
Wendy Williams
Highest Rated: 90% Tom Dowd & the Language of Music (2003)
Lowest Rated: 23% Think Like a Man Too (2014)
Birthday: Jul 18, 1964
Birthplace: Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA
One of the most dynamic figures in radio and television during the late 1990s and early 21st century, Wendy Williams was the host of a wildly successful and syndicated radio program, "The Wendy Williams Experience," before transitioning to television with "The Wendy Williams Show" (syndicated/BET, 2009- ). Williams' stock in trade was celebrity gossip, which she discussed in both formats to the acclaim of fans. Unapologetic and fiercely confident, Williams rose to become one of daytime television's most popular talk show hosts, becoming a valuable contributor to her celebrity-focused medium. Born Wendy Joan Williams on July 18, 1964 in Asbury Park, NJ, she was the second of three children from parents, Thomas and Shirley Williams. She was, from the outset, a big personality, with a body to match; by the time she was in the sixth grade, Williams was 5' 7" and wore size 11 shoes. Scholastics were not her forte, but she excelled at activities outside of the classroom, including music and swimming. In 1982, she followed her older sister, Wanda, to Boston, MA to attend college at Northeastern University. There, she discovered radio, which provided the perfect format for her gift of gab and love for urban music as a DJ for the college's student station, WRBB. Her passion for the medium was so all-encompassing that in her free time, Williams would travel to New York City and spend the day in Penn Station, studying the city's DJs by dialing from station to station on a portable radio. Her ascent into broadcasting was a rocky one, fraught with clashes with management and talent that would become a hallmark of her subsequent career. Her first job in radio was at a station in St. Croix in the Virgin Islands, before heading to New York City for a short-lived stint that ended when she refused to stay with the station's formatted script. A job in Philadelphia, PA preceded a run as a fill-in DJ at New York's 98.7 KISS-FM. There, she began to develop her distinct radio persona: a brash, no-holds-barred gossip queen who shared the intimate details of her own life, as well as those of popular members of the African-American entertainment community. The practice made her immensely popular with listeners, who helped Williams to earn the 1993 Billboard Award for Best On-Air Radio Personality in 1993. The following year, Emmis Broadcasting purchased KISS-FM and brought Williams to the controversial 97.1 WHQT, or "Hot 97." There, she took over as the evening DJ, generating high ratings. However, her tenure was short-lived; Williams was fired after a confrontation with the previous nighttime DJ, Angie Martinez, though Williams later suggested that pressure from hip-hop artist and producer Sean "P. Diddy" Combs led to her termination. Declaring that her New York audience had abandoned her, Williams retreated to WUSL in Philadelphia. In 2001, she returned to New York to work for WBLS, the former rival station to KISS-FM. There, she began her ascension to national popularity as the host of "The Wendy Williams Experience," a syndicated afternoon program that focused on her abrasive, probing style of celebrity interview. Dubbing herself "Queen of All Media" in reference to Howard Stern's self-appointed title, she pulled no punches in grilling figures like Whitney Houston, Blu Cantrell and Ciara while dispensing tough love advice to callers and dishing on her own issues, including battles with drugs and her numerous plastic surgeries. Williams soon garnered an audience of 12 million listeners, but not everyone warmed to her style. In 2003, she waged an ugly war of words with Houston over the singer's alleged drug use, and rappers and entertainers like Jay-Z, Will Smith and 50 Cent began singling her out for derision in their songs. Despite media criticism for her subject matter, Williams became a major entertainment figure, with two best-selling autobiographies and a VH1 series, "The Wendy Williams Experience" (2006-07) among her growing list of accomplishments. In 2008, her daytime talk show, "The Wendy Williams Show," was launched as a sneak preview in six major national markets. The response to the show, which mixed her own outsized personality with celebrity guests, audience advice and gossip, was overwhelmingly positive, prompting Fox and later BET to pick up the show for broadcasting. The popularity of her TV show spurred Williams to announce her retirement from radio to focus on the talk show. Shortly thereafter, she was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. As with her radio program, Williams' TV show was not for all viewers. Her gossip could be outrageous and invasive, and her own personality - which included frank discussion of her sex life, past proclivities and issues - could be equally off-putting and attractive. Her style drew particularly pungent fire from Joel McHale, host of "The Soup" (E!, 2004- ), who frequently featured her more eyebrow-raising statements on his program. The coverage later inspired Williams to strike up a good-natured rivalry/friendship with McHale and his show. In 2011, Williams announced that she would participate as a contestant on the 12th season of "Dancing with the Stars" (ABC, 2005- ). Her talk show went on hiatus during that period to allow her to compete for the reality show's mirrored ball trophy, though she was the second celebrity eliminated that season. Aside from co-starring roles in the comedy-drama "Think Like A Man" (2012) and its sequel "Think Like A Man Too" (2014), Williams settled into her role as a morning TV star, continuing her daytime talk show and making brief cameos as herself in horror film "World War Z" (2013) and comedy "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates" (2016).
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
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No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Wendy Williams: What a Mess! | Unknown (Character) | - | 2021 |
No Score Yet | 90% | Wendy Williams: The Movie | Executive Producer | - | 2021 |
No Score Yet | 41% | La era de hielo: El gran robo del huevo | Condor Mum (Voice) | - | 2016 |
23% | 59% | Think Like a Man Too | Gail (Character) | $65.1M | 2014 |
No Score Yet | 45% | The Santa Con | Pastor Ruth (Character) | - | 2014 |
54% | 79% | Think Like a Man | Gail (Character) | $91.5M | 2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Cookout 2 | Self | - | 2011 |
No Score Yet | 18% | Payback | Writer | - | 2006 |
90% | 92% | Tom Dowd & the Language of Music | Co-Producer | $40.2K | 2003 |
No Score Yet | 58% | The Black Velvet Gown | Grace Gallmington (Character) | - | 1991 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Feet of Clay | Fay Kent (Character) | - | 1960 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Crash Drive | Ann Dixon (Character) | - | 1959 |
TV
Credit | ||||
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No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Wendy Williams Show |
Host, Executive Producer |
2009-2021 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Access Hollywood | Guest | 2020-2021 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Entertainment Tonight | Guest | 2021 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Dr. Oz Show | Guest | 2018-2021 2013-2016 2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Access Daily | Guest | 2021 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Good Morning America | Guest | 2021 2018 2015 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The View | Guest | 2021 2014-2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Extra | Guest | 2021 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen | Guest | 2019-2020 2012-2013 |
No Score Yet | 37% | Late Night With Seth Meyers | Guest | 2016-2020 2014 |
98% | 83% | Last Week Tonight With John Oliver | Guest | 2020 |
No Score Yet | 49% | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Guest | 2020 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mamarazzi | Guest | 2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Project Runway All Stars | Guest | 2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dish Nation | Guest | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | HSN Today | Guest | 2018 2016 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Page Six TV | Guest | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Chew | Guest | 2013-2017 2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'n Out | Unknown (Character) | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Sister Circle | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | 70% | Odd Mom Out | Herself (Guest Star) | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Celebrity Page | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | 35% | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | 67% | Nightcap | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Daily Show With Trevor Noah | Guest | 2016 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | CBS News Sunday Morning | Guest | 2016 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Ellen DeGeneres Show | Guest | 2016 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Conan | Guest | 2016 2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Access Hollywood Live | Guest | 2016 |
100% | 30% | The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore | Guest | 2016 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Death by Gossip With Wendy Williams | Host | 2015 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Meredith Vieira Show | Guest | 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hell's Kitchen | Guest | 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Today | Guest | 2013-2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Celebrities Undercover |
Unknown (Character), Executive Producer |
2014 |
31% | 83% | The Neighbors | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Larry King Now | Guest | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Maury | Guest | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Anderson | Guest | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Belle's | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2013 |
78% | 88% | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Wendy Williams (Guest Star) | 2013 |
78% | 93% | 30 Rock | Wendy Williams (Guest Star) | 2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Katie | Guest | 2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dr. Steve | Guest | 2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Joy Behar Show | Guest | 2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The A-List: New York | Host | 2011 |
72% | 56% | Drop Dead Diva | Judge Mary Rudd (Guest Star) | 2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dancing With the Stars | Contestant | 2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Late Night With Jimmy Fallon | Guest | 2009-2010 |
50% | No Score Yet | The Wanda Sykes Show | Guest | 2010 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Lopez Tonight | Guest | 2010 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Morning Show With Mike & Juliet | Guest | 2008 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | New York Undercover | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1995 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Butterflies | Unknown (Character) | 1979 |
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