Billy Dee Williams Movies

Based on the novel by William Brasher, The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings is set in the segregated south of 1939. African-American baseball pitcher Bingo Long (Billy Dee Williams), tired of being jerked around by the less-than-ethical managers of the Negro League teams, forms his own barnstorming ball club. His partner in this endeavor is black catcher Leon Carter (James Earl Jones). Though boycotted by powerful Negro League manager Sallison Porter (Ted Ross), the Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings flourish, gaining a loyal fandom with every new game and cutting into the League's profits. Finally, Porter offers Long a deal: if the Motor Kings can win one big game with the Negro All-Stars, Long's team will be allowed to join the League. Also appearing in Bingo Long is Richard Pryor as a ballplayer who tries to break through the big-league color line by pretending to be everything from a Hispanic to a Native American named "Chief Tokohama"; if Pryor seems to disappear for long periods during the film, it's because his role was written to accommodate his many nightclub appearances. The producers originally wanted young Steven Spielberg to direct, but -- inspired by the success of Jaws -- he turned this down in favor of doing Close Encounters of the Third Kind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second entry in George Lucas' Star Wars trilogy finds Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), the green-as-grass hero from the first film, now a seasoned space warrior. Luke's Star Wars cohorts Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) are likewise more experienced in the ways and means of battling the insidious Empire, as represented by the brooding Darth Vader (body of David Prowse, voice of James Earl Jones). And, of course, "The Force," personified by the ghost of Luke's mentor Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness), is with them all. Retreating from Vader's minions, Luke ends up, at first, on the Ice Planet Hoth, and then the tropical Dagobah. Here he makes the acquaintance of the gnomish Yoda (voice of Frank Oz), whose all-encompassing wisdom comes in handy during the serial-like perils of the rest of the film. Before the film's open-ended climax, we are introduced to the apparently duplicitous Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) and are let in on a secret that profoundly affects both Luke and his arch-enemy, Vader. Many viewers consider this award-winning film the best of the Star Wars movies, and its special-effects bonanza was pure gold at the box office. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The titular "architect" in this episode is Arthur McBride (Monte Markham), so named for his brilliant execution of complex crimes. Escaping from a federal prison with two cohorts named Borden (Billy Dee Williams) and Deal (Dabbs Greer), the brash McBride laughs at the fact that he's "graducated" to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. In fact, McBride intends to make fools of the Feds by pulling off a racetrack robbery right under their noses! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When an underqualified white man is given the job that Johnny Johnson (Billy Dee Williams) is infinitely more qualified for, the young black man becomes involved in a violent, radical movement to rise up against the perpetrators of racism. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

A group of new prisoners, including a political science professor, Jonathan Paige (Alan Alda), and a student, Allan Campbell (Kristoffer Tabori), arrive at a state prison, along with a new guard, Brian Courtland (Clu Gulager). Paige is a serving a year for manslaughter -- he accidentally killed a driver who had run down and injured his wife -- but his education doesn't prepare him for what he finds in prison. Nor does Courtland understand everything he sees in his new job, where he hopes to do some good. The warden (Dean Jagger) is spoken of as being on "short time," as though he were serving a sentence; the guard captain, Pagonis (G. Wood), is totally cynical about his work and his job; and one veteran guard, Brown (Roy Jenson), seems to be serving some of the prisoners -- and that small group of inmates have more to do with the running of the prison than does the administration. First among them is Hugo Slocum (Vic Morrow), a lifer who controls the flow of drugs and other contraband to the cons, wielding money and power without challenge until Paige gets assigned by the warden to the prison pharmacy, and -- thanks to his own sense of righteousness -- blocks Slocum's pipeline, a move that could get the professor killed. Meanwhile, Paige is trying to understand Lennox (Billy Dee Williams), the lifer he works with in the pharmacy, and discovers in him a true political visionary and leader, who lives the stuff that Paige has only ever lectured about. Lennox is black and proud, and a killer, and also (incidentally) smarter than Paige; he is also respected as a leader by the other blacks in the prison and feared just enough by the whites, including Slocum, to stay alive. Paige should only learn from him, but the professor is too set in his ways and too arrogant in his assumptions to do that. Complicating things further, Slocum has taken a decidedly physical liking to Paige's cellmate, Allan, a college student who is in on a marijuana charge and too naïve to recognize why the tough con is being so good to him until he rejects Slocum's advances. In retaliation, Allan is gang-raped on Slocum's orders, and later kills himself. Nor has Slocum forgotten about Paige or the pharmacy -- when Paige tries to reach out to another inmate, Sinclair (Edward Bell), who shows promise as a writer, Slocum destroys Sinclair's work and targets him, as well. Before he's killed, however, Sinclair reveals to Paige that, as Slocum's sometime bagman and former bookkeeper, he's recorded every transaction for the past eight years -- including every hit ordered by Slocum and how it was paid off, including the bribes to guards to look the other way -- and he passes the book with that record to the professor. It comes down to a do or die situation for Paige and Slocum, as each now has the power and the need to destroy the other to stay alive; the only question is whether Paige will figure out in time that he may have to back up his good intentions with lethal force. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV effort concerns a con man who worms his way into the position of principal at the high school where his ex-girlfriend works. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Needing a benefit speaker in a hurry, George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley) tries to engage the services of actor Billy Dee Williams (playing himself). At first intent upon hiring a celebrity impersonator, George lands an audience with Williams by posing as Alex Haley. Unfortunately, George's housekeeper Florence (Marla Gibbs) is convinced that the "real" Billy Dee is a phony -- and she intends to vent the full wrath of her scathing wit upon the hapless movie star. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A young woman discovers the fine line between paranoia and having your worst fears become real in this tale of terror. Molly Wright (Danica McKellar) is a typical college student sharing a house off-campus with her friends. Between her criminology classes, trying to keep up with her homework, and working as a volunteer with a local church group, Molly is wearing herself to a frazzle, so many of her friends think her imagination is working overtime when she begins to wonder aloud if Geoffrey Martin (Tobin Bell), the eccentric artist who has moved into the house next door, might be a serial killer. Molly's friends have a hard time believing her, but Paul Davidson (Billy Dee Williams), a police detective, thinks something funny is going on in the neighborhood after a number of missing persons cases are reported. But can Paul build a case against the killer before Molly becomes his next victim? Good Neighbor was the first feature film from director Todd Turner. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In danger of losing his job, TV-producer David Wayne hopes to cook up a real ratings winner by building a network special around the life and work of elderly doctor Paul Muni. For the past 45 years, the iconoclastic Muni has run a free clinic in the slums of Brooklyn. Muni has no time for television, however, so Wayne tries to get Muni's lifelong friend Luther Adler to talk the doctor into appearing before the cameras. Adler agrees, on the proviso that Wayne's network promises to build a nice home in the suburbs for the physician and his wife (Nancy R. Pollock). Going to work on Muni, Adler convinces the old man that a coast-to-coast special will permit him to vent his spleen on the subject of the mercenary medical profession. On the night of the broadcast, Muni discovers that one of his slum patients, Billy Dee Williams, has been arrested for car theft. Leaving Wayne high and dry, Muni rushes down to the police station, where he is pressed into service to save a life. While doing so, he suffers a fatal heart attack, with the weeping Adler at his side. Wayne finally realizes that Muni's selfless idealism was of greater value than any commercially-motivated television program, and says as much when he hands in his resignation. The Last Angry Man turned out to be the cinematic swan song for veteran-actor Paul Muni; he died eight years later. Based on a novel by Gerald Green, The Last Angry Man would be remade for television with Pat Hingle in the Muni role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Je'Caryous Johnson's Maintenance Man stars Darius McCrary as an attractive man who makes his living as a male prostitute whose clientele includes a variety of wealthy women. His lifestyle begins to tire him, and he finds himself daydreaming of a wife, kids, and a nine to five job. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A man who has embraced treachery as a way to get ahead finds that it can also be his downfall in this suspense drama. Roy Timmons (Michael Riley) is an executive at a large toy company who is bright, talented, and hard-working. But he lacks the killer instinct to get ahead in business, and he is often bested by the company's aggressive VP Marshall Stern (Henry Silva) and Stern's right hand (and lover) Ruth DiMarco (Alex Morrison). Tired of being walked on and fearful of losing his job, Roy makes the acquaintance of Jamie Hicks (Billy Dee Williams), a bartender who is a student of Machiavelli's "The Prince" and has some ideas on how to get ahead in the business world. With the help of his accountant friend Ted (Duane Taniguchi), Roy is able to juggle a few figures that make it look as if the company is in crisis thanks to Stern's malfeasance, and forces through some paperwork that will result in a transfer for Ruth. Roy's schemes help him climb the corporate ladder with impressive speed, but his new power comes with a price -- he has to fire his pal Ted, Ruth is eager to get the goods on him and bring him down, Roy's wife thinks that he's neglecting her, and he develops a taste for drugs, fueling a newfound paranoia that eventually erupts in violence. The Prince was the first feature for director Pinchas Perry. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Second Amendment of the Constitution forms the basis of this drama that follows the crusade of a lawyer to allow citizens to carry handguns. He launched his fight after his wife and daughter were killed during a robbery. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide