William Paterson (July 7, 1919 – September 3, 2003) was an actor in American regional theater who also appeared on television and in films.
William Paterson was born on July 7, 1919, in Buffalo, New York, to a Scottish-American father and an Irish-American mother.
He then served four years in the US army, earning a Bronze Star and Purple Heart in Europe as a staff officer with the 110th Infantry Regiment during World War II.
[1][2] In 1947, after his army service, Paterson joined The Cleveland Play House, a repertory company, where he stayed for twenty years.
[1] In 1967, Paterson joined San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater (ACT), where he stayed for the next thirty years, until his retirement in 1998, becoming well known for his portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.