Treat Williams Receives Posthumous Nomination For ‘Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans’

The Emmys just paid tribute to the great Treat Williams: the 71-year-old actor who died in a motorcycle crash received a posthumous nomination for playing former CBS head and media tycoon Bill Paley in Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans. It was his final role before he died June 12, 2023 in Vermont.

The Ryan Murphy miniseries, which is an adaptation of Laurence Leamer’s bestselling book Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era, chronicles the tale of the famous wunderkind author as he stabs several of his female friends — whom he called his “swans” — in the back by publishing a roman à clef short story called “La Côte Basque 1965” in Esquire in 1975.

Last June, FX and 20th TV released this statement: “Treat Williams leaves behind a legacy of remarkable performances in film and television, and an indelible mark on the entire industry. All who were fortunate enough to work with Treat over his four decade career would agree that his incredible talent was matched only by his utter kindness. He was a friend and inspiration to many, and he will be deeply missed by his colleagues. Our hearts go out to his family during this time.”

Williams’ last Emmy nomination was for portraying uber-agent Michael Ovitz in the 1996 TV movie The Late Shift.

On TV, Williams’ career stretched back 40 years to a starring role in the 1983 telefilm Dempsey, about the former heavyweight champ to whom the actor bore more than a passing resemblance. He followed up with two more TV movies: A Streetcar Named Desire (1984), in which he played Stanley Kowalski, and J. Edgar Hoover (1987), playing the titular G-man. Dozens more TV movies followed, including the 1996 The Late Shift, which earned him an Emmy nomination for playing former uber agent Michael Ovitz, as well as the sitcom Good Advice with Shelley Long, which ran on CBS for two seasons from 1993-94, leading to Everwood.