Below is a compiled list of the most interesting facts about Billy Dee Williams. Check it out!
Billy Dee Williams was born William December Williams on April 6, 1937 in New York City. Billy Dee has notched up an impressive array of film and television appearances over the past 50+ years. He is easily best known to international film audiences as the roguish Lando Calrissian in the last two episodes of the original Star Wars trilogy: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983). Williams can also be seen on screen in Lady Sings the Blues (1972), Nighthawks (1981), Batman (1989), Moving Target (1996) and Undercover Brother (2002). A regular performer also in many fine quality television movies and television series.
Interesting Facts about Billy Dee Williams
- Born on exactly the same date as country-western legend Merle Haggard.
- Studied art at both New York’s High School of Music and Art and at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Design.
- Inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1984.
- Was cited as one of the most promising movie personalities of 1973 in John Willis’ 1974 Film Annual “Screen World” book.
- The character Walter “Doc” Hartford from the animated space opera The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (1986) was based on him.
- He still actively paints, and some of his work can be seen at his online gallery. He has had solo exhibitions in various galleries around the United States, and his work hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Schomburg Museum. The beautiful covers of the Thelonious Monk Competition programs since 1990 are by him.
- Has a son named Corey Dee Williams, who graduated from North Hollywood in 1978. Stepdaughter Miyako also attended same high school and was in the 10th grade when Corey graduated.
- Inducted into the International Mustache Hall of Fame in 2015 (inaugural class) in the category Film & Television.
- Has a twin sister, Loretta Williams.
- He and actress/singer Diahann Carroll were classmates at the New York City High School of the Performing Arts, the school that was featured on the popular television series Fame (1982).
- The movie Com-TAC 303 starring Billy Dee Williams, Greg Morris, Chad Everett, and Henry Fonda, began filming Jul 25, 1977, in the Mojave Desert, but shut down several weeks later when financing was withdrawn by the studio.
- He accepted the role of D.A. Harvey Dent in Batman (1989) with the knowledge and expectation that Dent would eventually become Two-Face; he reportedly had a clause put into his contract reserving the role for him in any sequels, which Warner Bros. had to buy out so they could cast Tommy Lee Jones.
Personal Quotes by Billy Dee Williams
Jazz is very much a part of my life. I work with the Thelonious Monk Institute and do the artwork for their program every year.
Billy Dee Williams
I take very good care of myself, and I’ve still got a lot of things I need and want to do – and I am still cute. Retiring seems like such a remote thing to me. The whole idea of it.
Billy Dee Williams
If anything, I’ve seen myself as the full spectrum of colors, and to be faced with not being able to do something just because I’m of a particular race has been something that I’ve always found very difficult – even today.
Billy Dee Williams
Power is a very peculiar thing. It’s like the ego. The ego’s only there to keep you above water. Once we realize something good about ourselves, we have a tendency to abuse the gift.
Billy Dee Williams
My mother’s side of the family, they’re from Montserrat in the Leeward Islands.
Billy Dee Williams
