Actor Clarence Williams III, of ‘Mod Squad’ and ‘Purple Rain,’ dies at 81

Clarence Williams III, who portrayed Linc Hayes for five seasons on “The Mod Squad” and Prince’s father in “Purple Rain,” has died.

He was 81.

The cause was colon cancer, his manager confirmed. He died on Friday.

His breakout role was playing Lincoln Hayes as part of the counterculture hit “The Mod Squad,” which ran from 1968 to 1973 and co-starred Peggy Lipton and Michael Cole as Julie Barnes and Pete Cochran, respectively. The three played former miscreants hired as cops charged with using their street smarts to infiltrate high schools, acting classes, prisons, hippie newspapers, gangs, movie sets and other situations to root out criminals, as The Hollywood Reporter noted.

“The show tapped into the zeitgeist of the late ’60s, portraying a positive image for the counterculture of the moment by tackling such issues as the Vietnam war and racism,” as Deadline described it. “Linc, Julie and Pete blended into the scene, using stealth to track and capture their targets.”

He first started acting as a teen when he was given a few lines in a play, “Dark of the Moon,” which starred Cicely Tyson. After a few other roles, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Nominated for a Tony Award for “Slow Dance on the Killing Ground” in 1965, he also starred in several other plays, and numerous movies including “The General’s Daughter,” “Sugar Hill,” “Half Baked,” “Deep Cover,” “Hoodlum,” “The Brave,” “Happy Here and Now,” “The Legend of 1900” and “Life.”

He is survived by a sister, Sondra Pugh; daughter Jamey Phillips, niece Suyin Shaw, grandnephews Elliot Shaw and Ese Shaw and grandniece Azaria Verdin, Variety reported.