William December “Billy Dee” Williams Jr. was born on April 6, 1937, and is an American actor, artist, and singer.  He was born in New York City and has a twin sister, Loretta, and grew up in Harlem, where he was raised by his maternal grandmother while his parents worked at several jobs. Williams graduated from The High School of Music & Art  which later merged with the High School of Performing Arts to later become the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art,  in Manhattan.

Williams made his film debut in 1959 in The Last Angry Man, opposite Paul Muni, in which he portrayed a delinquent young man. He rose to stardom after starring in the 1971 critically lauded blockbuster biographical television movie, Brian’s Song , in which he played Chicago Bears star football player Gale Sayers, who stood by his friend Brian Piccolo played by James Caan, during Piccolo’s struggle with terminal cancer.

In 1972, he starred as Billie Holiday’s husband Louis McKay in Motown Productions’ Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues. The film was a box office blockbuster, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of the year and received five Academy Award nominations. Diana Ross starred in Lady Sings the Blues opposite Williams; Motown paired the two of them again three years later in the successful follow-up project Mahogany.  Beginning in 1980, Williams portrayed Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Calrissian’s charm proved to be popular with audiences.

In February 2011, Williams appeared as a guest star on USA Network’s White Collar as Ford, an old friend of Neal Caffrey’s landlady June, played by Diahann Carroll. In February 2012, Williams was the surprise guest during a taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show spotlighting Diana Ross. Ross and Williams were reunited after having not seen each other in 29 years.  The upcoming Star Wars: Episdoe IX will have Williams reprise his role of Lando Clarissian when he returns to the franchise onscreen for the first time since 1983’s Return of the Jedi.