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Mykelti Williamson

Birthday: Mar 4, 1957

Place of Birth: Saint Louis, Missouri

Bio: After more than a decade in the business, hard-working actor Mykelti Williamson achieved true fame as Tom Hanks' army buddy in Forrest Gump (1994). Born in St. Louis, Williamson and his family moved frequently during his childhood, finally settling in Los Angeles when he was 15. After studying acting in high school, Williamson landed a recurring role on Hill Street Blues in 1983. Working steadily in TV and movies throughout the 1980s, Williamson appeared in a number of films, including Walter Hill's Streets of Fire (1984); the pilot movie for the stylish cop series Miami Vice (1984); and the Goldie Hawn football comedy Wildcats (1986). By the 1990s, Williamson added a bona fide sleeper hit to his credits with his role as a paternal cop in Free Willy (1993). His transformative performance as Forrest's ill-fated shrimp-loving friend Bubba in the blockbuster, 1994 Best Picture winner Forrest Gump then earned Williamson critical raves, propelling him into a varied range of high-profile films. After appearing in Free Willy 2 (1995) and playing a small but attention-getting role as one of Lela Rochon's unworthy suitors in Waiting to Exhale (1995), Williamson joined forces with Al Pacino in Michael Mann's Heat (1995). Continuing to work in TV as well, Williamson acted in several series, co-starred as Negro League baseball player Josh Gibson in the well-received TV film The Soul of the Game (1996), played a black cavalryman in the TNT Western Buffalo Soldiers (1997), and joined the prestigious ensemble cast of 12 Angry Men (1997). Williamson continued to ride high as Nicolas Cage's ill cell mate in the summer blockbuster Con Air (1997), but his 1998 movie work in Primary Colors and Species 2 was personally overshadowed by his legal troubles when he was arrested for stalking his ex-wife and stabbing her friend. Acquitted of the charges, Williamson returned to form with a blistering performance as an Army colonel in David O. Russell's critically lauded Three Kings (1999). Williamson reprised his role as Lt. Gerard in the second TV series version of The Fugitive(2000). Despite pre-season hype and the prior success of other Fugitives, the series lasted only one season. Williamson then made another onscreen splash when he reunited with Heat director Michael Mann to appear as the flamboyant, shock-haired boxing impresario Don King in Mann's ambitious biopic Ali (2001). Williamson is married and has three daughters. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Filmography

Year	Title	Credit
2012	High School	Paranoid
2011	Have A Little Faith	Actor
2009	The Final Destination	George
2009	Black Dynamite	Chicago Wind
2009	Spinning Into Butter	Aaron Carmichael
2008	Vice	Sampson
2008	Ball Don't Lie	Actor
2007	August Rush	Reverend James
2006	ATL	Uncle George
2006	Lucky Number Slevin	Actor
2005	Fatwa	Grandy Frank
2004	After the Sunset	Agent Stafford
2004	The Assassination of Richard Nixon	Harold Mann
2002	Our America	Director
2001	Ali	Don King
2000	Holiday Heart	Actor
1999	Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years	Papa Delany
1999	Three Kings	Colonel Horn
1998	Primary Colors	Dewayne Smith
1998	Species II	Dennis Gamble
1997	Buffalo Soldiers	Actor
1997	Truth or Consequences, N.M.	Marcus Weans
1997	12 Angry Men	Juror 10
1997	Con Air	Baby-O
1996	Soul of the Game	Josh Gibson
1995	Waiting to Exhale	Troy
1995	How to Make an American Quilt	Winston
1995	Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home	Dwight Mercer
1995	Heat	Det. Drucker
1994	Forrest Gump	Bubba Blue
1993	Free Willy	Dwight Mercer
1989	Miracle Mile	Wilson
1989	The First Power	Detective Oliver Franklin
1987	Number One with a Bullet	Casey
1987	You Talkin' to Me?	Thatcher Marks
1986	Wildcats	Levander "Bird" Williams
1984	Streets of Fire	B.J.
1982	Desperate Lives	Jack
1979	Penitentiary	Actor
1973	Enter the Dragon	Actor