
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 29, 1994                   TAG: 9401290254
SECTION: SPECTATOR                    PAGE: S-18   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By ANDY MEISLER N.Y. TIMES NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                LENGTH: Medium

JEFF WILLIAMS: SHY AND BRILLIANT ON TV, CRAZED AND TWISTED ON STAGE

In "Birdland," the new ABC series set in a mental hospital, the actor Jeff Williams plays Dr. Lewis Niles, a very young, very nerdy, very physiology-oriented psychiatrist about whom everybody, including the audience, asks: "How can such a brilliant, caring clinician be so naive and out of touch with his feelings?"

In person, Williams, who has been an actor ever since he left college nine years ago, looks even younger than he does in a lab coat, and that inspires a different question: How can a person who's been working so hard for years be so calm in the face of what might become national recognition and financial stability?

"As far as I'm concerned, I'm unemployed," says Williams.

Filming of the last of six initial episodes of "Birdland" was completed in Vancouver several weeks ago. Armed with positive reviews, the show had its premiere on Jan. 5 and had the highest ratings in its Wednesday at 10 p.m. slot. The next week, it slipped to second behind "48 Hours" on CBS, but given the paucity of popular one-hour dramas, there is a good possibility that ABC will order more episodes.

"Birdland," a comedy about the problems of hospital staffers and patients, provides Williams with his first regular role in a TV series. The show stars Brian Dennehy as Dr. Niles' boss, a psychiatrist whose methods are as seat-of-the-pants as his colleague's are not.

Dr. Niles, says Williams, "has always focused only on academics. He hasn't taken a lot of time to develop the personal skills. Maybe some of it is fear of the world at large. And I think that's a part of his attraction to Brian's character. Brian takes risks and screws up a lot. Lewis kind of admires a bit of that courage."

Walter Parkes, the creator and executive producer of "Birdland," agrees with that analysis.

"The Brian-Lewis relationship is the cornerstone of the show," he says, adding that Williams was the only actor he seriously considered for the Niles role. "He's very idiosyncratic. When you write a line of dialogue, you hear it in your head one way, but Jeff always manages to subvert or amplify that anticipation - usually making the line better."

Williams says: "On television I usually play shy, brilliant good guys. On stage, I'm usually cast as a crazed, twisted killer. Those are more kind of fun parts, you know?"

Williams was born in Los Angeles, the son of teachers, and attended Sarah Lawrence College. His professional career has jumped from coast to coast. In Beverly Hills, he parked cars and had guest spots in shows like "Facts of Life," "The Cosby Show" and "Remington Steele."

Five years ago he moved back East, where he became a member of the acclaimed Naked Angels OffBroadway troupe and played a killer in the controversial play "Generations of the Dead in the Abyss of Coney Island Madness" at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, Conn.

A few weeks ago he watched the premiere of "Birdland." Did he leap up and shout "I've made it!"?

"No," he says. "I jumped up and shouted, `I'm comfortable!' "

by CNB