Clarence Williams III is an American actor.

Early life

Williams was born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. His grandfather was Clarence Williams, the jazz pianist and composer. He was raised by his grandmother.

Career

His first major acting role was as Lincoln B. Hayes on Aaron Spelling

Aaron Spelling

Aaron Spelling was an American film and television producer. As of 2009, Spelling's eponymous production company Spelling Television holds the record as the most prolific television writer, with 218 producer and executive producer credits...

's TV series The Mod Squad

The Mod Squad

The Mod Squad is a television series that ran on ABC from September 24, 1968, until August 23, 1973. This series starred Michael Cole, Peggy Lipton, Clarence Williams III, and Tige Andrews...

. He has guest-starred in television shows such as Hill Street Blues

Hill Street Blues

Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...

, Miami Vice

Miami Vice

Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...

, The Highwayman

The Highwayman (TV series)

The Highwayman is an action-adventure themed television series starring Sam J. Jones, set in "the near future." It was created by Glen A. Larson and Douglas Heyes. The pilot aired in September 1987, and was followed by a short-lived series of nine episodes, with significant changes to the cast and...

, Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...

, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...

, Burn Notice

Burn notice

A burn notice is an official statement issued by one intelligence agency to other agencies. It states that an individual or a group is unreliable for one or more reasons...

, Everybody Hates Chris

Everybody Hates Chris

Everybody Hates Chris is an African American television period sitcom inspired by the teenage experiences of comedian Chris Rock , while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York . The show is set from 1982 to 1987; however, Rock himself was a teenager during years...

, and in a recurring role as Philby Cross in the Mystery Woman

Mystery Woman

Mystery Woman is the name of a series of two-hour TV movies appearing regularly on the Hallmark Channel since 2003, starring Emmy-nominated actress Kellie Martin as Samantha Kinsey, proprietor of a bookstore specializing in mystery books who gets involved in solving real-life mysteries...

movie series on the Hallmark Channel

Hallmark Channel

The Hallmark Channel is a cable television network that broadcasts across the United States. Their programming includes a mix of television movies/miniseries, syndicated series, and lifestyle shows that are appropriate for the whole family...

. He has appeared in feature films such as Life

Life (film)

Life is a 1999 American comedy-drama film directed by Ted Demme, and starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. The supporting cast includes Obba Babatundé, Bernie Mac, Anthony Anderson, Miguel A. Núñez Jr. and Bokeem Woodbine...

, Sugar Hill

Sugar Hill

Sugar Hill commonly refers to Sugar Hill, Manhattan, a section of Harlem, New York City, New York, US. The term may also refer to:Places:* Sugar Hill in Modoc National Forest, California* Sugar Hill, Georgia* Sugar Hill, New Hampshire...

, The Cool World, Deep Cover

Deep Cover

Deep Cover is a 1992 crime thriller film starring Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum and directed by veteran actor Bill Duke. It is also notable for its theme song of the same name, composed by Dr...

, Tales from the Hood

Tales from the Hood

Tales From the Hood is a 1995 horror anthology film directed by Rusty Cundieff, and executive produced by Spike Lee. It presents four short African American-themed horror stories, presented within the frame story of three drug dealers buying some "found" drugs from an eccentric and story-prone...

, Half-Baked, Hoodlum, Frogs for Snakes

Frogs for Snakes

-Plot:Out of work actress Eva , pays her way by working as a waitress at a diner in Manhattan's Lower East Side owned by Quint . She maks extra cash by making collections for her ex-husband, loan shark Al...

, Starstruck

Starstruck (1998 film)

-Plot:A temp/aspiring screenwriter in Los Angeles befriends a washed up, former teen idol and develops an unhealthy relationship with him.-Principal cast:-Critical reception:From Nathan Rabin at The A.V. Club:...

, I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, The General's Daughter

The General's Daughter

The General's Daughter is a 1999 murder mystery film starring John Travolta. The plot concerns the mysterious death of the daughter of a prominent general. The movie is based on the novel by the same name written in 1992 by Nelson DeMille, and was directed by Simon West...

, The Legend of 1900

The Legend of 1900

The Legend of 1900 is a 1998 film directed by the Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore, starring Tim Roth. This is Tornatore's first English-language film. The film is inspired by a theater monologue, Novecento, by Alessandro Baricco...

, and Purple Rain

Purple Rain (film)

Purple Rain is a 1984 film directed by Albert Magnoli and written by Magnoli and William Blinn. Prince makes his film debut in this movie, which was developed to showcase his particular talents, hence, the film contains several extended concert sequences. The film grossed more than US$80 million at...

. He also played a supportive role as George Wallace's fictional African-American butler and caretaker in the 1997 TNT TV movie George Wallace

George Wallace

George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...

.

He portrayed Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Johnson in American Gangster in 2007. Williams is not listed in the movie credits for the film.

Personal life

Williams married African-American actress Gloria Foster

Gloria Foster

Gloria Foster was an American actress, most known for her stage performances portraying an array of African-American characters, including her acclaimed roles in plays In White America and Having Our Say, winning three Obie Awards during her career.In films, she was perhaps best known as The...

 in 1967, but divorced in 1984. One of Williams's closest friends is actor Eric Braeden

Eric Braeden

Eric Braeden is a German-American film and television actor, best known for his role as Victor Newman on the soap opera The Young and the Restless and as John Jacob Astor IV in the 1997 film Titanic...

.

External links

• Biography at Allmovie