calling for the genocide of Arab people. He replied, "I call for outright bombing them back into the sand until they surrender and if they don't surrender, then you continue the war. Because if you don't, you will never have peace in the United States. Now do you want peace in the United States or do you want to live to some utopian ideals that are impossible in a world?" He further called for Arabs to be banned from entering the United States, and referred to that ethnic group as "camel dung-shovelers", and when questioned on this, suggested using the epithets "rag-heads" and "camel jockeys". On July 28, the Kentucky Libertarian Party asked Landham to withdraw his nomination, citing those comments and explaining that his politics did not agree with their platform and values.
Personal life Landham was married twice. He had two children, including a son named William, and a daughter named Priscilla.
After being convicted on federal charges of making threatening and obscene phone calls to his wife, Landham spent three years in prison. However, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the conviction in May 2001.
Death Landham died on August 17, 2017, aged 76, from congestive heart failure.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 1969 The Lost Man Uncredited 1971 B.S. I Love You1974 Special Order Teamster #1 Come Fly with Us Joe Happy Days French Cook The Love Bus Amos Johnson The Switch or How to Alter Your Ego Huntington Van Huff Cheese The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann Political Candidate1975 The Defiance of Good Dr. Gabriels Patient The Big Con "Tex" The Passions of Carol Curt Reynolds Big Abner Abner "Big Abner" Abigail Leslie is Back in Town Bo Illusion of Love Blood Bath1976 Virgin Snow Ben Slippery When Wet Dougie Knowles The Honey Cup1977 The Trouble with Young Stuff Lane, The Milkman Big Thumbs Sylvia Junkie #11978 The Ganja Express First Yellow Toga Guy Uncredited MisBehavin''' | Clyde
| 1979 | The Warriors| Policeman
| 1980 | Gloria| Riverside Drive Man
| 1981 | Southern Comfort| Hunter
| rowspan="2"|1982 | Poltergeist| Pool Worker
| 48 Hrs.| Billy Bear
| 1984 | Fleshburn| Calvin Daggai
| 1986 | Firewalker| "El Coyote"
| 1987 | Predator| Billy Sole
| 1988 | Action Jackson| Mr. Quick
| 1989 | Lock Up| "Chink" Weber
| 1992 | Maximum Force| Pimp
| rowspan="2"|1993 | Best of the Best 2| James Lee
| Madame| Hector
| rowspan="3"|1994 | Taxi Dancers| Jim "Diamond Jim"
| Savage Land| Lassiter
| Night Realm| Verrick
| rowspan="2"|1995 | Guns & Lipstick| Albino
| Fatal Choice| "Brick"
| rowspan="3"|1996 | 2090| Indian
| Carnival of Wolves| Bodyguard #4
| Billy Lone Bear| Billy Lone Bear | Direct-to-video |- | 2007 | Disintegration| Boone Cagle
| 2009 | Mental Scars'' Chief Bear Direct-to-video
Television Year Title Role Notes 1981 B. J. and the Bear Football Player Episode: "Beauties and the Beasts" 1984 The A-Team Ryker Episode: "The Island" 1984–1985 Call to Glory Willy Nighthawk 2 episodes1985 The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission Sam Sixkiller Television film Hardcastle and McCormick Sheriff Billy Blackstone Episode: "You Don't Hear the One that Gets You"1986 Fortune Dane Episode: "Fortune Dane" The Fall Guy Jake Episode: "War of the Wheel" North Star Becker Television film 1987 Miami Vice "Toad" Episode: "Viking Bikers from Hell" 1992 Three Days To A Kill Pepe Television film 1993 Extralarge: Condor Mission Indian Television film
References
External links