William Hickey (actor)

William Hickey
William Hickey, c. 1960s
Born	William Edward Hickey (1927-09-19)September 19, 1927 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	June 29, 1997(1997-06-29) (aged 69) New York City, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Emphysema and Bronchitis
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1957–1997
Height	5 ft 6 in (168 cm)

William Edward Hickey (September 19, 1927 – June 29, 1997) was an American actor. He is best known for his Academy Award-nominated role as Don Corrado Prizzi in the John Huston film Prizzi's Honor (1985), as well as Uncle Lewis in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) and the voice of Dr. Finklestein in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).

Hickey was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Edward and Nora Hickey, both of Irish descent. He had an older sister, Dorothy Finn. Hickey began acting on radio in 1938.

Hickey had a long, distinguished career in film, television and the stage. He began his career as a child actor on the variety stage and made his Broadway debut as a walk-on in the 1951 production of George Bernard Shaw's "Saint Joan", starring Uta Hagen. He performed often during the golden age of television, including appearances on Studio One and Philco Playhouse. His most important contribution to the arts, however, remains his teaching career at the HB Studio in Greenwich Village, founded by Hagen and Herbert Berghof. George Segal, Sandy Dennis, Barbra Streisand, and Sandra McClain all studied under him. He was a staple of Ben Bagley's New York musical reviews, he can be heard on several of the recordings, notably Decline and fall of the entire world as seen through the eyes of Cole Porter.