Mykelti Williamson

Mykelti Williamson
Williamson in 2016
Born	(1957-03-04) March 4, 1957 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Other names	Mykel T. Williamson
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1978–present
Spouses	Olivia Brown ​ ​ (m. 1983; div. 1985)​ Cheryl Chisholm ​ ​ (m. 1989; div. 1991)​ Sondra Spriggs ​ (m. 1997)​
Children	3

Mykelti Williamson (born March 4, 1957) is an American actor best known for his roles in the films Forrest Gump, 12 Angry Men (1997), Con Air and Ali, and the television shows Boomtown, 24, and Justified. In 2016, he portrayed Gabriel Maxson in Denzel Washington's acclaimed film adaptation of August Wilson's play Fences, reprising his role from the 2010 Broadway revival.

His other notable roles include Free Willy, Heat, Lucky Number Slevin, Three Kings, Black Dynamite, The Final Destination, ATL, Species II, and The Purge: Election Year.

Early life

Williamson was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He is the son of Elaine, a certified public accountant, and a father who was an Air Force Non-Commissioned Officer. He is of African American descent and has stated he has Blackfoot ancestry. He has said that his name "Mykelti" means "spirit" in the Blackfoot language, but this is untrue.

Williamson began performing at the age of nine. Along with acting, he also danced as an alternate member of The Lockers troupe on Soul Train along with Fred Berry (star of TV sitcom What's Happening!!). At age nine, Williamson relocated to Los Angeles with his family. He studied television and film at Los Angeles City College. He audited acting classes at USC under the tutelage of Dr. Frank X. Ford Williamson, and was later transferred to Gene Evans Motion Picture School in San Jose, earning his certificate in Cinematography/Film Production.

Career

Williamson began acting professionally as a child. His first TV appearances include Starsky and Hutch, Father Murphy, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, China Beach, and Midnight Caller. Perhaps his best-known television role was as program director Donovan Aderhold in the syndicated series The New WKRP in Cincinnati. Williamson also starred in PBS's TV series The Righteous Apples. The show focuses on the activities of The Righteous Apples, five Boston-area high school musicians, who in a troubled world, seek to help people in distress. Williamson was the lead singer of the group in the show in which he was just a teenager at that time.

His film debut was in Streets of Fire (1984). His credits include Wildcats (1986) with Goldie Hawn, Miracle Mile (1989), The First Power (1990) with Lou Diamond Phillips, Free Willy (1993), Forrest Gump (1994) with Tom Hanks, Waiting to Exhale (1995), Heat (1995), Soul of the Game (1996) with Delroy Lindo, Con Air (1997), Truth or Consequences, N.M. (1997), William Friedkin's TV version of 12 Angry Men (1997), Three Kings (1999), Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years (1999), Holiday Heart (2000), Black Dynamite (2009), The Final Destination (2009), and The Purge: Election Year (2016).

Williamson is best known as Private Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue in the Academy Award–winning 1994 film Forrest Gump. He also received favorable reviews when he played Negro league baseball player Josh Gibson in the HBO film Soul of the Game (1996).

Williamson has made many guest appearances in TV and film. His most recent film appearances have included Ali (2001),The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004), Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005), ATL (2006), Lucky Number Slevin (2006), August Rush (2007), High School (2010), Convergence (2015), and Fences (2016). He was Juror #10 in the 1997 TV movie remake of 12 Angry Men (picking up the Ed Begley role). He also appeared in a short-lived TV series remake The Fugitive (CBS, 2000–2001). CBS cancelled the series after one season with a total of 22 episodes.

In 2002, he co-starred as Detective Bobby "Fearless" Smith in the critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful crime drama Boomtown.

Between 2007 and 2009, he appeared in seven episodes of CSI: NY as Chief Sinclair, reuniting him with his Forrest Gump co-star Gary Sinise. He was a main character in season 8 of 24 starring as Brian Hastings, the special agent in charge of the New York CTU.

He had a recurring role as Ellstin Limehouse on the FX drama Justified. He was also cast as a homeless man named Terry in the third season of the ABC drama Nashville. Since October 2016, Williamson has had a recurring role as Admiral Chernow in Designated Survivor. In 2017, he began appearing on Chicago P.D..

Personal life

Williamson was married to Miami Vice star Olivia Brown from July 2, 1983 until they divorced in 1985. He later married Cheryl Chisholm in 1989 with whom he had his first child, Phoenix.

He has been married to Sondra Spriggs since April 26, 1997; together they have two daughters, Nicole and Maya. The two were married during the filming of TNT's production of Buffalo Soldiers.

Williamson was charged with attempted murder in 1998 after he stabbed his ex-wife's boyfriend.The judge in that case denied further prosecution due to insufficient evidence.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Sunnyside	Hot Dog
1984	Streets of Fire	B.J. - The Sorels
1986	Wildcats	Levander 'Bird' Williams
	The Delta Force	Delta Force Member
1987	Number One with a Bullet	Casey
	You Talkin' to Me?	Thatcher Marks
1988	Miracle Mile	Wilson
1990	The First Power	Detective Oliver Franklin
1993	Free Willy	Dwight Mercer
1994	Forrest Gump	Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue
1995	Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home	Dwight Mercer
	How to Make an American Quilt	Winston
	Heat	Sergeant Drucker
	Waiting to Exhale	Troy
1997	Truth or Consequences, N.M.	Marcus Weans
	Con Air	Baby-O
	Double Tap	Agent Hamilton
	12 Angry Men	Juror #10
1998	Primary Colors	Dewayne Smith
	Species II	Dennis Gamble
	Gideon	Coleman Walker
1999	Three Kings	Colonel Horn
2001	Ali	Don King
2004	The Assassination of Richard Nixon	Harold Mann
	After the Sunset	Agent Stafford
2005	Get Rich or Die Tryin'	Charlene's Stepfather
2006	Lucky Number Slevin	Sloe
	Fatwa	Grady Frank
	ATL	Uncle George
2007	Spinning into Butter	Aaron Carmichael
	August Rush	Reverend James
2008	Ball Don't Lie	Dallas
	Vice	Sampson
2009	Black Dynamite	Chicago Wind
	My Summer Friend	Romell	Short
	The Final Destination	George Lanter
2010	High School	Paranoid
2014	Hollows Grove	F.B.I. Agent Jones
2015	Convergence	Captain Miller
	You Bury Your Own	Detective Goodman
2016	The Purge: Election Year	Joe Dixon
	Fences	Gabriel Maxson
2018	Run the Race	Coach Hailey
	Canal Street	Jackie Styles
	Saint Judy	Dikembe Mustafa
	Thriller	Detective Raymond Johnson
2019	Don't Let Go	Bobby Owens
2020	Butter	Professor Dunn
	Emperor	Truesdale
	The 24th	Sgt. Hayes
2021	Clean	Travis
2022	North of the 10	Cole Pruit

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	Starsky & Hutch	Bruce	Episode: "Black and Blue"
1978	Salvage 1	Eddie	Episode: "Golden Orbit: Part 1"
1979–81	The White Shadow	Malcolm Gruner/Fred	Episodes: "We're in the Money" & "Burnout"
1980	The Righteous Apples	Charles "Big Neck" McMorris	Main cast
1981	Freebie and the Bean	Lemar Washington	Episode: "Highway Robbery"
	Father Murphy	Lijah	Episode: "Establish Thou the Works of Our Hands"
1982	Desperate Lives	Jack	TV movie
1983	Alice	Player #1	Episode: "Carrie on the Rebound"
	Hill Street Blues	Raymond Hawkins Jr.	Episode: "Moon Over Uranus: The Final Legacy"
1983–84	Bay City Blues	Deejay Cunningham	Main cast
1984	Gimme a Break!	Waiter	Episode: "Nell's Birthday"
1984–85	Cover Up	Rick	Recurring cast
	Miami Vice	Leon Jefferson/Sylvio Romulus	Episodes: "Brother's Keeper" & "Tale of the Goat"
1984–86	Hill Street Blues	Officer Ron Garfield	Recurring cast (seasons 5-6), guest (season 7)
1986	The Love Boat	James Russell	Episode: "Spain Cruise: Part 1 & 2"
1987	J.J. Starbuck	Calvin	Episode: "First You've Got to Go to the Picnic"
1987–88	The Bronx Zoo	Gus Butterfield	Main cast
1988	Police Story: Monster Manor	Officer Don Luntner	TV movie
1988–91	Midnight Caller	Deacon Bridges	Main cast
1989	China Beach	Jean Jacques Rousseau	Episode: "Psywars" & "Promised Land"
1990	A Killer Among Us	Greg Hopkins	TV movie
1991–93	The New WKRP in Cincinnati	Donovan Aderhold	Main cast
1993	Other Women's Children	Leonard	TV movie
1994	Time Trax	Luther Bell	Episode: "Cool Hand Darien"
1995	The Outer Limits	Dr. Michael Alders	Episode: "The Second Soul"
1996	Soul of the Game	Josh Gibson	TV movie
1997	12 Angry Men	Juror #10	TV movie
	Buffalo Soldiers	Cpl. William Christy	TV movie
1999	Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years	Papa Delany	TV movie
1999–2000	The Hoop Life	Marvin Buxton	Main cast
2000	Holiday Heart	Silas	TV movie
2000–01	The Fugitive	Lt. Philip Gerard	Main cast
2002	Our America	Graham Ellis	TV movie
	Touched by an Angel	Tevis Lockwood	Episode: "Ship-in-a-Bottle"
2002–03	Boomtown	Detective Bobby "Fearless" Smith	Main cast
2004	The Secret Service	Mike Bradford	TV movie
	Monk	Captain Walter Cage	Episode: "Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan"
2005	Third Watch	Detective Dante Rice	Episodes: "The 'L' Word" & "The Other 'L' Word"
2006	Justice	Joshua Mortin	Episode: "Prior Convictions"
2006–07	Kidnapped	Virgil Hayes	Main cast
2007	Raines	Detective Bobby "Fearless" Smith	Episode: "Pilot"
2007–09	CSI: NY	Chief Brigham Sinclair	Recurring cast (seasons 3-6)
2008	One Hogan Place	Lt. Dardin	TV short
2009	Psych	Coach Sammy Winslow	Episode: "Any Given Friday Night at 10PM, 9PM Central"
2010	24	Brian Hastings	Main cast (season 8)
	The Good Wife	Mathew Wade	Episode: "On Tap"
2011	Have a Little Faith	Donnie	TV movie
	Rizzoli & Isles	U.S. Marshal Whitmore	Episode: "Don't Stop Dancing, Girl"
2012	Single Ladies	Pierce	Episode: "All or Nothing"
2012–15	Justified	Ellstin Limehouse	Recurring cast (seasons 3-4 & 6)
2013	Twist of Faith	Uncle Moe	TV movie
	Touch	Detective Lang	Recurring cast (season 2)
	Lauren	Prince	Episode: "Episode #2.12"
2014	Scorpion	General Ned Walker	Episode: "Plutonium Is Forever"
	Nashville	Terry George	Recurring cast (season 3)
	Wild Blue	Master Chief Donald Bowman	TV movie
	Clementine	Ray	TV movie
2015–16	Hawaii Five-0	Clay Maxwell	Episode: "Ike Hanau" & "Umia Ka Hanu"
2016	Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders	Brigadier General Yazee Zwane	Episode: "Iqiniso"
	Underground	Moses	Recurring cast (season 1)
2016–17	Designated Survivor	Admiral Chernow	Guest (season 1), recurring cast (season 2)
2017	Rebel	Rene Knight	Main cast
2017–18	Chicago P.D.	Lieutenant Denny Woods	Guest (season 4), recurring cast (season 5)
2018	Insecure	Preacher	Episode: "Obsessed-Like"
2018–19	Lethal Weapon	Tom Barnes	Recurring cast (season 3)
2020	Two Degrees	T	Episode: "Cigar Cave"
2021–22	Law & Order: Organized Crime	Preston Webb	Recurring cast (season 2)
2022	The Holiday Stocking	Robert	TV movie

External links

• Mykelti Williamson at IMDb
• Mykelti Williamson at the Internet Broadway Database
• Mykelti Williamson at AllMovie