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Billy Dee Williams
Raised in Harlem, Williams made his Broadway theatre debut at age seven in The Firebrand of Florence (1945). He later graduated from The High School of Music & Art, then won a painting scholarship to the National Academy of Fine Arts and Design, where he won a Hallgarten Prize for painting in the mid-1950s. He returned to acting to fund his art supplies, including stage, films, and television. He continued painting; his work has since been shown in galleries and collections worldwide. Williams’ film debut was in The Last Angry Man (1959), but he came to national attention in the television movie Brian's Song (1971), which earned him an Emmy nomination for Best Actor. In the 1980s, he was cast as Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), becoming the first black actor with a major role in the Star Wars franchise. He reprised his role in subsequent Star Wars films and media. Williams's television work includes over 70 credits starting in 1966 including recurring roles over the decades in Gideon's Crossing; Dynasty, General Hospital: Night Shift; and General Hospital. Numerous cameos and supporting roles included being paired with Marla Gibbs on The Jeffersons, 227, and The Hughleys. Later work included voice acting in the series Titan Maximum (2009), and appearing on the reality show Dancing with the Stars (2014).
His work has earned him numerous awards and honors including three NAACP Image Awards, and the NAACP Lifetime Achievement award. He was inducted into the Black Filmmaker's Hall of Fame in 1984, and earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1985.
Biography from the Wikipedia article Billy Dee Williams. Licensed under CC-BY-SA. Full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
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Real Time with Bill Maher
Real Time with Bill Maher includes an opening monologue, roundtable discussions with panelists, and interviews with in-studio and satellite guests. Politico hailed Maher as "a pugnacious debater and a healthy corrective to the claptrap of cable news", while Variety noted, "There may not be a more eclectic guest list on all of television".
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Hell's Kitchen
In Hell's Kitchen, aspiring chefs are put through an intense culinary academy to prove they possess the right combination of ingredients to win a life-changing grand prize.
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Night Court
Night Court centers on the unapologetic optimist judge Abby Stone, daughter of the late Harry Stone, who follows in her father's footsteps as she presides over the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment court and tries to bring order to its crew of oddballs and cynics, most notably former night court prosecutor Dan Fielding.
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South Park Movies
A series of exclusive feature length movies based on Comedy Central's South Park.