Remembering Karl Williams (Stage Troupe VP '90, President '91)

We'd like to take a moment to remember a past Stage Troupe E-Board member who passed away early last week, who was a truly influential member of Troupe. Karl Williams (CGS ’89, COM ’91) died on Sunday, January 31st of liver complications at Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview, Il. He was 52.


Karl was the Vice President of Stage Troupe in the fall of 1990 and became President for the 1991 spring semester. He was a primary author of the Stage Troupe constitution that we use today, and helped to create the role of Technical Advisor during his time on E-Board. Aside from Stage Troupe, he pursued his passion for film in the College of Communications.

After his time at BU, Karl went on to have a fantastic career in the film industry, becoming the longtime publicist for Paramount Pictures. In this role, he was an integral part of campaigns for the the first two Transformers movies, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Star Trek, Paramount’s early Marvel movies Iron Man and Iron Man 2, Thor and the Shia LaBeouf pics Disturbia and Eagle Eye. He was known as a “trailblazer” in digital public relations, and was beloved by those who worked with him.


Karl is remembered by his fellow Stage Troupe peers and E-Board alumni (including our former faculty advisor, Eric Jacobsen), and we will be forever grateful for the positive and powerful influence he had in making Stage Troupe what it is today.

You can read more about Karl’s life and career here:

Karl Williams Dies: Longtime Paramount Film Publicist Was 52

Karl D. Williams; 1968-2021

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