Walter Williams (comedian filmmaker)

Walter Williams is an American filmmaker and comedy writer, most famous for his "Mr. Bill" shorts that aired on the television series Saturday Night Live.

Williams was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. In the 1970s he worked as a DJ at a French Quarter bar. He did comedy sketches, some over local radio, with his friend Vance DeGeneres. Williams became interested in film. Creating the first "Mr. Bill" short on Super-8 film in 1974 in his living room in New Orleans for a budget of less than $20, it was first aired on a local UHF TV show. He submitted it to Saturday Night Live where Mr. Bill was a hit. Williams made more Mr. Bill shorts, moved to New York City, and was hired as a full-time writer for Saturday Night Live for the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons.

The VHS release of the film Ernest Rides Again features "Mr. Bill Goes to Washington", a spoof of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. According to the book Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live, Williams made very little money from merchandising Mr. Bill in the 1970s, as most of the Mr. Bill products made (including dolls, pins, posters, coffee mugs, and umbrellas) were bootleg and unauthorized (comic strip artist Bill Watterson had a similar problem with his characters Calvin and Hobbes in the 1990s).

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