I met Bill in Kindergarten, and we stayed good friends throughout the years. His family became part of mine.
Introduced him to his wife, Claudia.
What a thoroughly decent, honest & caring human being, so down-to-earth, with a wacky sense of humor & a solid singing voice (remember 'Will Parker' in our high school musical, "Oklahoma"?)
biking, snow forts, the movies, Pixie Stix, Wetson's, growing orchids. hours spent listening to music. once we got to HS we spent tons of time working on stage crew all 4 yrs., hanging out at his house, and riding around in his dad's old jeep with a homemade plywood cab, painted an ugly shade of green. anytime we'd stop at a traffic light people would stare at that "vehicle".
he was perennially cheerful, was a good friend to any & everyone, without reservation.
i miss him still.
One of the best parts of being in Oklahoma was getting to know people I hadn't met up to that date. Bill was a great guy and I was envious of his singing voice - I used to tell him that I wished I could sing as well as he did....and he kept telling me that I did sing as well as he did. I have seen Oklahoma on Broadway twice since 1970 and I saw two high school productions at my kids schools.....Matt was at Syosset and Monica went to Commack. Broadway production or high school production.....Bill Perrott was the best Will Parker. I thought my memory was playing tricks on me, but when I heard the audio tape of one of our Oklahoma performances after the 2000 reunion I knew I was right. He nailed the role. Never forgotten, terrific guy and I am glad he was my friend.
Mike, you are correct--he was the BEST Will Parker ever!! But mostly, he was a warm and beautiful human being that I would never have gotten to know had it not been for "Oklahoma". Rest in peace, my friend.
It's unanimous, Bill was the absolute best Will Parker anyone ever saw! What a talent, what a kind soul. When he and Claudia got together you just knew they were going to be a life long team. Warmed my heart that they married. I ran into them when I was working with the James Steet Players community musical theater group. I was so glad to see Bill still persuing the stage. I believe it was shortly after that meeting in mid to late 70's that he had become ill. What a loss. I'm so glad the play allowed me to know him.
I remember Billy from "Oklahoma". I always will remember him as avery kind and gentle spirit. There are so very few that I will remember from my high school days and Billy stood out from the crowd and stayed in my mind. You will be missed!
I think Bill and I met in 1st grade. He was an incredible guy even as a young boy. So many times talking & laughing at his house, so many smiles from his mom at school (she saved me from among other things that scraed me in elementary school - whole wheat bread sandwiches) and one of his kindest gestures of all... I had gotten very angry at my mom for not letting me go on the senior trip (I'd gotten the measles senior year, but they were long over) and so I chose not to give my two tickets for graduation to my parents (a mistake I told my kids over & over again) and the result was I had no ride to graduation, no one to say "Congratulations!" and of course no way to go from party to party. Bill knew and picked me up and served as my ride for the entire event. I have looked back many times on his kindness, his genuinely pure heart, gentle nature and sweet soul. When I heard he'd passed I felt an "old soul" had gone. He'd always been the "good guy" to me. In many classes from 1st grade through senior year, watching him onstage at PHS and hopeing he got to be the oceanographer he'd told me was his dream. I pray his life was as happy as he was all the years I knew him. Bill had a lot of impact on my life. He gave me a clear definition of what a "good man" was.
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