. . .Where Are They Now?. . .
Hello fans,

If you're a fan of Star Wars, then I'm sure I don't have to tell you who Mr. Billy Dee Williams is. What I will tell you is where he is now!

Take care,
Melissa

View Past Issues: Where Are They Now Archives

--DEAD OR ALIVE?--
See if you know if the following celebrities have had a visit from the "Grim Reaper":

Polly Holliday: Played Flo, known for her signature phrase "Kiss my grits!", on the TV series "Alice"

Charlie Callas: Stand-up comedian known for his rubber face and sound effects who made many appearances on various talks shows, he also had roles in various movies ("High Anxiety") and TV series ("The Snoop Sisters")

Red Buttons: Comedian and actor, he hosted "The Red Buttons Show" on TV and later appeared in many movies, including "Sayonara", "The Longest Day", "The Poseidon Adventure", and "Hatari!"

(Answer at the bottom)
Billy Dee Williams
BIRTH DATE: April 6, 1937, New York City, New York

CLAIM TO FAME: He is best known for his role as Lando Calrissian in the original Star Wars trilogy.

FAMILY LIFE: Williams was first married to Audrey Sellers, and they had a son Corey together in 1960. They later divorced. Williams was briefly married to actress Marlene Clark, but they divorced in 1971.

He has been married to Teruko Nakagami since 1972. They have a daughter together, Hanako (born 1973), and his wife
also has a daughter named Miyako (born 1962) from a previous marriage to musician Wayne Shorter.

INFO: Williams graduated from Manhattan's School of Performing Arts and began acting soon afterwards. On Broadway, he appeared in the 1960 play version of The Cool Word, in A Taste of Honey in 1961, and as Martin Luther King, Jr. in a 1976 production of I Have a Dream.

In 1959, he made his film debut in The Last Angry Man, and got his first big break in the biographical TV movie, Brian's Song in 1971, in which he played Chicago Bears star football player Gale Sayers. His biggest role is that of Lando Calrissian, which he played in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

He appeared as district attorney Harvey Dent in the 1989 Batman film, that was planned to develop into Dent's alter-ego, the villain Two-Face, in sequels, but never came to pass. Williams' character was discarded and replaced with original villain Max Shreck.

Williams has made several guest appearances on television over the years. In 1993, he appeared on the spin off to The Cosby Show, A Different World as Langston Paige, a grumpy landlord. He made a special guest appearance on the hit sketch comedy show, In Living Color, in 1990. He appeared on an episode of That '70s Show as Pastor Dan, who uses an obsession with Star Wars to help counsel Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti about their premarital relationship.

TRIVIA: Has a twin sister, Loretta.

Was an accomplished art student even before his acting career began. Has had professional gallery showings where his oil canvases have sold for tens of thousands of dollars.

appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care."

Was arrested in L.A. after police received a call from his live-in girlfriend accusing him of battery. Williams was charged with cohabitational abuse and released on $50,000 bail.

In 1961, he recorded a jazz LP produced by Prestige Records entitled Let's Misbehave, on which he sang several swing standards.

Appeared in advertisements for Colt 45 (a brand of malt liquor) in the 1980s and early 1990s, for which he received much criticism.

was paired with actress Marla Gibbs on three different TV shows: The Jeffersons, 227, and The Hughleys.

Made a cameo appearance as himself on the TV series Lost in the episode "Expose".

Also appears regularly on short clips on the Jimmy Kimmel Live as a semi-parody of himself.

WHERE IS HE NOW: Williams appeared in the role of Toussaint Dubois for General Hospital: Night Shift in 2007 and 2008, and later reprised the role in June 2009. In July 2010, he voiced a fictionalized version of himself for the animated series The Boondocks.

In February 2011, he made a guest appearance on USA Network's White Collar as Ford, an old friend of Neal Caffrey's landlady June, played by Diahann Carroll.

Williams voiced Lando Calrissian in the video game Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Star Wars Battlefront as well as the spin-off Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron. He has recently played a live-action character, GDI Director Redmond Boyle, in the game Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars.

He is currently a cast member of Diary of a Single Mom, a web based original series directed by award-winning filmmaker Robert Townsend, which debuted on PIC.tv in 2009.

He is still involved with art, and some of his work can be seen at his online gallery BDW World Art. He has had solo exhibitions in various galleries around the U.S., and his work hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, The Smithsonian Institution, and The Schomburg Museum. The covers of the Thelonious Monk Competition programs since 1990 are by him.

WRITE TO BILLY DEE WILLIAMS:
Billy Dee Williams
18411 Hatteras Street, #204
Tarzana, CA 91356-1963

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.bdwworldart.com/

Video Clips of Billy Dee Williams: Tiger Woods Commemorative Mistress Plates

CREDITS:
2010 This Bitter Earth (post-production)...Joe Watkins

2011 The Cleveland Show (TV series)...Lando Calrissian
Back to Cool

2011 White Collar (TV series)...Bradford Toman / Ford
Countermeasures

2009-2010 Diary of a Single Mom (TV series)...Uncle Bo

2010 Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III (TV movie)...Lando Calrissian (voice) / Teacher (voice)

2010 Barry Munday...Lonnie Green

2009 Titan Maximum (TV series)...Admiral Bitchface / Admiral Chester Bitchface

2009 General Hospital (TV series)...Toussiant DuBois / Toussaint DuBois / Toussiant Du Bois /...

2009 The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll...Ace Millstone

2008 Private Practice (TV series)...Henry
Serving Two Masters

2008 Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II (TV movie)...Lando Calrissian (voice) / Man (voice)

2007-2008 General Hospital: Night Shift (TV series)...Touissant DuBois / Toussaint DuBois / Toussaint Dubois /...

2008 iMurders...Robert Delgado

2008 Fanboys...Judge Reinhold

2007 Robot Chicken (TV series)...Announcer / Lando Calrissian / Man
Moesha Poppins

2007 Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (Video Game)...Redmond Boyle - GDI Director

2006 Jimmy Kimmel Live! (TV series)...Black Santa
Episode dated 20 December 2006

2006 Hood of Horror...Pastor Charlie

2005 Weekends at the DL (TV series)...God
Episode #1.16

2005 Clubhouse (TV series)...Billy Beaumont
Old Timers Day

2005 Constellation...Helms Boxer

2004 Half & Half (TV series)...Otis 'Omar Funk' Wright
The Big Fetish What You Started Episode

2004 The Maintenance Man (video)...Melven

2004 That '70s Show (TV series)...Pastor Dan
Baby Don't You Do It

2004 Oedipus (short)...Bartender (voice)

2003 Epoch: Evolution (TV movie)...Ferguson

2003 Today Will Be Yesterday Tomorrow...Godot

2003 Street Time (TV series)...Charles White
Pack of Rats
Born to Kill

2002 Undercover Brother...Gen. Warren Boutwell

2002 Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast (Video Game)...Lando Calrissian (voice)

2002 The Last Place on Earth...Dr. Davis

2000-2001 18 Wheels of Justice (TV series)...Burton Hardesty

2001 Gideon's Crossing (TV series)...Clark Boies

1999-2001 The Hughleys (TV series)...Jerry Rose
Forty Acres and a Fool
Roots: Part 2

2001 Very Heavy Love...Dante Brown

2001 Good Neighbor...Sgt. Paul Davidson

2000 The Ladies Man...Lester

2000 Code Name: Eternity (TV series)...Dr. Jim Graham
Never Go Home

2000/I The Visit...Henry

2000 Fear Runs Silent (video)...Sheriff Hammond

1999 The Contract...Senator Harmon

1999 Promised Land (TV series)...Lennie Trebant
Darkness Visible

1998 Hard Time (TV movie)...Leo Barker

1997 The Fourth King (TV movie)...Gasparre

1997 Steel Sharks...Adm. Jim Perry

1996 Moving Target...Detective Don Racine

1996 Mask of Death...Agent Jeffries

1996/I The Prince...Jamie Hicks

1995 Triplecross (TV movie)...Agent Oscar Pierce

1995 Falling for You (TV movie)...Lieutenant Frank Lazaro

1994 Heaven & Hell: North & South, Book III (TV mini-series)...Francis Cardozo

1994 Lonesome Dove: The Series (TV series)...Aaron Grayson

1993 Message from Nam (TV movie)...Felix

1993 Percy & Thunder (TV movie)...Ralph Tate

1993 Alien Intruder (video)...Cmdr. Skyler

1993 Marked for Murder (TV movie)...Capt. Jack Reilly

1993 A Different World (TV series)...Langston Paige
College Kid

1992 The Jacksons: An American Dream (TV movie)...Berry Gordy

1992 Giant Steps...Slate Thompson

1991/I Driving Me Crazy...Max

1990 Dangerous Passion (TV movie)...Lou

1990 Wiseguy (TV series)...Jesse Hains
Changing Houses

1990 Secret Agent OO Soul...Secret Agent Zero

1989 Batman...Harvey Dent

1989 227 (TV series)...Billy Dee Hasbro
Play It Again, Stan

1988 The Return of Desperado (TV movie)...Daniel Lancaster

1987 Deadly Illusion...Hamberger

1987 Number One with a Bullet...Det. Hazeltine

1986 Courage (TV movie)...Bobby Jay

1986 Oceans of Fire (TV movie)...Jim McKinley

1986 The Right of the People (TV movie)...Mike Trainor

1985 Double Dare (TV series)...Billy Diamond

1984-1985 Dynasty (TV series)...Brady Lloyd

1984 The Impostor (TV movie)...Matthew Raines

1984 Fear City...Al Wheeler

1984 Time Bomb (TV movie)...Wes Tanner

1984 ABC Weekend Specials (TV series)
Cougar! (1984)

1983 Chiefs (TV mini-series)...Tyler Watts (aka Joshua Cole)

1983 Shooting Stars (TV movie)...Douglas Hawk

1983 Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi...Lando Calrissian

1983 Marvin & Tige...Richard Davis

1981 Nighthawks...Matthew Fox

1980 Children of Divorce (TV movie)...Walter Williams

1980 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back...Lando Calrissian

1980 The Hostage Tower (TV movie)...Clarence Whitlock

1979 Christmas Lilies of the Field (TV movie)...Homer Smith

1977 Scott Joplin (TV movie)...Scott Joplin

1976 The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings...Bingo Long (P)

1975 Mahogany...Brian

1974 The Take...Sneed

1974 The Conversation...Man in Yellow Hat (uncredited)

1973 Hit!...Nick Allen

1972 Lady Sings the Blues...Louis McKay

1972 The Final Comedown...Johnny Johnson

1972 The Glass House (TV movie)...Lennox

1971 Brian's Song (TV movie)...Gale Sayers

1971 Mission: Impossible (TV series)...Hank Benton
The Miracle

1971 Mod Squad (TV series)...Dr. Goodson
The Medicine Men

1971 Dan August (TV series)...Steve MacAdams
The Manufactured Man

1970 The Most Deadly Game (TV series)...Claude Miles
War Games

1969-1970 The F.B.I. (TV series)...Edward Tobin / James J. Borden / Nate Phelps

1970 The Out of Towners...Lost & Found - Boston

1970 Carter's Army (TV movie)...Pvt. Lewis

1969 The New People (TV series)...Heath
The Prisoner of Bomano

1969 Lost Flight (TV movie)...Merle Barnaby

1968 Premiere (TV series)...Dan Gardner / David Arnold
Higher and Higher (1968)...David Arnold
Crisis (1968)...Dan Gardner

1967 Coronet Blue (TV series)...The Second Technician
Six Months to Mars (1967)

1966 Guiding Light (TV series)...Dr. Jim Frazier #1

1965 The Doctors and the Nurses (TV series)...Patrolman Cash
The Witnesses

1964 Another World (TV series)...Assistant D.A. (1960s)

1964 The Defenders (TV series)...Private Austin George
Survival (1964)

1959 The Last Angry Man...Josh Quincy

1959 Look Up and Live (TV series)
A Study in Death (1959)
Episode dated 23 August 1959 (1959)

To see Then & Now pictures of Billy Dee Williams Click Here

--Answers to DEAD OR ALIVE--
Polly Holliday - ALIVE
Born: 07/02/1937

Charlie Callas - DEAD
Born: 12/20/1924 Died: 01/27/2011

Red Buttons - DEAD
Born: 02/05/1919 Died: 07/13/2006

WHO PASSED ON THIS WEEK...
6/8
Angie Garany, 30, Croatian reality television star (Farma), complications from a car accident.
Nasir Jalil, 56, Singaporean footballer.
Roy Skelton, 79, British actor (Rainbow, Doctor Who), stroke.

6/7
Thomas Emma, 49, American basketball player (Duke University), fall.
Walid Gholmieh, 73, Lebanese musician, director of Conservatoire Libanais.
Genaro Hernandez, 45, American boxer, cancer.
Jose Pagan, 76, Puerto Rican baseball player (San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates).
Nataraja Ramakrishna, 88, Indian dance guru, after long illness.
Jorge Semprun, 87, Spanish writer and politician.
Edgar Tekere, 74, Zimbabwean politician, cancer.

6/6
John R. Alison, 98, American World War II combat flying ace.
Derek Brien, 34, Irish motorcycle racer, race crash.
Declan Costello, 84, Irish politician, TD for Dublin
North West (1951-1969); Dublin South West (1973-1977),
Attorney General (1973-1977) and High Court judge.
Nils-Bertil Dahlander, 83, Swedish jazz drummer.
Dulce Figueiredo, 83, Brazilian First Lady (1979-1985), widow of Joao Figueiredo.
Stefan Kurylowicz, 62, Polish architect, plane crash.
Shrek, 16, New Zealand sheep known for its unshorn fleece, euthanised.
Tillmann Uhrmacher, 44, German DJ, music producer and radio host.