He directed Whoopi Goldberg in her first screen role, in Citizen: I'm Not Losing My Mind, I'm Giving It Away (1981–1982).

William Farley was raised in Braintree, Massachusetts, on Boston's south shore in a working-class family.

The film is an anarchic look at society as a group of anonymous youths roam the San Francisco cityscape.

Farley directed his second feature, Of Men and Angels, from a screenplay he co-wrote, starring Theresa Saldana and John Molloy of Dublin's Abbey Theatre.

The film tells the story of three strong-willed individuals who struggle for control of their own dreams and each other's.