Mykelti Williamson

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

Michael T. "Mykelti" Williamson (born March 4, 1957) is an American actor best known for his roles in the films Forrest Gump, 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.

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. He was acquitted of the charge.

Filmography

Film

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

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	Starsky & Hutch	Bruce	Episode: "Black and Blue"
1978	Salvage 1	Eddie	Episode: "Golden Orbit: Part 1"
1979–1981	The White Shadow	Fred/Malcolm Gruner	2 episodes
1980	The Righteous Apples	Charles "Big Neck" McMorris	Unknown episodes
1981	Freebie and the Bean	Lemar Washington	Episode: "Highway Robbery"
1981	Father Murphy	Lijah	Episode: "Establish Thou the Works of Our Hands"
1982	Desperate Lives	Jack	Television film
1983	Alice	Player #1	Episode: "Carrie on the Rebound"
1983–1984	Bay City Blues	Deejay Cunningham	8 episodes
1983–1986	Hill Street Blues	Officer Ron Garfield/Raymond Hawkins Jr.	9 episodes
1984	Gimme a Break!	Waiter	Episode: "Nell's Birthday"
1984–1985	Cover Up	Rick	19 episodes
1984–1985	Miami Vice	Sylvio Romulus/Leon Jefferson	2 episodes
1986	The Love Boat	James Russell	2 episodes
1987	J.J. Starbuck	Calvin	Episode: "First You've Got to Go to the Picnic"
1987–1988	The Bronx Zoo	Gus Butterfield	21 episodes
1988	Police Story: Monster Manor	Officer Don Luntner	Television film
1988–1991	Midnight Caller	Deacon Bridges	47 episodes
1989	China Beach	Jean Jacques Rousseau	2 episodes
1990	A Killer Among Us	Greg Hopkins	Television film
1991–1993	The New WKRP in Cincinnati	Donovan Aderhold	44 episodes
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	Television film
1997	12 Angry Men	Juror #10	Television film
1997	Buffalo Soldiers	Cpl. William Christy	Television film
1999	Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years	Papa Delany	Television film
1999–2000	The Hoop Life	Marvin Buxton	22 episodes
2000	Holiday Heart	Silas	Television film
2000–2001	The Fugitive	Lt. Philip Gerard	23 episodes
2002	Our America	Graham Ellis	Television film
2002	Touched by an Angel	Tevis Lockwood	Episode: "Ship-in-a-Bottle"
2002–2003	Boomtown	Detective Bobby "Fearless" Smith	24 episodes
2004	Monk	Captain Walter Cage	Episode: "Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan"
2005	Third Watch	Detective Dante Rice	2 episodes
2006	Justice	Joshua Mortin	Episode: "Prior Convictions"
2006–2007	Kidnapped	Virgil Hayes	13 episodes
2007	Raines	Detective Bobby "Fearless" Smith	Episode: "Pilot"
2007–2009	CSI: NY	Chief Brigham Sinclair	7 episodes
2009	Psych	Coach Sammy Winslow	Episode: "Any Given Friday Night at 10PM, 9PM Central"
2010	24	Brian Hastings	17 episodes
2010	The Good Wife	Mathew Wade	Episode: "On Tap"
2011	Have a Little Faith	Donnie	Television film
2011	Rizzoli & Isles	U.S. Marshal Whitmore	Episode: "Don't Stop Dancing, Girl"
2012	Single Ladies	Pierce	Episode: "All or Nothing"
2012–2015	Justified	Ellstin Limehouse	18 episodes
2013	Touch	Detective Lang	4 episodes
2014	Scorpion	General Ned Walker	Episode: "Plutonium Is Forever"
2014	Nashville	Terry George	4 episodes
2015–2016	Hawaii Five-0	Clay Maxwell	2 episodes
2016	Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders	Brigadier General Yazee Zwane	Episode: "Iqiniso"
2016	Underground	Moses	6 episodes
2016–2017	Designated Survivor	Admiral Chernow	3 episodes
2017	Rebel	Rene Knight	5 episodes
2017–2018	Chicago P.D.	Lieutenant Denny Woods	14 episodes
2018	Insecure	Preacher	Episode: "Obsessed-Like"
2018–2019	Lethal Weapon	Tom Barnes	4 episodes
2021	Law & Order: Organized Crime	Preston Webb	1 episode

External links

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