Billy Dee Williams

William December "Billy Dee" Williams, Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American actor, artist, singer, and writer best known for his role as Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars film franchise, as well as acting in the movies Brian's Song, Lady Sings the Blues, and for playing Harvey Dent in Tim Burton's Batman.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1521 Vine Street in Hollywood, California on March 27, 1985.

Inducted into the International Mustache Hall of Fame in 2015 (inaugural class) in the category Film & Television.

Early life

Williams was born in New York City, New York, the son of Loretta Anne, a West Indian-born elevator operator from Montserrat, and William December Williams, Sr., an African-American caretaker from Texas.[1][2] He has a twin sister, Loretta, and grew up in Harlem, where he was raised by his maternal grandmother while his parents worked at several jobs. Williams graduated from the High School of Music and Art, later merged with the High School of Performing Arts to become the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art in Manhattan, where he was a classmate of Diahann Carroll, who would later play the wife of his character Brady Lloyd on the 1980s prime-time soap opera Dynasty.

Marriages and family

Williams has been married three times. His first marriage was to Audrey Sellers in 1959. They were divorced some years later, after which he apparently became quite depressed: "[...] there was a period when I was very despondent, broke, depressed, my first marriage was on the rocks. "They have a son, Corey Williams. [16]

In 1968, Williams married model and actress Marlene Clark in Hawaii. Their marriage lasted only two years and they officially divorced in 1971.

He married Teruko Nakagami on December 27, 1972. She brought a daughter, Miyako (b. 1962), from her previous marriage to musician Wayne Shorter. They have a daughter Hanako (b. 1973). They filed for divorce in 1993, but were reported to have reconciled in 1997.

• Wikipedia, imdb, Glickman, Simon. "Williams, Billy Dee 1937–." Contemporary Black Biography. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 25 Sep. 2015 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.