Charles K. Williams (August 13, 1909 – April 5, 1975) was an American author of crime fiction. He is regarded by some critics as one of the finest suspense novelists of the 1950s and 1960s. His 1951 debut, the paperback novel Hill Girl, sold more than a million copies. A dozen of his books have been adapted for movies, most popularly Dead Calm and The Hot Spot.
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Life
Williams was born in the central Texas town of San Angelo. After attending school through tenth grade, in 1929 he enlisted with the US Merchant Marine. He served for ten years before quitting to marry Lasca Foster. Having trained as a radioman during his seafaring career, Williams worked as an electronics inspector, first for RCA in Galveston, Texas, and later at Puget Sound Navy Yard in Washington State. He also worked as a wireless operator, radar technician and radio service engineer as a civilian with the U.S. Navy during the World War II era. He and his wife then relocated to San Francisco, where he worked for Mackay Radio company until the publication of his first novel, Hill Girl, in 1951. It was a great success, and Williams spent the remainder of his professional career as an author, primarily of novels, with several screenplays also to his credit. The couple changed residences frequently and apparently spent considerable time in France, where Williams's work has an excellent reputation. After the death of his wife from cancer in 1972, Williams purchased property on the California-Oregon border where he lived alone for a time in a trailer. After relocating to Los Angeles, Williams committed suicide in his apartment in the Van Nuys neighborhood in early April 1975. Williams had been depressed since the death of his wife, and his emotional state worsened as sales of his books declined when stand-alone thrillers began to lose popularity in the early 70s. He was survived by a daughter, Alison.