Billy Dee Williams

Billy Dee Williams

Birthday: 06 Apr 1937
Birth place: New York City - New York - USA
Bio:

Billy Dee Williams was born in He began his acting career when he first appeared on Broadway in 1945 in The Firebrand of Florence. He returned to Broadway as an adult in 1960 in the play version of The Cool Word. He appeared in A Taste of Honey in 1961. A 1976 Broadway production, I Have a Dream, starred Williams as Martin Luther King, Jr. His most recent Broadway appearance was in August Wilson's Fences in 1988. He made his film debut in 1959 in The Last Angry Man, starring Paul Muni, in which he portrayed a juvenile delinquent. His first big break was in the biographical TV movie, Brian's Song (1971), in which he played Chicago Bears star football player Gale Sayers, who stood by his friend Brian Piccolo (played by James Caan), during his struggle with terminal cancer. Both Williams and Caan were nominated for Emmy Awards for their performances. In 1972, he played Billie Holliday's husband Louis McKay in Motown Productions' Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues. Diana Ross starred in Lady Sings the Blues opposite Williams; Motown paired the two of them again three years later in Mahogany. His most widely recognized role is that of Lando Calrissian, which he played in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

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