Billy Dee Williams

For other uses, see Williams.

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

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"Power is a very peculiar thing. It's like the ego. The ego's only there to keep you above water. Once we realize something good about ourselves, we have a tendency to abuse the gift. That's what this film series is about: truths and consequences. As my wife says, 'Bachi atari.' That's Japanese for 'What goes around comes around.' I tell my son Corey that the greatest teacher is the teacher who says, 'Don't follow me, follow yourself. Because within you there is that kingdom, that life, that force. Boy, I guess I sure can't describe my concept of these films any better than that."

―Billy Dee Williams, speaking about Star Wars in 1980^[2]

William December Williams, better known as Billy Dee Williams (born April 6, 1937), is a film, stage, and television actor and painter who played Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars saga. He starred in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker.

Biography[]

Entering Empire[]

"I talked to George when Star Wars came out and I was very candid. I said, 'Look, there's Darth Vader, the dark, black fear, and there's Alec Guinness playing the white knight, Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi. Here we go again, perpetuating that same old stuff. And now, by having Lando, we're gonna have to put aside the old point of view. Now, we're talking about symbols—darkness as averse to clarity. Black, white, red, we're all included in the human dilemma, and Darth is scarier this time, because now we learn he's human—he's not a mechanical monster."

―Billy Dee Williams^[2]

Raised in Harlem, New York City, Williams performed on Broadway, television, and cinema productions at Hollywood, including 1971's Brian's Song, 1972's Lady Sings the Blues, and 1975's Mahogany. Williams' friend, author James Baldwin, wanted him to play Malcolm X in his screenplay about the American civil rights movement leader, but it was never produced.^[3] He had admired the work of a new wave of American film directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg. He eagerly signed a contract for performing as Lando Calrissian for two films after hearing the character's name—he said "Calrissian" is an Armenian name—and thought that his cape gave a "bigger than life" aesthetic that he likened to the actor Errol Flynn.^[3]

Empire-RollingStones — Billy Dee Williams and his *Star Wars* co-stars on the cover of *Rolling Stones*

Billy Dee Williams was introduced as Lando Calrissian in the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. He was eager to play the first Black Star Wars character, having spoken with George Lucas about the antagonist Darth Vader in the first Star Wars film, voiced by the prominent Black actor James Earl Jones.^[2] Williams said that Lucas had wanted to express a dichotomous symbolism found in the Western film genre where a cowboy dressed in white fights a cowboy dressed in black,^[3] but he criticized the impression of a racialist contrast between the "black fear" of Darth Vader contrasted by the "white knight" of the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by veteran actor Alec Guinness. Williams credited Empire with detailing the "human dilemma" where Vader is revealed to be a man whose symbolism of darkness is contrasted by the clarity of the protagonists. He had previously discussed Eastern philosophy with Empire's director, Irvin Kershner, in particular about the concept of Zen and Yoda, the Jedi teacher introduced in the film, and how Star Wars should not be about "shoot-'em-up" but realizing that the "body" houses the "better self" that is the "mind."^[2]

Return of the saga[]

"I am Lando Calrissian, and he is me. He is Billy Dee. It's difficult for me to separate myself from that character."

―Billy Dee Williams, on his most iconic performance^[4]

Billy Dee Williams reprised his role for the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, in which Lando Calrissian helped defeat the Galactic Empire as a rebel general. While Williams said he did not rewatch Star Wars films,^[3] the actor also said that he found it "difficult" to separate himself and Lando Calrissian,^[4] and he imagined his character as a gambler, showman, and entrepeneur akin to Steve Wynn running Las Vegas rather than just "a general running around shooting things." Williams returned in his role as Lando Calrissian for the final film of the Star Wars saga, Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker. Williams said he enjoyed the filming under the direction of J.J. Abrams, who he called "the young mogul" in a 2019 interview with the Esquire magazine in which he fashioned clothes of his own design. He appreciated Donald Glover playing a younger Lando Calrissian in the film Solo: A Star Wars Story released in the previous year.^[5]

FalconLeibovitz — Billy Dee Williams starred in 2019's *The Rise of Skywalker*

After The Rise of Skywalker's release in late 2019, when Williams was asked if there was a danger of "too much" Star Wars, he stated: "The only thing that's dangerous is lots of stupid people running around and shooting people." While Williams said that the real-world has been dominated by "a European western value system for centuries," he also emphasized that he does not think of himself as Black, just as he does not want to be Black-cast by Hollywood. Of those who he described as wanting to "go through the machinations" of politics and "spend most of their time pissed off," Williams stated that his preference is to handle oppression in other ways: "You take a negative and you make it into a positive."^[3] He characterized himself as someone who wants to present his points of view in creative ways to contribute "something that you haven't thought about, maybe."^[5] A grandfather and prolific painter, Williams had his memoir, What Have We Here: Portraits of a Life, published in 2024.^[3]

Works[]

Title	Role	Released
Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back	Lando Calrissian	1980
The Empire Strikes Back radio adaptation		1983
Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi		1983
Dark Empire radio adaptation		1994
Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast		2002
Star Wars: Battlefront		2004
Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II		2008
Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron		2009
Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III		2010
LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles	Lindo Calrissian	2013
Star Wars Rebels^[6]	Lando Calrissian	2015
LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales		2015
Star Wars Battlefront (Cloud City DLC)		2016
LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures		2016
Star Wars Battlefront II		2017
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge – Adventure Awaits	Narrator	2019
Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker	Lando Calrissian
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special		2020
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga		2022
LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy^[7]	Lando Calrissian (as Landolorian)	2024
Star Wars Detours	Lando Calrissian	TBA