Billy Dee Williams

Billy Dee Williams, real name William December Williams Jr. is an American actor, painter and writer. The character Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars series is his best-known role; He took leading roles in many films since the 1970s.

He was born in New York on April 6, 1937, and grew up in Harlem. His introduction to the stage came very early: at the age of seven, he made his Broadway debut in 1945 in the musical The Firebrand of Florence. When he was young, he studied at the High School of Music & Art in New York, and then studied painting on a scholarship. In 1960, he had a major role in the play A Taste of Honey.

Cinema and television

He gained wide recognition for his portrayal of football player Gale Sayers in the 1971 television movie Brian's Song. In 1972, he starred as Louis McKay in Lady Sings the Blues, opposite Diana Ross, and in 1975, he shot Mahogany, again with Ross. He appeared as Lando Calrissian in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi; He returned to the same character in 2019's The Rise of Skywalker.

He played prosecutor Harvey Dent in the 1989 Batman. He took part in more than seventy productions on television, especially Dynasty. In 1988, he replaced James Earl Jones in the play Fences on Broadway.

Starting from the late 1980s, he focused on painting again; He produced hundreds of paintings and exhibited his works in different countries. He received three NAACP Image Awards during his career and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1985. In 2024, he collected his memories in the book What Have We Here: Portraits of a Life.

After a long artistic life spent on stage, cinema, television and painting, Williams continues to attend events where he meets his fans.