Gift SubscriptionsBilly Dee Williams
- 1993
To cut down on costs, Lena (Jada Pinkett, Gina (Ajai Sanders), Charmaine (Karen Malina White), Dorian (Bumper Robinson) and Terrell (Patrick Y. Malone) all move into the same apartment. Almost immediately, they clash with their landlord Langston Paige (Billy Dee Williams), who turns out to be a former big-league baseball star. Gradually the kids grow to like Paige, and even encourage him to enroll in college--where he is reunited with his ex-girlfriend, Professor Redding (Leslie Uggams). Elsewhere, Gina's abusive former boyfriend Dion (Edafe Blackmon) breaks the rules of his probations in a desperate effort to win her back. Originally scheduled to air July 1, 1993 as the pilot for a spinoff series starring Billy Dee Williams, this final episode of A Different World was not shown on NBC, though it was included in the syndication package. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Star Wars saga costar Billy Dee Williams once more takes to the Great Beyond in Alien Intruder. The film is set in the future and the plot concerns a malevolent extraterrestrial virus which insinuates itself upon the Earth. Cleverly, the virus takes the shape of voluptuous Tracy Scoggins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Dee Williams, Melinda Armstrong, (more)
Behind the black cowl, Gotham City superhero Batman is really millionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton), who turned to crimefighting after his parents were brutally murdered before his eyes. The only person to share Wayne's secret is faithful butler Alfred (Michael Gough). The principal villain in Batman is The Joker (Jack Nicholson) who'd been mob torpedo Jack Napier before he was horribly disfigured in a vat of acid. The Joker's plan to destroy Batman and gain control of Gotham City is manifold. First he distributes a line of booby-trapped cosmetics, then he goes on a destruction spree in the Gotham Art Museum while the music of Prince blasts away in the background, and finally he orchestrates an all-out campaign to win the hearts and minds of the Gothamites, hoping to turn them against the Cowled One. Meanwhile, reporter Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) becomes the love of Batman's life-which of course plays right into the Joker's hands. Photographed by Roger Pratt, designed by Anton Furst, and scored by Tim Burton's favorite composer Danny Elfman, Batman was a monstrous box-office hit, making $100 million in the first ten days of release--$82,800,000 in North America alone. Incidentally, Billy Dee Williams' comparatively small role as DA Harvey Dent was originally designed to set up the sequel, wherein Dent was to convert into master criminal Two-Face; but by the time the producers got around to that character in 1995's Batman Forever, Two-Face was played by Tommy Lee Jones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, (more)
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
- 1995
- R
Set in the roaring '20s amidst the chaotic jazz clubs of Chicago, gangster Johnny Varona embarks upon a forbidden love affair with Georgia, a beautiful black chanteuse. While racism plays a part in dooming the relationship, the most damning factor is Constanza, Johnny's bloodthirsty boss and future father-in-law, as Johnny is betrothed to his daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
One of the best known and most enthusiastically reviewed made for television films of the 1970's, this drama was based on the true story of football greats Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo. Sayers (Billy Dee Williams) and Piccolo (James Caan) both joined the Chicago Bears the same year, and while it was obvious from the start Sayers had the talent and drive to be a great player, Piccolo seemed destined to be an also-ran on the team. However, Sayers and Piccolo struck up a friendship which brought out the best in both players, and coach George Halas (Jack Warden) chose them for a special assignment -- they became the first interracial roommates in the history of the NFL. When Sayers suffered a knee injury that threatened to end his career, Piccolo took it upon himself to help his friend through rehabilitation so he could rejoin the team. But when Piccolo began having heath problems, it was a problem to great for Sayers to handle -- his close friend had developed cancer. Adapted from Sayers' autobiography I Am Third, Brian's Song also features Chicago Bears legend Dick Butkus as himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Caan, Billy Dee Williams, (more)
- 1983
This TV miniseries concerns a Southern village where the murder of a boy has puzzled three different police chiefs since the 1920s. By the time that a black sheriff (Billy Dee Williams) takes over in 1962, he might have just enough evidence to find the culprit. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Originally made for television, the film concerns three divorces and the effect on the varied economic level present in each family. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Feldon, Greg Mullavey, (more)
- 1979
Originally made for television as a sequel to the classic Lilies of the Field, this film concerns an ex-soldier turned handyman (Billy Dee Williams) who returns to the Arizona chapel he built earlier. Encouraged by five nuns, he builds both an orphanage and a small school. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Dee Williams, Maria Schell, (more)
An estranged African-American family from the deep South is forced to confront their painful past when as they come together to celebrate the life and legacy of the woman whose death served as the catalyst for renewed family bonds in this redemptive family drama starring Hill Harper, Billy Dee Williams, and Lesley Ann Warren. Carmel Boxer (Gabrielle Union) has passed away, and her entire family has returned to Huntsville, Alabama to pay their final respects. Coming together isn't easy for the Boxer family though, and for family patriarch Helms (Williams) in particular, the painful memories of an unrequited interracial love affair are something that he would rather just forget. As the revelations about Carmel's past prompt each family member to take stock of their pent up emotions and reevaluate their feelings about one another, the changing racial fabric of both society and his family prompts the troubled Helms to confront the inner demons that have tormented him for decades. In the end it's the redemptive power of love and the honesty of family that will help to inspire healing in a group whose hearts had been held hostage to their turbulent history for far too long. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Dee Williams, Zoe Saldana, (more)
This three-hour TV movie stars Sophia Loren as New Yorker Marianna Miraldo. Hurt and angered by her son's cocaine addiction, Marianna discovers that a close friend also has ties with the drug scene. After several of her imprisoned friend's associates try to contact him through her, the DEA persuades Marianna to aid them in an undercover operation headed by cop Bobby Jay (Billy Dee Williams). Despite the "don't get involved" admonitions of her husband (Hector Elizondo), Marianna agrees to cooperate with the DEA, if only for the sake of her son. This fact-based film, which first aired September 24, 1986, concludes with the feds closing in on a $3.5 billion cocaine ring. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Billy Dee Williams, (more)
This USA Cable network offering stars Carl Weathers as a none-too-ethical security expert. Weathers gets mixed up with high-profile gangster Billy Dee Williams. If he'd stopped there, he'd be on safe ground: Trouble is, romance develops between Weathers and Williams' wife Lonette McKee. The cool, state-of-the-art cars driven by the protagonists are sometimes more fascinating than the by-the-numbers plotline. Dangerous Passion premiered March 25, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Another of several made-for-TV movies based on the best-selling novels of Danielle Steel, this one stars Jenny Robertson as Paxton Andrews, a sheltered Southern belle who falls for law student Peter Wilson (Steven Eckholdt) on the campus of Berkeley in the late '60s. After Peter is drafted and dies in Vietnam, the grief-stricken Paxton becomes the Saigon-based correspondent for a San Francisco newspaper, determined to use her column "Message from 'Nam" to bring comfort and solace to others whose loved ones are mired in the Southeast Asian quagmire. Before the inevitable slam-bang climax during the fall of Saigon, Paxton has not only grown emotionally and spiritually, but she has also enjoyed tender romantic interludes with a hard-bitten Army captain (Nick Mancuso) and a likeable sergeant (Ted Marcoux). Also featuring such formidable personalities as Rue McClanahan, Billy Dee Williams, and Esther Rolle, Danielle Steel's 'Message From Nam' originally aired October 17, 1993, on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
- R
A gumshoe gets in deep kim-chi when he agrees to murder a fellow's wife in exchange for $25,000 up front. No sooner does he accept the money than he is running off to his intended victim to first warn her and then sleep with her. As soon as they finish making love, he learns that she was not the wife and that the real one has been killed. Now the detective finds himself framed for murder and must somehow avoid the determined police detective who constantly dogs him while continuing his own investigation of the circumstances. His search leads him into the fashion-model world where he encounters more deception, double-crossing and danger. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Dee Williams, Vanity, (more)
- 1991
- PG
It probably takes an intimate acquaintance with East Germany's famously awful car, a smoky, noisy two-cylinder lawnmower on wheels, the Trabant 601, to fully appreciate the jokes in this extremely popular, celebrity-filled comedy. In the story, Gunther (German television star Thomas Gotttschalk) is an East German inventor who has journeyed with his homely car to an inventor's convention in Hollywood: he has figured out a way to get his Trabbi to run on turnip juice and zoom like a sports car. When his odd car is stolen, he tries to get it back, but L.A. and it's culture are alien to him and he is very much a fish out of water, despite the friendly advice he receives from Billy Dee Williams as a knowledgeable parking-lot attendant. Look for cameos by Milton Berle and Dom DeLuise, among others. This Trabbi film is a sequel to the enormously popular comedy Go, Trabi, Go. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Gottschalk, Billy Dee Williams, (more)
In the film Epoch, a mysterious monolith sprang out of the ground and intrigued a number of the world's best and brightest. Epoch Evolution, the sequel, stars David Keith as Dr. Mason Rand who must determine if the monolith will help save the war-torn world from itself, or if the structure is actually hastening the end of mankind. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1995
A woman is hunted by a killer in this made-for-TV drama. Jennie Garth stars as Meg Crane, a beautiful and strong woman who escapes a serial killer (Costas Mandylor). Neither are through with each other yet though -- she is determined to catch him and he is determined to finish the job. Peter Outerbridge stars as her boyfriend and Billy Dee Williams is the city-slick cop. Garth also served as a creative producer. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennie Garth, Costas Mandylor, (more)
- 2007
- AddFanboysto Queue
A fanatical group of Star Wars devotees travel across the country on a mission to steal a print of Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace from Skywalker Ranch and become the first fans to see the film in a rowdy, sci-fi-flavored road comedy starring Sam Huntington, Chris Marquette, Dan Fogler, Jay Baruchel, and Kristen Bell. Carrie Fisher, William Shatner, and Ray Park turn up for cameos in the one comedy that truly understands the fanboy mindset. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Huntington, Dan Fogler, (more)
To paraphrase 1930s wit Wilson Mizner, Fear City is like a trip through a sewer in a glass-bottom boat. In exploitation-flick fashion, the film exposes the seedy "nether world" of contemporary Manhattan. Unsavory Matt (Tom Berenger) and Nick (Jack Scalia) run a topless bar/booking agency, in direct competition with equally scuzzy Goldstein (Jan Murray). It's hard to imagine anyone lower than these low-lives until we're apprised of a serial killer who dutifully keeps a record of his murders in a diary. The killer's victims are all exotic dancers and hookers, prompting Matt to suspect that Goldstein is behind the crimes, and vice versa. Once they've decided that it's better to unite against a common enemy than to throw volleys at each other, Matt and Goldstein arrange between themselves to insure the safety of the women in their employ. Meanwhile, Matt's ex-girlfriend Loretta (Melanie Griffith), saddened by the murder of her lesbian lover Leila (Rae Dawn Chong), resumes her drug habit, while a dispirited Matt begins harking back to his own sordid past. The one redeeming aspect of Fear City is the ultimate triumph over the odds by Loretta, who by process of elimination emerges as the most likeable character in the bunch. For a film of this nature, Fear City boasts an unexpectedly strong cast, including the aforementioned actors and Billy Dee Williams, Rosanno Brazzi, Joe Santos and Michael V. Gazzo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, Billy Dee Williams, (more)
Kerry (Suzanne Davis) emerges from a dense forest in a daze, her clothes shredded and her memories of what happened only vague flashes of her high school friends, blood, and a vicious animal with yellow eyes and fangs. As her thoughts clear, she recalls the adventure all too accurately: Her teacher, Mr. Hill (Stacey Keach), took a van-load of her friends from the unfortunately named Sasquatch High School into the mountains, only to have them disappear one by one, their bodies later found ripped apart as if by some hungry animal. Even Sheriff Hammond (Billy Dee Williams) fell victim to the animal. But why was she spared? And how did she get away? Or is she out of the woods yet? And could her therapist (Dan Lauria) be right -- that the horror is all in her mind? ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
