William Roy, 75; Cabaret Performer, Musical Director

William Roy, a cabaret performer who also served as an accompanist and musical director for a number of leading entertainers, has died. He was 75.

Roy died Tuesday in West Palm Beach, Fla., of respiratory failure after a series of small strokes, said Wayne Hosford, his companion of 11 years.

A native of Detroit, Roy began singing on a children’s radio show at the age of 3. From there, he performed on “The Lone Ranger” and “The Green Hornet” radio shows, which were broadcast from Detroit.

Roy moved to Hollywood in 1940 and, under the name Billy Roy, appeared in more than 20 Hollywood films, perhaps most notably “The Corn Is Green,” starring Bette Davis, in 1945. He also appeared in a number of productions on the popular Lux Radio Theatre.

For most of his life, however, Roy, who was self-taught in music, worked as a musical director, and in some instances, an accompanist for a number of top-level cabaret performers, including Rosemary Clooney, Gloria DeHaven, Celeste Holm, Sylvia Syms and Margaret Whiting.

In later years, he wrote, arranged and conducted for Bernadette Peters’ nightclub act at the Riviera and MGM Grand hotels in Las Vegas.

Roy was perhaps best-known to Southland audiences for his work with singer Julie Wilson. From the early 1970s, they performed frequently at the Cinegrill in Los Angeles, as well as the Algonquin Hotel in New York City and the Plush Room in San Francisco. Six of their shows that were devoted to some of the composers of the great American songbook were recorded by the DRG label. Roy gave his last performances with Wilson earlier this year.

Roy’s credits include the book, music and lyrics for the off-Broadway musical “The Penny Friend,” which was an early production for Peters, and a short-lived Broadway musical, “Maggie.”