Ever reliable, often mustachioed British character of enjoyably stiff-upper-lip types, whose resonant voice and crisp manner enhanced many films. One of Williams's most delightful and best-remembered parts, for which he won several awards (including a Tony) was as the quietly assured inspector who finally traps the killer in the popular stage play, "Dial M for Murder", a role he recreated in Alfred Hitchcock's highly enjoyable 1954 film version.