Billy Dee Williams

Billy Dee Williams is an American actor, popular amongst the viewers for playing the role of Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars movie series and other renowned films like Batman (1989), Brian’s Song (2017), etc. Williams was born on 6th April 1937 to William December Williams, a caretaker from Texas and Loretta Anne, an elevator operator. He and his twin sister were conceived in New York but raised in Harlem by their maternal grandmother. As a teenager, he studied at the Fiorello H LaGuardia High School of Music & Art. In 1959, Williams made his acting debut in Daniel Mann’s drama film The Last Angry Man (1959), opposite to David Wayne and Paul Muni.

Since then, the veteran actor has featured in lots of films and alongside some big names in the industry. As of now, he has more than a hundred acting credits to his name. After playing ‘Harvey Dent’ in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), Williams got a lot of appreciation and recognition which he fairly deserved. Apart from acting, Williams has been a part of ventures like Music, Video Games, and Art. Even before an actor, Williams was known to be an artist in the late 1950s. He even went to the National Academy of Fine Arts and Design, New York. The live character of GDI Director Redmond Boyle in the videogame Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars was played by Williams.

Many other videogames have hired him as a voice artist, like Let It Die, Star Wars: Battlefront, etc. Married life hasn’t always been stable for Williams, as he’s been with three different women. Firstly, he had Audrey Sellers as his wife and had a son named Corey Williams. After divorcing her, he temporarily went into depression. Then, he married actress and model Marlene Clark and divorced her just two years later. In December 1972, he was with Teruko Nakagami and had a daughter named Hanako. The couple filed a divorce in 1973, only to reconcile four years later.

Controversy has always been a part of his life. In 1996, he was arrested for alleged domestic abuse on her anonymous live in girlfriend, who was later on revealed to be a young woman named Patricia. Although he was eventually proven innocent, he was ordered to undergo more than fifty psychological counseling sessions. It would be safe to say that the veteran has had one hell of a career.