Billy Dee Williams Movies
One of the most handsome leading men in Hollywood with his soulful brown eyes, neat, thick moustache, great physique, and natural poise, Billy Dee Williams was a major star during the 1970s, but his acting career dates back to 1947 when he debuted on the Broadway stage opposite German actress Lotte Lenya in the play The Firebrand of Florence. It was Williams' mother, an elevator operator at the Lyceum Theater where the play was produced, who brought him before the producers after she heard that they needed a child. As a teen, Williams studied drama at the prestigious High School of Music and Art in New York; he also studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts and then at the Harlem Actors Workshop where he was tutored by Sidney Poitier. As an adult, he returned to Broadway, but did not make his feature film debut until he landed a substantial supporting role in The Last Angry Man (1959). It would be a decade before Williams starred in another film. He made a favorable impression playing Gayle Sayers in the touching made-for-TV movie Brian's Song, but did not become a movie star until he appeared opposite Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues (1972). In 1975, the pair reteamed for the highly successful melodrama Mahogany (1975). At his popularity's peak, Williams was referred to as "the black Gable." Though he went on to star in other pictures throughout the decade, Williams' star was beginning to fade by 1980 until he played a dashing role in George Lucas' Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back and its sequel, Return of the Jedi (1983). He was also particularly memorable as the district attorney in Tim Burton's Batman (1989). Through the '90s, Williams' career slowed, but for a few television movies in 1993, his appearances became sporadic. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1969
The FBI is called on the scene when the baby of prominent African American leader John Sheppard (Moses Gunn) is kidnapped. The abductors are an impoverished black couple, Ed and Nora Tobin (Billy Dee Williams, Denise Nicholas), whose actions were motivated by anger and frustration. Whether or not the Tobins intend to return their captive becomes a moot point as the baby faces a variety of life-threatening dangers in the couple's rat- and disease-infested ghetto apartment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
With The Mod Squad sweeping the Tuesday night TV ratings in 1968, producers Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas hoped to get another multiracial adventure series on the air A.S.A.P. Carter's Army was the 72-minute pilot for this project. Set during World War II, the film stars Stephen Boyd as an Army captain who doesn't exactly dislike African Americans-it's just that he holds no special fondness for them. Naturally, Boyd is assigned an all-black company, and is forced to share his command with lieutenant Robert Hooks. Despite seething racial tensions, everyone pulls together to destroy an enemy dam. Originally telecast January 27, 1970, Carter's Army failed to spawn the planned series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) gives African American FBI agnet Harry Dane (Booker Bradshaw) plenty of latitude as Dane combs through a tough ghetto neighborhood in search of athlete-turned-criminal Nate Phelps (Billy Dee Williams). Meanwhile, Nate turns to his former girlfriend Lenore (Lola Falana), hoping she'll summon his underworld buddies for help in escaping the FBI agent. But none of Nate's cohorts want anything to do with him: He's a cop killer, and that's bad for business all around. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
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
- Starring:
- Paul Muni, David Wayne, (more)
