I remember when I was a little girl all of the older women would swoon over Billy Dee Williams. I guess I was just too young to get it. I watched Mahogony thinking why does this guy have a perm plus I never have understood the logic of the 'stache (a really thick moustache)but i digress.
1972 Lady Sings the Blues and 1975 Mahogony made Billy Dee a movie star and a cultural icon. In his peak, Willams was referred to as the black Clark Gable.
Most people in my age bracket may know him as Lando Calrissian from Star Wars- Episode Five: The Empire Strikes Back.
I did not now that he is an accomplished painter, whose paintings have sold in the tens of thousands.
My new school comparison is Denzel Washington of course. Denzel, Denzel, Denzel! The only man that can make me forget TJ Holmes. LOL
I fell in love with Denzel as Xavier Quinn in The Mighty Quinn (1989). Good Lord, that man in that white soldier's uniform. Anyway, I fell in love again watching him portray the too cool Bleek Gilliam in Mo' Better Blues (1990). I could go on but you can see where this is going.
I was watching a news show that explained that the many prominent African Americans in other arenas, such as sports, film, media, made it more acceptable for white Americans to accept an African American as President of the United States. Denzel has achieved the highest honors in his field. The 1989 Oscar for Glory and the 2002 Oscar for Training Day. He was chosen People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 1996.
He has been married to wife Pauletta since 1983. They met on his first TV movie Wilma (1972). Loves it!
Assume that I am not biased toward one actor or another. Tell me now, who does it better?
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