Billy Dee Williams
William December Williams Jr. was born on the 6th of April 1937 in New York City. He grew up on 110th Street between Lenox and 5th Avenue, right next to the Central Park North, 110th Street station. His mother worked as an elevator operator at the Lyceum Theatre while his father served as a caretaker with some Native American ancestry from Texas. The family lived in Harlem where he watched Negro league players and Cuban baseball games in Central Park. A twin sister named Loretta shared his childhood while their parents held multiple jobs to support them. His mother studied opera for years before becoming an accomplished star who wanted to break into movies. This richly cultured home exposed the children early to drawing painting theatre and similar creative experiences.
In March 1945 seven-year-old Williams made his Broadway debut portraying a page in The Firebrand of Florence. His mother volunteered him for the part which he found boring at the time. He attended Booker T. Washington Junior High School where he dreamed of being a painter. He graduated in 1955 from the LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan. There he majored in arts with a focus on visual arts. The school later became the subject for Fame (1980) and its derivative television series. While there he received a two-year scholarship for the National Academy of Fine Arts and Design in New York. It changed its name to National Academy of Design to study classical principles of painting.
At eighteen or nineteen years old he was nominated for a Guggenheim Fellowship grant for creative ability in the arts. He won a Hallgarten Prize in the mid-1950s. Although scholarships paid for his tuition he turned to acting to pay for paints supplies and canvasses. His first Broadway big break came as a play called A Taste of Honey. He continued struggling as an actor for ten years working as an extra doing small and large theatre. He slowly broke into television and film during that decade.
Williams rose to stardom after starring in the critically acclaimed television film Brian's Song released in 1971. In it he played Chicago Bears star football player Gale Sayers who stood by his friend Brian Piccolo during cancer struggles. James Caan portrayed Piccolo alongside him. Both Williams and Caan were nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards for best actor for their performances. Williams said the role was one of which he was most proud. He described it as a love story really between two guys without sex. The ending ended up being a kind of breakthrough in terms of racial division.
His success with Brian's Song earned him a seven-year contract with Motown's Berry Gordy. He became one of America's most well-known black film actors of the 1970s. This led to a string of critically acclaimed and popular movies many falling within the blaxploitation genre. In 1972 he starred as Billie Holiday's husband Louis McKay in Lady Sings the Blues acting opposite Diana Ross. Through this portrayal he became a full-fledged sex symbol. The New York Times dubbed him the black Clark Gable.
Williams later stated that he wanted to be known as one of the best actors of his generation period but opportunities weren't the same for him as they were for Gable. He felt frustrated about these limitations. Motown paired them again three years later in Mahogany which proved successful. He returned to Broadway in 1976 for I Have a Dream directed by Robert Greenwald. There he portrayed civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. In 1977 he played the eponymous lead role in Scott Joplin featuring many ragtime pieces in the soundtrack including an epic piano duel early on.
Williams was cast as Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back released in 1980. He became the first African-American actor with a major role in the Star Wars series. He would reprise the role in Return of the Jedi released in 1983. Williams voiced the character in the audio drama adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back also from 1983. Between those two films he starred alongside Sylvester Stallone as a cop in Nighthawks released in 1981.
He returned to Broadway in August Wilson's play Fences replacing James Earl Jones in Troy Maxson starting February 1988. This marked a turning point returning home and centering his art scene. He co-starred in Batman released in 1989 as district attorney Harvey Dent. That role planned to develop into Two-Face in sequels but his character got deleted. Tommy Lee Jones replaced him when Joel Schumacher directed Batman Forever. There was a rumor Schumacher paid Williams a fee to hire Jones but Williams said that was not true. You only get paid if you do the movie. He had a two-picture deal with Star Wars but only one picture for Batman.
Williams eventually voiced Two-Face in The Lego Batman Movie released in 2017. Over the years he reprised Lando Calrissian in four video games including The Lego Movie (2014) and episodes of Star Wars Rebels. He later returned to the role in Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker released in 2019. This marked one of the longest intervals between onscreen portrayals by the same actor in American film history. J.J. Abrams noted that people of color saw themselves represented in a rich wonderful intriguing way.
Williams' television work included over 70 credits starting in 1966. It featured recurring roles across decades in Gideon's Crossing Dynasty General Hospital: Night Shift and General Hospital. Numerous cameos and supporting roles paired him with Marla Gibbs on three sitcoms. They appeared together on The Jeffersons where Florence challenged him as an imposter. They also worked together on 227 and The Hughleys. In 1984, 1985 Dynasty season he played Brady Lloyd opposite Diahann Carroll.
In 1992 he portrayed Berry Gordy in The Jacksons: An American Dream. Williams made a guest appearance on A Different World in 1993 as Langston Paige. He appeared as himself on Martin providing advice to Martin Lawrence. He made a special guest appearance on In Living Color in 1990 portraying Pastor Dan in That '70s Show. His character used Star Wars to help counsel Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti about their relationship.
He appeared regularly on short clips on Jimmy Kimmel Live! as a semi-parody of himself. In February 2006 he guest starred as himself in Scrubs playing the godfather of Julie. Turk hugged him calling him Lando even though he preferred Billy Dee. He played Toussaint Dubois for General Hospital: Night Shift in 2007 and 2008. In 2008 he reprised his role as Lando Calrissian in a Funny or Die mock political ad defending himself against Emperor Palpatine's attacks.
In the late 1980s Williams resumed painting devoting much time to the work. He returned to New York to star in Fences replacing James Earl Jones starting February 1988. It marked a turning point returning home and centering his art scene. He renewed friendship with Peter Max who had also trained and sold art in the city. Within two years he cranked out 120 original works of art. Williams is honorary chairman of Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz which fosters jazz education. The institution used his artwork each year for competition programs since 1990.
He had his first solo exhibition in 1991 followed by many throughout North America and later the world. Around 1992 he started a cookie jar collection inspired by Peter Max's teapot collection. He found a jar shaped like an opera singer in an opera gift shop by Michael and Shelley Buonaiuto. Later buying more than a dozen from their limited lines including ones of Josephine Baker and Fats Waller. His 1993 self-portrait sits at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. It describes him as specializing in acrylic paintings combining traditional brushwork with airbrushing technique.
Williams painted impressionistic portraits of the Tuskegee Airmen African-American pilots whose exploits changed American military history. Officials from NASM saw them in the 1990s and wanted more for exhibitions. They were displayed at the African-American Museum of Art Culture and History in New Orleans in 1999. In early 2000 they appeared at the NASM in Washington D.C. He got permission to sell lithographs of Lando Calrissian as of 2001. His paintings sold for an average of $10,000 to $35,000.
His work earned numerous awards and honors including three NAACP Image Awards plus the NAACP Lifetime Achievement award. He was inducted into the Black Filmmaker's Hall of Fame in 1984. Williams earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1985 located at 1521 Vine Street. The Independent Spirit Award recognized his performance in The Visit released in 2001. The Black Reel Awards honored him for Best Supporting Actor in that same film.
In 2006 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NAACP. The TV Land Award named him Most Memorable Male Guest Star in Comedy for The Jeffersons in 2003. Behind the Voice Actors Awards recognized his vocal ensemble in The Lego Batman Movie in 2018. The Multicultural Motion Picture Association gave him a Diversity Awards Lifetime Achievement Honor in 2000. The African-American Film Critics Association presented a Special Achievement Award in 2012. The American Black Film Festival awarded him a Hollywood Legacy Award in 2018.
Williams recorded a jazz LP entitled Let's Misbehave produced by Prestige Records in 1961. It included the first-ever vocal recording of A Taste of Honey later covered by The Beatles. The album earned him a spot on Motown 25: Yesterday Today Forever (1983). In early 1990s he sang on Voices That Care to honor U.S. troops of Operation Desert Storm. The single reached number eleven on Billboard Hot 100 and number six on Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks. Through sales and plays they became platinum-recording and Billboard-charting artists.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When and where was Billy Dee Williams born?
William December Williams Jr. was born on the 6th of April 1937 in New York City.
What role made Billy Dee Williams a star in 1971?
Williams rose to stardom after starring as Chicago Bears star football player Gale Sayers in the critically acclaimed television film Brian's Song released in 1971.
Which character did Billy Dee Williams play in The Empire Strikes Back?
Williams was cast as Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back released in 1980 and became the first African-American actor with a major role in the Star Wars series.
How many original works of art did Billy Dee Williams create within two years of resuming painting?
Within two years of resuming painting in the late 1980s he cranked out 120 original works of art.
In what year did Billy Dee Williams receive his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?
Williams earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1985 located at 1521 Vine Street.