Ross was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. on September 7, 1923. He was drafted into the Korean War, and would be stationed in Japan, where he fell in love with the country. Ross would subsequently move to Tokyo with intentions of joining the Japanese State Department. Instead, he ended up becoming involved in the film industry, and would go on to appear in more than 80 Japanese films and Television shows. In 1959, Ross got into the dubbing industry upon recommendation by Japanese actor So Yamamura. He showed such a talent for the industry, that the Japanese dubbing director quit and left Ross in charge on the first day. Soon thereafter, he would hired as a director by Asian Films. After the closure of several Tokyo dubbing studios in 1964, he founded his own dubbing company, Frontier Enterprises, also working as dialogue writer, dubbing director and voice actor. Frontier quickly became one of the big five early English dubbing houses, doing work for companies such as Toho, Toei and Shochiku. Frontier would go on to dub over 465 live-action and animated films and TV series. Ross was forced to rely on whatever native English speakers he could find in Tokyo back in the 1960's; much of which consisted of businessmen, musicians and students with little to no acting experience. He held auditions and made sure he hired the best people available, and trained them thoroughly. His regular dubbing cast primarily consisted of expatriates living in Tokyo and members of the Far East Network, however. Aside from his dubbing ventures, Ross was an associate producer on Toei's Terror Beneath the Sea and the MGM-Toei coproduction The Green Slime (where he was also an assistant director to Kinji Fukusaku and appeared as Ferguson). He continued to act occasionally, appearing in Message from Space, The Last Dinosaur and The War in Space. Ross was also a dialogue editor, notably editing for American animated shows such as Dennis the Menace, Heathcliff & the Cadillac Cats and The Real Ghostbusters. Ross died in Tokyo on April 19, 2014.
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Biography from TMDB.
- September 7, 1923
- April 19, 2014 (aged 90)
- Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- Actor and writer, also producer
- 13 on MovieCove · 26 credits in all
Known for
What are William Ross' films like?
Across their 8 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Morality.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 7
Light 6 · Serious 2 · Dark 0
Grounded 1 · Stylized 5 · Heightened 2
Gentle 0 · Charged 7 · Intense 1
Steady 2 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 2
Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 5 · Funny 1
Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 5 · Relentless 0
Casual 7 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 6 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 0
Resolved 7 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy3
- Bittersweet5
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch William Ross' films?
As of October 24, 2026, 6 of their 13 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (4).
Subscription and free streaming for William Ross' titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
26 credits, 13 with a MovieCove page.
The Walk(2015)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
The Bushido Blade(1981)
Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all films
Voltus 5 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1979)
Pink Lady's Motion Picture (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1978)
Midcredits score: 2nd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
The War in Space(1977)
Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all films
The Last Dinosaur(1977)
Midcredits score: 31st percentile of all films
The Alaska Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1977)
Graveyard of Honor(1975)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
The Yakuza(1974)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Too Late the Hero(1970)
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films
Motta, the Flying Dracula Monster (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1969)
The Green Slime(1968)
Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 9th percentile of all films
Terror Beneath the Sea(1966)
Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all films
Flight from Ashiya(1964)
Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all films
Ōwarai Jiro chō ikka: Sanshita nitei kenjū (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1962)
Watashi wa uso wa mōshimasen (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1961)
誰よりも金を愛す (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1961)
World War III Breaks Out (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1960)
Fight for a Woman, Fight for your Life! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1960)
Enigmatic Explosion of the Battleship Mutsu (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1960)
Pineapple Butai (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1959)
Maria of the Ant Village (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1958)
Mazinger Z (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 66th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 22 titles, 21 of them dated from 1958 to 2015; peak year 1974.
Film career
Peak 1974 · at the high point of their film career. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 1970Screen debut· Too Late the Hero
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do William Ross' films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 21st percentile, the median of all 13; across their 8 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 27th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up4
- 50th to 74th1
- 25th to 49th1
- Below 25th7
Shape of the crowd
6 of their 13 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Panned2
- Crowd Pleaser5
- Mixed6
Reviewers score the acting 44/100 in their films, across 8 reviewed titles; fans 57, detractors 27. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does William Ross work with?
People who share at least 2 of William Ross' MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Tsugunobu Kotani shares the most, 2.
Directors
- Tsugunobu KotaniShared titles: The Bushido Blade (1981), The Last Dinosaur (1977)See all 2 shared titles with Tsugunobu Kotani
Writers
- William OvergardShared titles: The Bushido Blade (1981), The Last Dinosaur (1977)See all 2 shared titles with William Overgard
- Ryûzô NakanishiShared titles: The War in Space (1977), Gappa the Triphibian Monster (1967)See all 2 shared titles with Ryûzô Nakanishi
Actors
- Richard BooneShared titles: The Bushido Blade (1981), The Last Dinosaur (1977)See all 2 shared titles with Richard Boone
- Shin'ichi ChibaShared titles: The Bushido Blade (1981), Terror Beneath the Sea (1966)See all 2 shared titles with Shin'ichi Chiba
- Mike DanningShared titles: Gappa the Triphibian Monster (1967), Terror Beneath the Sea (1966)See all 2 shared titles with Mike Danning
- Andrew HughesShared titles: Terror Beneath the Sea (1966), Flight from Ashiya (1964)See all 2 shared titles with Andrew Hughes
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Maury LawsShared titles: The Bushido Blade (1981), The Last Dinosaur (1977)See all 2 shared titles with Maury Laws
- Shôji UedaShared titles: The Bushido Blade (1981), The Last Dinosaur (1977)See all 2 shared titles with Shôji Ueda
- Yoshitami KuroiwaShared titles: The Bushido Blade (1981), The Last Dinosaur (1977)See all 2 shared titles with Yoshitami Kuroiwa
- Toshiaki TsushimaShared titles: The War in Space (1977), The Green Slime (1968)See all 2 shared titles with Toshiaki Tsushima
Producers
- Arthur Rankin Jr.Shared titles: The Bushido Blade (1981), The Last Dinosaur (1977)See all 2 shared titles with Arthur Rankin Jr.
- Benni KorzenShared titles: The Bushido Blade (1981), The Last Dinosaur (1977)See all 2 shared titles with Benni Korzen
- Jules BassShared titles: The Bushido Blade (1981), The Last Dinosaur (1977)See all 2 shared titles with Jules Bass
- Masaki ÎzukaShared titles: The Bushido Blade (1981), The Last Dinosaur (1977)See all 2 shared titles with Masaki Îzuka