In his early years, William Hollinshead Loomis was slime. Actually, we know very little about where Willie was raised, (though from his accent, probably somewhere in the South) or his early life, other than that he was probably in and out of jail most of his life, and at some point, fell into the company of Jason McGuire. One wonders how these two men ever became friends. True, they were both crooks (which probably had a lot to do with it), but while Jason was sly and stylish, and had a coat of polish over his sleazy interior, it was quite obvious Willie was scum.
But become friends they did, and traveled around the world together, trying to put over Jason's shady schemes. Obviously this wasn't the best of ideas, because in 1967, Jason and Willie were broke. Things were so bad, in fact, that Jason decided it was time to head to Collinsport to cash in an eighteen-year-old "insurance policy." Though Willie never knew the details, Jason told him he would be living on a large estate, in the lap of luxury, so he readily agreed. He was to wait for Jason's call while he set up the way.
He didn't have to wait long. Jason had been there less than a day before he called to say that everything was going as planned. Willie just had to wait, and they would have wealth beyond their dreams.
But Willie was not a patient man. As soon as Jason called, Willie came to Collinsport to meet with him. Unfortunately the meeting was in a public place (the Blue Whale), so the whole town got to see him. He did not impress them, and his pass at Vicki made a particular enemy of Burke. Jason even had to restrain him from starting a barroom brawl when someone bumped into him. They made plans to get Willie into Collinwood, and Willie went back to his rented room somewhere nearby.
While waiting for the plans to take effect, Willie continued to make enemies, and almost got into a fight with Joe Haskell over Maggie before Jason stopped him. But now Willie was angry, and his anger turned on Jason, and the fact that Jason hadn't invited him to Collinwood yet didn't help. He wasn't satisfied with Jason's explanation that it was too soon.
Once again, Willie's impatience got the best of him. He didn't like waiting for Jason, so he packed his few belongings and went to Collinwood, saying that he'd accepted Jason's invitation to stay. Jason was furious Willie, but realized he couldn't do anything. Willie was very smug about his triumph, since Jason had always been the one who came out on top before. Little did Willie know that he was hardly going to get the best end of the deal.
Willie and Jason managed to charm Mrs. Johnson (though one would have hoped Mrs. Johnson was smarter than that) into fixing him a room. Of course, Liz Stoddard was appalled to find out that Jason had moved his buddy into Collinwood, and Willie's behavior did nothing to change her opinion. But Jason's hold over her kept her from kicking Willie out.
Unfortunately, Willie went too far. His continued lechery toward Vicki and Carolyn (who had to hold him off with a revolver), and the weakness for jewelry which made him steal Elizabeth's, caused her to resist even Jason. But Willie wanted money and let Jason know in no uncertain terms that he wouldn't leave until he got it. Jason told him that he'd get it from Liz.
But Willie came up with his own plan. Intrigued by the jewelry in the portraits of some of the Collins ancestors, specifically Naomi and Barnabas Collins, and by the family legends which talked about people buried with their jewels, he cooked up a plan. Learning about the family history from books and from Mrs. Johnson and David, he found out that, though Barnabas Collins was said to have been buried in England. Naomi was buried with her jewelry just five miles away. He would rob her grave, take the jewels, and disappear from Collinsport forever. No one on the estate or in town would have been upset by this - especially Burke, who had thrown him out of the Blue Whale and ordered him to get out of town following a fierce scuffle. But he knew that Jason would want a cut if he found out, so he kept his plans a secret.
Making one reconnaissance trip to Eagle Hill Cemetery to scout out the Collins mausoleum, he returned to Collinwood for tools, and for the money Jason had promised him. Sidestepping Jason's questions, he was told that his money would be there any minute; but his greed got the better of him again. Instead of waiting, he ransacked the tool shed, and, armed with a crowbar, a block and tackle and several other tools, went off to get the jewels. Undoubtedly he would have come back for the money, but he never got the chance. While trying to open Naomi's coffin, he discovered a secret room with a chained coffin inside. Willie must have believed the jewels to be kept there, for he broke the chains and opened the lid. If he had even suspected the truth, he would never have done this. For now he had learned a family secret that had been kept for over a century - Barnabas Collins had not moved to England and died, but had been turned into a vampire and chained in his coffin.
After being bitten on the wrist by Barnabas, he became the vampire's slave, and was forced to educate the Eighteenth-Century vampire about Twentieth-Century Collinsport. Once this was accomplished, Willie was allowed to return to Collinwood - very humbled, very repentant and very weak from loss of blood. He apologized to Maggie, Vicki and Carolyn (who in turn apologized for almost killing him), and even tried to reconcile with Burke. This and his weakened condition, led several people to the conclusion that he was sick. Only Willie himself knew the truth, but he could tell no one.
Both Roger and Liz thought Willie was faking illness in order to continue living at Collinwoood - they wanted him out of town as soon as possible. Willie was the first to agree to this, but Jason wouldn't hear of it. Willie tried several times to get out of town before Barnabas woke up again, but could not. And when the sun finally did set, he was unable to resist the call of the vampire. Though Dr. Woodard told the family Willie required rest to regain his strength, his nighttime "excursions" destroyed his credibility, and Liz threw him out.
By this time, however, Barnabas had introduced himself and gained permission to live in the Old House, which was in need of renovation. So, despite the warnings of the family and the townsfolk, he hired Willie as a handyman, knowing full well that he could control him.
Willie's jobs were varied, ranging from handyman to furniture builder, from servant to delivery boy, from a seller of jewelry to whipping boy. In fact, Willie was sometimes black and blue from this final one. But Barnabas was actually good for Willie in several ways. He got Willie to do perhaps his first honest day's work, to quit smoking those Australian cigarettes he had gotten so attached to, and to be a much friendlier person in general.
When Barnabas decided to turn Maggie Evans into Josette, it was Willie who had to watch over her during the day and he became very fond of her. Once, when Barnabas had kidnapped Maggie, Willie had even gotten up enough courage to make an anonymous call to Vicki and tell her he knew where Maggie was. But Barnabas had found out and had beaten him severely; Willie had done everything in his power to protect Maggie, other than let her go (which he would have done, if he could only have disobeyed Barnabas). He made her comfortable, and since Barnabas would kill her if she didn't become Josette, he tried to convince her to at least pretend to cooperate. And he was able to talk Barnabas into giving her another chance.
But he also had to protect Barnabas, so when Dr. Woodard wanted a blood sample from Willie, he tried to decline - unaware that Barnabas planned to switch the slides.
Knowing Willie's passion for jewelry, Maggie gave him her ring, hoping someone would see and recognize it. But Willie lost it later the same day, while chasing away young David. He didn't even notice it was missing until Barnabas came back with it and scolded him for taking it, for, if someone saw the inscription, they would know that Maggie was alive.
When Maggie finally escaped, Willie grieved at her supposed death, but he still had other problems. Jason's scheme to blackmail Liz had gone sour, and he needed money. Having inadvertently discovered that it was Barnabas who had kidnapped Maggie, Jason tried to blackmail Willie into stealing Barnabas's jewels. By now, Willie had no desire to help Jason, but he had to protect Barnabas, so he told Jason to come back at dusk and he would have something for him. Willie knew he couldn't steal much, or Barnabas would find out. So he took a brooch that Barnabas had given him to sell, hoping that he would keep his greedy ex-partner satisfied. Predictably, it didn't; Jason broke into the Old House at dusk and ignoring Willie's frantic warnings, walked right into Barnabas's clutches. Sobbing silently, Willie was forced to bury the body of the nearest thing he'd had to a friend.
Julia Hoffman's attempt to free Barnabas from the curse gave Willie some degree of hope that his hellish existence might change, but the vampire's obsession with Vicki, and his murderous jealousy of Burke Devlin, gave him many a sleepless night. At one point he even managed to talk Barnabas out of killing Burke, though only by pointing out that such a prominent man's disappearance would surely launch an investigation that could expose them. Further fears of being "found out" haunted Willie when Maggie Evans turned up alive, despite her amnesia; yet, knowing Barnabas planned to silence her permanently, he risked revealing his own role and made a desperate attempt to warn her. Blundering into a trap set by the police, poor Willie was shot 6 times, under the impression that he was the "maniac" who had kidnapped Maggie.
Incredibly, Willie recovered physically, but his mind had been shattered by the horrors he had suffered. Unable to even recognize Barnabas or Julia, he was taken away for treatment at Wyncliffe Sanitarium. (It is not clear whether Willie vent directly to Wyncliffe or was transferred there from another, unnamed institution. The latter is possible, since Julia certainly would have pulled strings to get him where she could keep an eye on him.)
In May 1968 Julia reluctantly arranged for Willie's premature release; she and Barnabas needed his help in the experiment that would cure Barnabas and create Adam. By now Willie's memory had returned (though he at first tried to conceal this), but his behavior had far from stabilized. Much of his old deviousness and violent temper had returned; yet, strangely, he also had come to feel a genuine loyalty and affection for Barnabas, who even as a human did not return his feelings in the slightest. When the dream curse appeared to have returned Barnabas to his vampire form, Willie, who had experienced the horrifying dream himself, was truly broken-hearted, and stubbornly refused to drive a stake through his heart as Barnabas had requested. (Which, since he was actually still human, turned out to be a darned good thing! It was bad enough that Willie and Julia buried him.)
One thing that had not changed was Willie's affection and concern for Maggie. Anxious to convince her that he was not the one who had abducted her, he initially terrified the girl, but eventually managed to persuade her of his innocence and even win her hesitant friendship. Joe Haskell was utterly baffled by this, warning Willie to keep away from her if he valued his life. Willie, in turn, hated Joe with a psychotic jealousy, and dreamed of an opportunity to blow him away with his rifle. On one occasion they actually did reach the point of aiming guns at each other, ending with Joe's ignominious flight from the Old House. Yet, ironically, when Adam seriously injured Joe, Willie was forced to sullenly assist Barnabas in rushing him to the hospital - earning Joe's unwanted gratitude.
The Eve experiment created new fears for Willie. Being forced to rob graves was enough to make him contemplate heading for the hills, but when Barnabas insisted on using Maggie's life force, Willie realized he had to stay and protect her. Unable to talk Barnabas into changing his mind, he planned to destroy the artificial body Julia had assembled, but dropped his knife in panic when Barnabas appeared and threatened his life. Desperate to save Maggie, Willie tried to convince her that she was in danger - and, when that failed, he drugged her with chloroform and carried her away I Meaning to force Barnabas to find another victim, he held Maggie prisoner in the secret room at the old Collins mausoleum. Unfortunately, the location brought back Maggie's repressed memory of Barnabas's secret, and the scheme blew up in Willie's face. Only a second, unexpected memory loss arranged by Nicholas Blair averted disaster.
During this period, thanks to Nicholas's hypnotic powers, Willie found himself aiding the warlock more than once. But his conscious loyalty to Barnabas remained. When the vampire Angelique made Barnabas her victim, and he had to be locked, for his own protection, in the very cell where he had once imprisoned Maggie, it would hardly have been surprising if Willie had gloated. Instead, he felt only sympathy and compassion. And when the time-travelling Barnabas seemed trapped in 1796, it was Willie, inspired by a vision of Josette's spirit, whose persistent hope freed him from his coffin when even Julia had been ready to give up.
When Barnabas began his long visit to 1897, leaving his present-day body in a deep trance (and seemingly not in need of food, drink or dusting). Willie apparently came to feel that he was no longer needed. Julia generously gave him an aide's position at Wyncliffe and from there he later moved on to a similar position at another area hospital. (He may. perhaps, have had a problem keeping up a professional image at Wyncliffe, where too many remembered him as a former patient.) It was through this latter job that he met and fell in love with a pretty girl named Roxanne. Roxanne in turn was quickly won over by Willie, knowing nothing about his past - and in February 1970 the happy couple set out for New York, where they planned to marry and begin a new life together.
It's too bad that it was at this point that Barnabas sent for Willie; as it was, Willie had already decided to stop off in Collinsport along the way and share the good news with all his friends. Leaving Roxanne at the Collinsport Inn, he went to Collinwoood in a buoyant mood - only to find its inhabitants weirdly changed by the evil power of the Leviathans. Learning that Maggie was a prisoner in the tower room, he overcame his terror long enough to attempt a daring rescue, and they both would have died there if the ghost of Peter Bradford had not come to their aid. Barnabas needed Willie's help once again, but Willie was anguished, feeling torn between his new life and his love for his friends; and, seeing his dilemma, Barnabas finally realized and appreciated the depth of his loyalty. For the first time seeing Willie as a friend rather than a servant, he told him he was free to go, wishing him well. But Willie couldn't go, not while his friends were in danger. Roxanne, he said, would just have to understand.
It was a tall order - especially since Willie could not reveal to his baffled fiancée any of what was going on. Sitting alone at night in their hotel room, she must have wondered at his mysterious disappearances and his nervous, evasive manner. Little could she know that he had been drafted into helping Julia stalk the vampire Megan.
When Roger, guarding Megan's coffin, attacked Julia, Willie leapt bravely to her defense and knocked him unconscious. Then, trembling, he drove a stake through the vampire's heart - almost drowning out her scream with his own.
This experience left Willie badly shaken, and perhaps it was the turning point in his deteriorating relationship with Roxanne. Perhaps she could no longer put up with his secrecy - or possibly, he told her the truth, and she found that even harder to deal with. Whatever happened, she apparently broke their engagement and left Collinsport, for after spring of 1970 she is never mentioned again.
Later that year Willie was drawn into the tragic events leading up to the destruction of Collinwood. Ordered to guard the possessed David Collins and Hallie Stokes, he was tricked into letting them escape; but this actually proved to be a blessing in disguise, for they returned with startling news - they had stumbled on the hiding place of the vampire preying on Maggie. Once again Willie and Julia went on a deadly mission -but this time Julia recognized the vampire as Barnabas's new love, Roxanne Drew, and decided not to stake her. Instead, Willie and Quentin chained her in her coffin and took it to the Old House. (Note: Roxanne Drew is a totally different person from Willie's former fiancée, as shown by his reaction upon opening the coffin: "Who is it, Julia?")
Though Willie seemingly survived the attack of Gerard Stiles's undead pirates, he must have found life difficult in a town that now refused to even acknowledge Collinwood's existence. We will never know how long he may have stayed on, faithfully guarding Barnabas as he sat once again in the I-Ching trance. But if he did his patience was rewarded, for in the end history was changed and his home at Collinwood restored. And there, presumably, he still lives.
