Billy Dee Williams | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Williams atGalaxyCon Raleigh in 2023 | |
| Born | William December Williams Jr. (1937-04-06)April 6, 1937 (age 88) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | High School of Music & Art National Academy of Fine Arts and Design Harlem Actors Workshop |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1959–present |
| Known for | Lando Calrissian in theStar Wars franchise Gale Sayers inBrian's Song |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
William December Williams Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American actor, novelist and painter. He has appeared in over 100 films and television roles over six decades. He is best known for portrayingLando Calrissian in theStar Wars franchise and has also appeared in critically acclaimed and popular titles such asMahogany (1975),Scott Joplin (1977), andNighthawks (1981), asHarvey Dent inBatman (1989) andThe Lego Batman Movie (2017),The Last Angry Man (1959),Carter's Army,The Out-of-Towners (1969),The Final Comedown andLady Sings the Blues (both 1972),Hit! (1973),Fear City andTerror in the Aisles (both 1984),Alien Intruder (1993) andThe Visit (2000).
Raised inHarlem, Williams made hisBroadway theatre debut at age seven inThe Firebrand of Florence (1945). He later graduated fromThe High School of Music & Art, then won a painting scholarship to theNational Academy of Fine Arts and Design, where he won aHallgarten Prize for painting in the mid-1950s. He returned to acting to fund his art supplies, including stage, films, and television. He continued painting; his work has since been shown in galleries and collections worldwide. Williams’ film debut was inThe Last Angry Man (1959), but he came to national attention in the television movieBrian's Song (1971), which earned him anEmmy nomination for Best Actor. In the 1980s, he was cast asLando Calrissian inThe Empire Strikes Back (1980), becoming the first black actor with a major role in theStar Wars franchise. He reprised his role in subsequentStar Wars films and media. Williams's television work includes over 70 credits starting in 1966 including recurring roles over the decades inGideon's Crossing,Dynasty,General Hospital: Night Shift, andGeneral Hospital. Numerous cameos and supporting roles included being paired withMarla Gibbs onThe Jeffersons,227, andThe Hughleys. Later work included voice acting in the seriesTitan Maximum (2009), and appearing on thereality showDancing with the Stars (2014).
His work has earned him numerous awards and honors including threeNAACP Image Awards, and theNAACP Lifetime Achievement award. He was inducted into theBlack Filmmaker's Hall of Fame in 1984, and earned a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame in 1985.
William December Williams Jr. was born on April 6, 1937, in New York City. He is the son of Loretta Anne (1915–2016), anelevator operator at theLyceum Theatre and aspiring performer fromMontserrat, and William December Williams Sr. (1909–1973), anAfrican-Americancaretaker, with someNative American ancestry fromTexas.[1][2][3][4] He grew up inHarlem on 110th Street, between Lenox and 5th, adjacent to theCentral Park North–110th Street station.[5] He used to go toCentral Park to see theNegro league players and theCuban baseball league, "They were fantastic, and I wound up working with a lot of those guys," (inThe Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976).[6] He has a twin sister, Loretta, and they were raised by their maternal grandmother while their parents worked several jobs. His mom had studiedopera for years, becoming an accomplished opera star who wanted to break into movies; the family was richly cultured, exposing the children early on to drawing, painting, theatre and similar creative experiences; Billy Dee would remain a fan of the arts including opera.[7][4][8] In March 1945, he made his Broadway debut at age seven portraying apage inThe Firebrand of Florence,Kurt Weill andIra Gershwin’s operetta starringLotte Lenya.[a][9][10][1] His mom, who worked at the theatre, volunteered him for the part which he found boring.[1]
Williams attendedBooker T. Washington Junior High School where he had dreams of being a painter.[11] He graduated in 1955 from theLaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan, where he majored in arts with a focus onvisual arts.[1][12] The school would later be the subject forFame (1980), andits derivative television series.[1] While there he got a two-year scholarship for theNational Academy of Fine Arts and Design in New York—which later changed its name toNational Academy of Design—to study with a focus on "classical principles of painting".[13][1][12] He was nominated at eighteen or nineteen years old for aGuggenheim Fellowship grant—for "creative ability in the arts," and won aHallgarten Prize in the mid-1950s.[5] Although he had scholarships to pay for school tuition, he turned to acting to pay for his paints, supplies, and canvasses.[1] His firstBroadway theatre "big break" was a play,A Taste of Honey.[1] He continued to struggle as an actor for ten years working as an extra, doing small and large theatre, and "slowly breaking into television and film".[14] During art school he gained interest in theStanislavsky Method—experiencing a role in contrast to representing it, to mobilize an actor'sconscious thought andwill to activate emotional response andsubconscious behavior—and began studying at theHarlem Actors Workshop.[15][14] It was run by blacklisted actorPaul Mann who embraced actors of all races; Williams also studied there underSidney Poitier.[14] Though he first viewed his acting as a way to pay for his art supplies, by the early 1960s he began to "devote all of his energy to performance."[14] In succession, he got anactor agent through a friend, started getting majorOff-Broadway roles, then work on Broadway.[14]
Williams returned to Broadway as an adult in 1960 in the adaptation ofThe Cool World. He appeared inA Taste of Honey in 1960. Williams made his film debut in 1959 inThe Last Angry Man, oppositePaul Muni, in which he portrayed a delinquent young man. He was frustrated in the 1960s with the "paucity of parts for leading black men," the majority of roles he wanted went toSidney Poitier.[4] He enjoyed doing theater and television, but "his slow-building film career ate at him." He foundLSD, a popularhallucinogenic drug with the era'shippie movement to be a cure, "LSD saved my life ... I wasn't doing it to get high. It let me get inside of myself."[4] Otherwise he is anti-drug.[4]
He rose to stardom after starring in the critically acclaimed television filmBrian's Song (1971), in which he playedChicago Bears star football playerGale Sayers, who stood by his friendBrian Piccolo (James Caan), during Piccolo's struggle with terminal cancer. Both Williams and Caan were nominated forPrimetime Emmy Awards for best actor for their performances.[16] Williams said the role was the one of which he was most proud "It was a love story, really. Between two guys. Without sex. ... It ended up being a kind of breakthrough in terms of racial division."[17] Williams' success withBrian's Song earned him a seven-year contract withMotown'sBerry Gordy.[3] He became one of America's most well-known black film actors of the 1970s, after starring in a string of critically acclaimed and popular movies, many of them in the "blaxploitation" genre.
In 1972, he starred asBillie Holiday's husband Louis McKay inMotown Productions'Academy Award-nominated Holiday biopicLady Sings the Blues acting oppositeDiana Ross as the titular character. Through his portrayal he became "a full-fledgedsex symbol, and was dubbed byThe New York Times as the blackClark Gable.'"[4] Williams later stated, "I wanted to be known as one of the best actors of my generation, period, but the opportunities weren’t the same for me as they were for Gable, and I was frustrated."[18] Motown paired the two of them again three years later in the successful follow-up projectMahogany. Williams returned to Broadway in the 1976 production,I Have a Dream, which was directed byRobert Greenwald. Williams portrayedcivil rights leaderMartin Luther King Jr.[19] In 1977, he played theeponymous lead role inScott Joplin, biopic of musician's life, featuring many of hisragtime pieces in the soundtrack, including an epic piano duel in the early opening scenes. Williams was cast asLando Calrissian inThe Empire Strikes Back (1980), becoming the firstAfrican-American actor with a role in theStar Wars series.[13] He would reprise the role inReturn of the Jedi (1983).[20] Williams voiced the character in the audio drama adaption ofThe Empire Strikes Back (1983).[21]
Between the twoStar Wars films, he starred alongsideSylvester Stallone as a cop in the thrillerNighthawks (1981). Williams returned to Broadway in theAugust Wilson playFences, as a replacement forJames Earl Jones in the role of Troy Maxson in 1988.[22] Williams co-starred in1989'sBatman as district attorneyHarvey Dent, a role that was planned to develop into Dent's alter-ego, the villain Two-Face, in sequels. He was set to reprise the role in the sequelBatman Returns, but his character was deleted and replaced with villain Max Shreck. WhenJoel Schumacher stepped in to directBatman Forever, where Two-Face was to be a secondary villain, Schumacher decided to hireTommy Lee Jones for the role.[23] There was a rumor that Schumacher had to pay Williams a fee in order to hire Jones, but Williams said that it was not true: "You only get paid if you do the movie. I had a two-picture deal withStar Wars. They paid me for that, but I only had a one picture deal forBatman."[24] Williams eventually voiced Two-Face in the 2017 filmThe Lego Batman Movie.[25]
Williams' television work included a recurring guest-starring role on the short-lived showGideon's Crossing. He is also known for his advertisements forColt 45, amalt liquor, for a five-year period starting in the mid-1980s; he would reprise his spokesperson role in 2016.[26] Williams brushed off criticism—for the subtext of the ad campaign, 'works every time,' and the target audience—of the choice, "I drink, you drink. Hell, ifmarijuana was legal, I'd appear in a commercial for it."[1][27] Colt 45 hired Williams "simply because he was so cool," and went from trailing behindJoseph Schlitz Brewing Company in barrels produced, to "skyrocketing" a year after the 1986 ads ran to two million barrels in the top spot for malt liquor.[1]
In the 1984–1985 season ofDynasty, he playedBrady Lloyd oppositeDiahann Carroll. Williams was paired with actressMarla Gibbs on three situation comedies:The Jeffersons (Gibbs's character, Florence, was a major fan of Williams and challenged him on everything becauseshe thought Williams was an imposter);227 (her character, Mary, pretending to be royalty, met Williams at a banquet); andThe Hughleys (Gibbs and Williams portrayed Darryl's parents). In 1992, he portrayedBerry Gordy inThe Jacksons: An American Dream. In 1993, Williams made a guest appearance on the spin-off toThe Cosby Show,A Different World, as Langston Paige, a grumpy landlord, in abackdoor pilot for his own series. Williams appeared as himself onMartin where he providedMartin Lawrence's character with advice on getting back together with Gina.[citation needed]
Williams made a special guest appearance on the hit sketch comedy showIn Living Color in 1990. He portrayed Pastor Dan in an episode ofThat '70s Show. In this episode, "Baby Don't You Do It" (2004), his character is obsessed withStar Wars, and uses this to help counselEric Forman (himself aStar Wars fan) andDonna Pinciotti about his premarital relationship. Williams made a cameo appearance as himself on the television seriesLost in the episode "Exposé". He also appears regularly on short clips on theJimmy Kimmel Live! as a semi-parody of himself. In February 2006, Williams guest starred as himself in the season 5 episode "Her Story II" ofScrubs, where he plays the godfather of Julie (Mandy Moore).Turk hugs him, calling him "Lando", even though he prefers to be called Billy Dee.[citation needed]
Williams played the GDI Director Redmond Boyle, in thefull-motion video (live-action) cutscenes of the video gameCommand & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (2007). This made him the second formerStar Wars actor to appear in aCommand & Conquer game (with the first beingJames Earl Jones as GDI General James Solomon inTiberian Sun). Williams played Toussaint Dubois forGeneral Hospital: Night Shift in 2007 and 2008. In 2008, Williams reprised his role as Lando Calrissian to appear in a video onFunny or Die in a mock political ad defending himself for leader of theStar Wars galaxy against vicious attack ads from EmperorPalpatine.[28] Williams was a cast member ofDiary of a Single Mom, a web-based original series directed by award-winning filmmaker Robert Townsend. The series debuted on PIC.tv in 2009.[29] Williams reprised his role as Toussaint onGeneral Hospital beginning in June 2009. Also in 2009, Williams took on the role of the voice of Admiral Bitchface, the head of the military on the planet Titan, in theAdult Swim animated seriesTitan Maximum. In July 2010, Williams appeared in the animated seriesThe Boondocks, where he voiced a fictionalized version of himself in the episode "The Story of Lando Freeman".[citation needed]
In February 2011, Williams appeared as a guest star onUSA Network'sWhite Collar as Ford, an old friend ofNeal Caffrey's landlady June, played byDiahann Carroll. In February 2012, Williams was the surprise guest during a taping ofThe Oprah Winfrey Show spotlightingDiana Ross. Ross and Williams were reunited after having not seen each other in 29 years. In October 2012, Williams appeared as a guest star onNCIS in Season 10 Episode 5 titled "Namesake", as Gibbs's namesake and his father's former best friend, Leroy Jethro Moore. On January 9, 2013, Williams made acameo appearance as himself onModern Family, season 4, episode 11 "New Year's Eve". In 2014, Williams competed on the18th season ofDancing with the Stars, areality show/dancing competition partnered with professional dancerEmma Slater.[30] The couple had to withdraw from the competition on the third week due to an injury to Williams's back. He also voiced Colonel Jackson in the 2016 video gameLet It Die, who acts as the second major boss players face.[31]
Over the years, Williams reprised his role ofLando Calrissian in four video games,The Lego Movie (2014), two episodes ofStar Wars Rebels and multipleLEGO Star Wars animated specials. He later returned to the role in theStar Wars: Star Wars Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019),[32] marking one of the longest intervals between onscreen portrayals of a character by the same actor in American film history.[33]Episode IX directorJ. J. Abrams noted, "Lando was always written as a complex, contradictory, nuanced character. And Billy Dee played him to suave perfection, ... It wasn't just that people of color were seeing themselves represented; they were seeing themselves represented in a rich, wonderful, intriguing way."[34] Over the years, Williams has been a featured guest atfan conventions, mostlyscience fiction ones for his role. Of his fan interactions he has said they have mostly been positive ones, "I love every single moment of it, I'll have an audience for the rest of my life."[35][36]
In the late 1980s, Williams resumed painting, devoting much of his time to the work.[14] He returned to New York to star inAugust Wilson's playFences, replacingJames Earl Jones in the lead for four months starting in February 1988.[37][38] It marked a turning point for him, returning home, and for him, the center of the art scene.[8] He also renewed his friendship withPeter Max, who had also trained and sold art in the city, and renewed Williams' interest in painting.[39] Within a two-year span he "cranked out 120 original works of art".[b][8][40]
Williams is the honorary chairman ofHerbie Hancock Institute of Jazz (formerlyThelonious Monk Institute of Jazz) inWashington, D.C., which fostersjazz education.[41] The institution has used his artwork each year for its competition programs since 1990.[1] He had his first solo exhibition in 1991, followed by many throughout North America, and, later, the world.[42][14] Around 1992, Williams, inspired by his friend and fellow New York artist Peter Max who had ateapot collection, started acookie jar collection.[8] Being an opera fan, he first found a jar in the shape of a singer in an opera gift shop by artisan couple Michael and Shelley Buonaiuto; later buying more than a dozen from their limited lines including ones of jazz artistsJosephine Baker andFats Waller.[8] His 1993 self-portrait is at theNational Portrait Gallery of theSmithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.) with a description that he "specializes inacrylic paintings combining traditional brushwork with anairbrushing technique"; he also works inoils.[6][43][44] Williams painted a series ofimpressionistic portraits of theTuskegee Airmen, the "African-American pilots whose real-life exploits changed the course of American military history."[39] He started the series in the 1990s but when officials fromNational Air and Space Museum (NASM) saw them they wanted more, and to use them in an exhibition.[39][45] In 1999, they were displayed at the African-American Museum of Art, Culture and History in New Orleans, and in early 2000, the NASM in Washington, D.C.[39]
He was commissioned for four paintings—including one oftrack and field starJesse Owens sprinting, and another of a pair of boxers in a fight ring—forNissan that were displayed at the1996 Summer Olympics inAtlanta, Georgia.[46][35] In 1997, he did paintings forWalt Disney Company's Mighty Ducks arena for theAnaheim Ducks.[35] From a description, circa late 1990s, at one of the galleries that carries his work, "Billy's paintings are usuallyacrylic on canvas, applied with brush andairbrush. He also works withcollage elements and has even created three-dimensional canvasses incorporatingceramic,Lucite, andneon light."[47]
He got permission fromStar Wars creatorGeorge Lucas to sell lithographs of a montage of Williams' iconic character from the franchise, Lando Calrissian.[11][8] As of 2001, his paintings sold for an average of $10,000 to $35,000 (equivalent to $62,153 in 2024).[14] "I call my paintings 'abstract reality,'" said Williams. "Sometimes I refer to them as 'impressions/expression.' It's the best way I can explain them."[1] In early 2001, Williams was one of the celebrity artists painting seven-foot angel sculptures as part of the Oscar Academy's sponsoring L.A.'s "A Community of Angels" charity project.[48][49] The art angels were displayed for months then auctioned to raise funds for L.A. youth programs.[48][49] In his online gallery biography, he states, "[an] interest inEastern philosophy characterizes his images, first to record the physical reality, and then to uncover through the application of light, color and perspective. He citesEdward Hopper,M. C. Escher—the Dutch Master,Frida Kahlo,Tamara de Lempicka,Thomas Hart Benton, and the exciting, vibrant forms ofAfrican art as some of his strongest influences."[8][44] Williams' work is included at theSchomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York, and theAmerican Jazz Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.[6]
In a 2001 interview he said, "Either I want to drop dead with a paint brush in my hand or I want to drop dead doing a soliloquy on the stage, I love acting. I love it. I take my acting very seriously, but I also find it fun. To do what children do and get paid for it is a lot of fun. I'm very fortunate."[14] In late 2007, he was a guest artist on a ten-dayPrincess Cruise liner.[50] They bought about eighty pieces which they put on their cruises and then auctioned off.[50] He was commissioned for another set of Disney paintings to be unveiled in 2011 at Disney'sD23 Expo, also inAnaheim, California.[36] For those, he set iconic Disney charactersMickey andMinnie Mouse, andGoofy in jazz music settings.[36] In a 2011 interview he said, "I mostly create abstract paintings. I paint what's obvious to the eye and then incorporate an abstract point of view, which allows me a lot of space to play in. I work a lot with acrylic and oils, mostly acrylic right now and do a lot of line drawings."[51] In a September 2015 interview, he said he finds painting "cathartic" compared to collective film work, "When you're painting you just lock yourself up in your little private world. And it's all about you and your imagination and nobody else interfering with that. It's a great exercise because you really start discovering who you are and what you are without a lot of assistance … and the moment you come up with something interesting it's a success that’s really based on your own personal, private sensibility."[7] As of 2019 he has made around 300 paintings, which Williams sees as his legacy.[34]
In 1961, Williams recorded ajazz LP produced byPrestige Records entitledLet's Misbehave, on which he coveredswing standards.[6] The album was named after itssecond track. it included the first-ever vocal recording of "A Taste of Honey", a song byBobby Scott andRic Marlow later covered byThe Beatles on their 1963 debut albumPlease Please Me.[6] Williams was later the first to sing the song in the U.S., on theBroadway stage withJoan Plowright as part of the original Broadway production of the playA Taste of Honey.[6] The commercial success of his album later earned Williams a spot onMotown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever (1983). Williams said of the album, "Recording it was sort of a lark. I did some singing in clubs, for a moment, and then I stopped. I have too much respect for singers to really think that I'm a singer."[6] The album was re-released on CD, download and streaming platforms in 2014.
Thirty years later, in the early 1990s, he sang on a “celebrity-packed charity single," "Voices That Care,” to honor U.S. troop ofOperation Desert Storm, the1990–1991 Gulf War, and supporting theInternational Red Cross.[1] The single reached number eleven on theBillboard Hot 100, and number six on theHot Adult Contemporary Tracks.[52][53] Through sales and plays of the song Williams and the other celebrities became platinum-recording and Billboard-charting artists.[1]
Williams has been married three times, and has three children, and two grandchildren.[54] His first marriage was to Audrey Sellers in 1959. They were divorced some years later, after which he apparently became depressed. He stated that "there was a period when I was very despondent, broke, depressed, my first marriage was on the rocks." They had a son, Corey Dee Williams, born in 1960.[54][55] In 1968, Williams married model and actressMarlene Clark inHawaii. They divorced in 1971.[56][57][58] He moved from New York City to California in 1971.[34]
He married Teruko Nakagami on December 27, 1972. She brought a daughter, Miyako (born 1962), from her previous marriage to musicianWayne Shorter. Together they have a daughter, Hanako (born 1973).[54][59] In 1984, he bought a "Zen-like contemporary" home in theTrousdale Estates neighborhood ofBeverly Hills, California; he sold it in 2012.[60][61] He filed for an amicable divorce from Nakagami in 1993, but they reconciled, and were again living together by 1997.[54][62][63]
In late 2019, Williams talked about his feminine side in an interview, and used masculine and feminine pronouns to refer to himself.[34] Media outlets speculated that Williams might begender fluid, but he clarified that he was referring toanima and animus: the feminine side of men and the masculine side of women inJungian psychology.[64]
Williams was arrested on January 30, 1996, after allegedly assaulting his live-in girlfriend, whom the police did not identify.[65] He posted a US$50,000 bail.[66] L.A. Police said the woman had minor bruises and scratches.[67] The district attorney's office filed misdemeanor charges of spousal battery and dissuading a witness.[68] The woman later stated that the incident was her fault and hoped the police would drop the case.[69] In a plea bargain, Williams agreed to undergo 52 counseling sessions.[70] In a 2019 interview, Williams said he never slapped or abused women.[4]
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| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role | Brian's Song | Nominated | [71] |
| 1981 | Saturn Award | Best Supporting Actor | Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back | Nominated | [72] |
| 1984 | Best Supporting Actor | Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi | Nominated | [72] | |
| 2001 | Independent Spirit Award | Best Supporting Male | The Visit | Nominated | [14][73] |
| 2002 | Black Reel Awards | Theatrical - Best Supporting Actor | The Visit | Nominated | [3] |
| 1972 | NAACP Image Award | Best Actor - Motion Picture | Lady Sings the Blues | Won | |
| 1977 | Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture | The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings | Won | ||
| 2001 | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture | The Visit | Nominated | ||
| 2006 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Received | [74] | ||
| 2010 | Indie Series Awards | Best Performance by a Guest Actor | Diary of a Single Mom | Nominated | |
| 2011 | Outstanding Supporting Actor | Diary of a Single Mom | Nominated | ||
| 2003 | TV Land Award | Most Memorable Male Guest Star in a Comedy | The Jeffersons | Nominated | |
| 2006 | Blockbuster Movie of the Week | Brian's Song | Won | ||
| 2018 | Behind the Voice Actors Awards | Best Vocal Ensemble in a Feature Film | The Lego Batman Movie | Nominated | |
Special recognition
