Giles French(played by the late Sebastian Cabot)or Niles French(the late John Williams,who I presume is dead-And if he is dead,when did he die?),his brother,who replaced Cabot briefly when he was sidelined by a heart attack?

The tenure of John Williams (1903-1983) was so brief, not to mention so early in the run, that it's difficult to make that kind of comparison, so indelibly stamped is Sebastian Cabot's take on the character. And let's face it, for the dramatic purposes of the show they were interchangeably playing the same character.

They're both fine and distinguished actors. Give Sebastian Cabot his due as Mr. French. John Williams' place in pop culture history was forever fixed when he gave us a priceless introduction to the classics:

I'm sure you recognize this lovely melody as 'Stranger in Paradise.' But did you know that the original theme is from the Polovetsian Dance No. 2 by Borodin?

SIMFhPyNKDs

The tenure of John Williams (1903-1983) was so brief, not to mention so early in the run, that it's difficult to make that kind of comparison, so indelibly stamped is Sebastian Cabot's take on the character. And let's face it, for the dramatic purposes of the show they were interchangeably playing the same character.

They're both fine and distinguished actors. Give Sebastian Cabot his due as Mr. French. John Williams' place in pop culture history was forever fixed when he gave us a priceless introduction to the classics:



http://tommcmahon.typepad.com/.a/6a00d834515db069e201116856f939970c-800wi

We had those albums that Williams introduced in that commercial. One hundred twenty classical masterpieces, plus a bonus album of 30 piano masterpieces. Great music on those records. I never knew that was him in the commercial though, we never know how that guy was.

I can still hear him making that introduction you quoted.

As stated earlier by another poster, I also think they are both great actors. I've seen both in several movies and TV shows and each always does a fine job. For me at least, a general rule of thumb is the actor who originates a character in a sitcom is usually the one that I prefer in that role. Not necessarily because he may be a better actor than another, but because he was originally chosen for that role. In this case, I prefer Sebastion Cabot in the role of Mr. French. No disrespect to John Williams, who always played a great British detective in the movies.

Yes, like in Dial M for Murder.

Sebastian Cabot had a recurring role in the later black & white episodes of My Three Sons as Sally's father -- soon to become Mike's father-in-law. Having already done somewhat significant work for Fedderson productions he was a natural for the starring role in Family Affair. He had other TV experience as well, such as on Bonanza where he played a Spaniard.

While I admire both late Mr. Cabot's and late Mr. Williams' work as performers and have nothing against either of them- as characters go, I definitely prefer the pompously plump Giles over his stuffily stick think bro Nigel.
I know that John Williams only took that role over temporarily with the understanding that as soon as Mr. Cabot was well enough to resume playing Giles, he [and Nigel] would be gone. I guess the problem here was that the role of Mr. French in the childrens' lives[and vice versa] was still evolving at the point that Mr. Cabot took ill. The audience knew that beneath his pomposity, Giles was actually a teddy bear who'd take a bullet for the Davis family and that the kids were starting to warm up to Giles despite his vocal intial misgivings but the character (and the entire concept) was still in development here. So, for them to suddenly have Giles be yanked out to 'serve the Queen' and then expect the entire Davis clan to accept his never-mentioned before brother Nigel in exactly the same light in the exactly the same stage of development seemed too abupt to be believable. Of course, it's interesting to note not only was Nigel gone before Giles returned so there was no episode showing the Two Mr. Frenches together , I can recall no point thereafter in which Giles or any of the Davises referring to him thereafter.
Of course, the most ironic thing about all this was that of all the regular characters on the show, IMO Mr. Giles French was the only one who had any real depth despite not being an actual Davis.

Nothing against Mr. Williams, but I think Cabot was very important to the show's success

I prefer Cabot, too. He was very human and proud to be a member of the family.

Nothing against Mr. Williams, but I think Cabot was very important to the show's success



Exactly! Chubby Mr. French with the beard was wonderful.;) He really seemed part of the family. The other guy was good too, but he wasn't THE Mr. French we all grew to know and love. It's a shame they didn't keep him on the show when bearded Mr. French came back, maybe work for another family in the building and even if he wasn't in every episode he could be a reacurring character! :)

Sebastian Cabot made the show.

And he couldn't wun fast.

Sebastian Cabot for sure, I thought he made an excellent Mr. French.

I loved Sebastian Cabot when I was a kid. He seemed like such a nice guy. I remember he used to narrate all the Winnie the Pooh shows too. I think I still have one of the records they made "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree."

I love Sebastian Cabot. He is so awesome as the I guess he is the family Butler or caretaker of the kids.

I didn't like John Williams when I was a kid, but feel a lot better toward him now. He had a great comic turn as the father/chauffer in the original version of Sabrina.
It must have been really hard for John Williams to follow someone as awesome as Sebastian Cabot was on this show.

It must have been really hard for John Williams to follow someone as awesome as Sebastian Cabot was on this show.

Yeah. Everyone knew and loved Sebastian so well, nobody could have really taken his place! ;)

I posted before how it was a shame they couldn't have kept John Williams in the show working as a butler for another family in the building! ;)

I much preferred Sebastian Cabot because he seemed to have a much warmer side to him as Mr. French than John Williams. Williams just seems way too straight laced. Even though Cabot was very proper he was down to earth and seemed to relate on the kids level many times.

John Williams only portrayed Niles French in 9 episodes so I hardly think it is is even fair to compare him and Sebastian Cabot who played Giles French in 130 episodes. Both actors were great character actors, but regular viewers of the show grew to love Sebastian I suppose.

Until I saw this thread I had assumed Sebastian Cabot played Mr. French in every episode. I didn't know he had needed a replacement.

Until I saw this thread I had assumed Sebastian Cabot played Mr. French in every episode. I didn't know he had needed a replacement.
Well it wasn't the same character that John Williams was playing. He was playing Niles French and Sebastian Cabot was Giles French. It was written I believe that Cabot's character had to go back to England for a short time.

Mr. French is Sebastian Cabot to me. He was wonderful and very memorable in the role as Giles French. John Williams may have been a great actor but because he was short lived as the other Mr. French(Brother I think)I don't remember him much at all in the role.

So this thread is kind of confusing to me. I watched a couple of episodes this morning and was surprised to see John Williams playing Mr. French. But when I googled it, I saw that he was playing a Mr. French with a different first name. I couldn't figure out what was going on b/c just last week I saw episodes with Sabastian Cabot ("The Thursday Man" in particular). I'm pretty sure that that particular episode was from the first season, but so were the eps I watched today with John Williams.



Can anyone UN-confuse me???

I answered my own question. I found this from Wikipedia.


When Sebastian Cabot became ill, Giles's brother, Nigel"]When Sebastian Cabot became ill, Giles's brother, Nigel "Niles" French (John Williams) was introduced. He worked for the Davis family for nine episodes in 1967, while Giles was said to be touring with the Queen in the Commonwealth countries. In the final season, Bill hired a part-time housekeeper, Emily Turner (Nancy Walker), to assist Mr. French

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Affair