List of Famous people named William

William Friedkin is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter closely identified with the "New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in the early 1960s, he is perhaps best known for directing the action thriller film The French Connection (1971), which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director, and the supernatural horror film The Exorcist (1973), which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.

William Charles Renshaw was a British tennis player active during the late 19th century, who was ranked world No. 1. He won twelve Major titles during his career. A right-hander, he was known for his power and technical ability which put him ahead of competition at the time. Renshaw shared the all-time male record of seven Wimbledon singles titles with American Pete Sampras until 2017 when Roger Federer won his eighth singles title. His six consecutive singles titles (1881–86) is an all-time record. Additionally he won the doubles title five times together with his twin brother Ernest. William Renshaw was the first president of the British Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).

William George Bonin, also known as the Freeway Killer, was an American serial killer and twice-paroled sex offender who committed the rape, torture, and murder of a minimum of 21 boys and young men in a series of killings in 1979 and 1980 in southern California. Bonin is also suspected of committing a further 15 murders. Described by the prosecutor at his first trial as "the most arch-evil person who ever existed", Bonin was convicted of 14 of the murders linked to the "Freeway Killer" in two separate trials in 1982 and 1983. He spent 14 years on death row before he was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison in 1996.

William Boyle is an American author of character-driven literary crime fiction. Boyle is a native of Brooklyn, New York and the borough forms the backdrop for much of his work.

Will Chapel Rogers III, is a former officer in the United States Navy, most notable as the captain of USS Vincennes, a Ticonderoga-class Aegis cruiser. While under his command, the ship shot down Iran Air Flight 655 in the Persian Gulf, killing 290 civilians and creating an international incident.

William Doyle Ruckelshaus was an American attorney and government official.

William Congreve was an English playwright and poet of the Restoration period. He is known for his clever, satirical dialogue and influence on the comedy of manners style of that period. He was also a minor political figure in the British Whig Party.

William David Mungo James Murray, 8th Earl of Mansfield, 7th Earl of Mansfield DL, JP, styled Lord Scone until 1970, was a British nobleman and Conservative politician.

William Ho Ka-kui was a Hong Kong Chinese actor in the 1970s. He was born in Kowloon City, Hong Kong. Ho acted as a warden named Sugiyama in the movie, Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, which starred Louis Fan as Riki Oh Saiga. Ho acted in 139 movies from 1976 to 2015. On January 27, 2015, he died in the Hong Kong Health Center of organ failure.

William Jackson III is an American football cornerback who is a free agent. He played college football at the University of Houston and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft.