William Smith, a popular actor who played bikers, cowboys, and brawlers in a number of famous television episodes and films, has died. He was 88 years old when he died.

Smith — the star of ‘Laredo’ and ‘Rich Man, Poor Man’ — died Monday at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in the Woodland Hills neighbourhood of Los Angeles, according to his wife, Joanne Cervelli Smith.  She declined to comment on what caused his death.

Smith was a consistent, formidable presence on screen throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, with his chiselled, moustachioed face and muscular biceps, collecting almost 300 credits.

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In ‘Any Which Way You Can,’ one of the top-grossing movies of all time, he played bareknuckle fighter Jack Wilson, who fought Clint Eastwood in an epic brawl.

“It has to be one of the longest two-man fights ever done on film without doubles,” Smith said in an interview for the 2014 book ‘Tales From the Cult Film Trenches.’

From 1965 to 1967, Smith played Texas Ranger Joe Riley in both seasons of the NBC Western ‘Laredo.’

In the 1976 ABC miniseries ‘Rich Man, Poor Man,’ he played Anthony Falconetti, the frightening adversary of the principal family, and he returned for the sequel. In the last season of the original ‘Hawaii Five-O’ on CBS in 1979 and 1980, he played Detective James “Kimo” Carew.

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Smith, who was born in Columbia, Missouri, began acting at the age of eight, appearing in uncredited roles in films such as ‘The Ghost of Frankenstein’ and ‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ in the 1940s. He went on to become a champion arm wrestler, a martial arts black belt, and an outstanding discus thrower at UCLA.

He was a small role actor in television shows during the 1950s until earning a regular position as a police sergeant in the ABC series ‘The Asphalt Jungle’ in 1961. As a bodybuilder in the 1970 movie ‘Darker Than Amber,’ Smith would engage in another famous movie battle, this time with Rod Taylor.

After being considered for the titular role, he would portray Arnold Schwarzenegger’s father in 1982’s ‘Conan the Barbarian,’ and a Soviet commander in 1984’s ‘Red Dawn.’

He is survived by a son, William E. Smith III, and a daughter, Sherri Anne Cervelli, in addition to his wife of 31 years.