Billy Dee Williams
Actor, Film actor
1937 –
Who is Billy Dee Williams?
William December "Billy Dee" Williams, Jr. is an American actor, artist, singer, and writer known for playing the character Lando Calrissian in the movies Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
Williams grew up in Harlem with a family that actively encouraged his artistic abilities and fostered an enthusiasm for all forms of cultural expression. He began drawing at an early age and won scholarships to the National Academy of Fine Arts and Design in New York. There he studied classical principles of painting. Ironically, it was the need to earn money to buy paints and canvas that brought Williams his extensive credits in both television and film. In 1988, he renewed his enthusiasm for painting during an acting appearance in New York. Since 1991, he has had numerous solo art exhibitions across America, and has donated paintings to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC and The Schomburg Museum in New York. Williams calls his paintings abstract reality to express the underlying principles behind them.
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- Born
- Apr 6, 1937
New York City - Also known as
- William December Williams, Jr.
- William December Williams
- William December "Billy Dee" Williams, Jr.
- Billy Dee
- Parents
- Siblings
- Spouses
- Audrey Sellers
(1959 - ) - Marlene Clark
(1968 - 1971) - Teruko Nakagami
(1972/12/27 - )
- Audrey Sellers
- Children
- Ethnicity
- African American
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Profession
- Education
- Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School
- National Academy of Fine Arts and Design
- High School of Performing Arts
- Lived in
- New York City
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"Billy Dee Williams." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/billy_dee_williams>.
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