• FILe - In this Feb. 16, 1999 file photo, Sammy Williams rehearses a song from the show "Too Old for the Chorus" at the ASCAP Foundation/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop in Burbank, Calif. Williams, who won a Tony Award in the original Broadway production of “A Chorus Line,” died of cancer in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 17, 2018. He was 69. Photo: Jill Connelly, AP / Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Photo: Jill Connelly, AP
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FILe - In this Feb. 16, 1999 file photo, Sammy Williams rehearses a song from the show "Too Old for the Chorus" at the ASCAP Foundation/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop in Burbank, Calif. Williams, who won a Tony Award in the original Broadway production of “A Chorus Line,” died of cancer in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 17, 2018. He was 69. less
FILe - In this Feb. 16, 1999 file photo, Sammy Williams rehearses a song from the show "Too Old for the Chorus" at the ASCAP Foundation/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop in Burbank, Calif. Williams, who won a ... more
Photo: Jill Connelly, AP
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FILE - In this April 18, 1976 file photo, Sammy Williams, poses with his best actor in a musical award for "A Chorus Line," at the 30th Annual Tony Awards in New York. Williams died of cancer in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 17, 2018. He was 69. less
FILE - In this April 18, 1976 file photo, Sammy Williams, poses with his best actor in a musical award for "A Chorus Line," at the 30th Annual Tony Awards in New York. Williams died of cancer in Los Angeles on ... more
Photo: AP
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NEW YORK (AP) — Sammy Williams, who won a Tony Award in the original Broadway production of "A Chorus Line," has died. He was 69.

Family spokeswoman and friend Brandee Barnaby says Williams died of cancer Saturday in Los Angeles.

Williams won best featured actor in a musical in 1976 for the role of Paul in "A Chorus Line." The pioneering musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch told of the inner lives of actors auditioning for a big show. Paul was a young Puerto Rican performer starting to feel comfortable about being gay.

Williams had other earlier smaller parts on Broadway in "Applause" and "The Happy Time." He was later a choreographer, director and actor in Los Angeles, who appeared in "Follies" at the Ahmanson Theatre in 2012.