Biography
This page uses content from the Fred Williamson biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
Fred "The Hammer" Williamson (born March 5, 1938 in Gary, Indiana) was a professional football player, a star defensive back in the AFL during the 1960s. After playing college football for Northwestern in the late 1950s, he played a year for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL in 1960. He then switched to the new AFL, playing four seasons for the Oakland Raiders and three seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs. He played in Super Bowl I, but was knocked out of the game in the fourth quarter, his head meeting the knee of Donny Anderson. Following his retirement from football, Williamson had a career as an actor, much in the mold of star running back Jim Brown. Before Jim Brown did it in 1974, Fred posed nude for "Playgirl" magazine in the October 1973 issue.
One of Williamson's early television roles was a part in The Cloud Minders, an 1968 episode of Star Trek, playing Anka. He also played Diahann Carroll's love interest in the sitcom Julia.
Two of his early film roles were in well-received films of 1970, M*A*S*H and Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon. He also got to play, in 1973, an African-American mafioso in Black Caesar and its subsequent sequel. After this he appeared as an actor and worked as a director in several films, most of which are considered to be of the "blaxploitation" genre.
In 1974 he was selected by the ABC television network as a commentator on Monday Night Football to replace Don Meredith, who had left (temporarily, as it turned out) to pursue an acting and broadcasting career at rival network NBC. Williamson was used on a few pre-season broadcasts, but was deemed unsuitable. He was relieved of his duties at the beginning of the regular season, becoming the first MNF personality not to endure for an entire season. He was replaced by fellow former player (and fellow Gary native) Alex Karras.
Since then, Williamson has continued his career as an actor and director, recently appearing in the feature film version of the 1970s television series Starsky and Hutch.
Selected filmography
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- M*A*S*H (1970)
- Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970)
- The Hammer (1972)
- The Legend of Nigger Charley (1972)
- Hell Up in Harlem (1973)
- Black Caesar (1973)
- Three the Hard Way (1974)
- Mean Johnny Barrows (1974)
- Bucktown (1975)
- Boss Nigger (1975)
- Adiós Amigo (1976)
- Blind Rage (1978)
- Fist of Fear, Touch of Death (1980)
- i nuovi barbari (1982)
- Black Cobra (1987)
- The Messenger (1987)
- Black Cobra 2 (1988)
- Black Cobra 3 (1990)
- From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
- Original Gangstas (1996)
- Carmen: A Hip Hopera (made for TV) (2001)
- Starsky & Hutch (2004)
External links
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