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What Have We Here?
What Have We Here?: Portraits of a Life | Billy Dee Williams
3 posts | 3 read | 2 to read
A film legend recalls his remarkable life of nearly eight decadesa heralded actor who's played the roles he wanted, from Brians Song to Lando in the Star Wars universeunchecked by the racism and typecasting so rife in the mostly all-white industry in which he triumphed. The story of a legend, written by the legend himself! Impressive, inspiring, entertaining and endearing. J. J. Abrams Billy Dee Williams was born in Harlem in 1937 and grew up in a household of love and sophistication. As a young boy, he made his stage debut working with Lotte Lenya in an Ira Gershwin/Kurt Weill production where Williams ended up feeding Lenya her lines. He studied painting, first at the High School of Music and Art, with fellow student Diahann Carroll, and then at the National Academy of Fine Art, before setting out to pursue acting with Herbert Berghoff, Stella Adler, and Sidney Poitier. His first film role was in The Last Angry Man, the great Paul Munis final film. It was Muni who gave Billy the advice that sent him soaring as an actor, You can play any character you want to play no matter who you are, no matter the way you look or the color of your skin. And Williams writes, I wanted to be anyone I wanted to be. He writes of landing the role of a lifetime: co-starring alongside James Caan in Brians Song, the made-for-television movie that was watched by an audience of more than fifty million people. Williams says it was the kind of interracial love story America needed. And when, as the first Black character in the Star Wars universe, he became a true pop culture icon, playing Lando Calrissian in George Lucass The Empire Strikes Back (What I presented on the screen people didnt expect to see). It was a role he reprised in the final film of the original trilogy, The Return of the Jedi, and in the recent sequel The Rise of Skywalker. A legendary actor, in his own words, on all that has sustained and carried him through a lifetime of dreams and adventure.
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MemoirsForMe
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Pickpick

Now here‘s a man who had me swooning when I watched him in Lady Sings the Blues and Dynasty, cheering for Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars Universe & then bawling my eyes out during Brian‘s Song. Fans still mention his speech as Chicago Bear Gale Sayers. “This movie accomplished something special by getting tens of millions of people to see the humanity we all share.” What a versatile actor, singer, painter and sweet man…still suave at 88!😍🙌🏻

MemoirsForMe Tagging my football and Bears fan friends who may remember Brian‘s Song? @Lesliereadsalot @AmyG @KadaGul @RamsFan1963 2d
TheBookHippie Yes!!!!!! 🐻💙 2d
MemoirsForMe Photo at bottom center is Billy celebrating his 88th birthday with his son Corey from Billy‘s Instagram page: @therealbillydee 2d
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MemoirsForMe @TheBookHippie You‘re a 🐻fan too! Love it! 🙌🏻 2d
dabbe I taught BRIAN'S SONG to my 7th graders back in the mid-1990s. They all wrote Gale Sayers letters of appreciation, and he sent signed pictures to every student who wrote him. What a man. And Billy Dee nailed him onscreen. Adore him, too. 🏈🎵 2d
MemoirsForMe @TheBookHippie Ditto! 🏈🐻⚾️ 2d
MemoirsForMe @dabbe Wow! Your students sure had the coolest teacher! And how sweet that Gale Sayers answered all your students‘ letters. We need more role models like him these days. And you! 🙌🏻❤️🙌🏻 2d
TheBookHippie @dabbe how lovely!!! 1d
Lesliereadsalot Of course. I loved that movie! 1d
PurpleyPumpkin Loved him in SW!🤩 1d
marleed Billy Dee Williams🥰😍🥰 1d
dabbe @MemoirsForMe And you! 💙🩵💙 1d
dabbe @TheBookHippie He was such a gent. 💙🩵💙 1d
MemoirsForMe @Lesliereadsalot I knew you would! Billy Dee and Caan spent time with the Bears while shooting the movie. Several players were extras and also cried during the big scene. Always fun to read about our Bears. 1d
MemoirsForMe @PurpleyPumpkin Yes!!! 🙌🏻 His fave part was wearing the cape! 1d
MemoirsForMe @marleed Agreed! 🥰 Now I want to see his movies again. 1d
PurpleyPumpkin The cape was on 🔥! 1d
Lesliereadsalot We‘re thinking about going to the game in Las Vegas at end of September! 24h
MemoirsForMe @Lesliereadsalot What fun! You‘ll get to see our former LA Raiders. Las Vegas is much more exciting. 🎉 20h
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mcctrish
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And I‘m on a bail roll. This is horrible on audio. Billy Dee is reading it and I just can‘t. It‘s like he can‘t read 😣 maybe he gets his groove on but I‘m not sticking around which is sad cuz I loved him in Mahogany and Star Wars #hewillalwaysbeLando

TheBookHippie I‘ve been bailing a TON this year!!! 👀😝 12mo
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mcctrish @TheBookHippie as one should 12mo
TheBookHippie @mcctrish 🤣 thankfully all library books except one gifted book. 12mo
mcctrish @TheBookHippie it is easier to bail on library books and why I sometimes choose the library route just in case ( that can backfire on me cuz sometimes I LOVE the book and wish I had bought it ) 12mo
Aims42 I was on a bail roll too the past few weeks (nothing zaps your energy quite like it 🫠) Hoping your next read is a hit! 🤞 12mo
45 likes7 comments
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Christine
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I‘ll admit that I picked this one up for the Lando of it all, but what an interesting man/life! He had a fascinating, art- and culture-immersed youth in NYC (and more than once referred to himself and his peers being part of the “Black bourgeoisie”), followed by far more accomplishments on the stage and screen than I‘d realized. He‘s very intellectually engaged and shares a lot about his (complicated and sometimes almost contradictory) ⬇️

Christine views on race and romance and life. Plus he was good friends with James Baldwin?! The audiobook has its quirks but worth it for the emotion that comes through in several parts. 1y
marleed Oh gosh it‘s been years since I‘ve seen him in the movie Mahogany with Diana Ross, but that was my pre Star Wars introduction to him. I swooned😍😍 1y
Aimeesue That‘s a most excellent title, too 😁 1y
Christine @marleed Oh fun! I had never heard of that movie but his writing about it/working with Diana Ross makes me want to check it out, as does your comment! 😄 1y
Christine @Aimeesue Indeed! 1y
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