First published 2024
Billy Dee Williams opens his story in 1937 Harlem, where love and culture filled his childhood home. The future actor takes readers through his early stage debut alongside Lotte Lenya, feeding her forgotten lines as a young boy. Williams studied painting at the High School of Music and Art with classmate Diahann Carroll before pursuing acting with masters like Stella Adler and Sidney Poitier. Paul Muni delivered career-defining advice during Williams' first film role: any actor can play any character regardless of appearance or race. Williams embraced this philosophy as he landed the co-starring role in Brian's Song opposite James Caan, reaching over fifty million viewers with what he calls the interracial love story America needed. Later, he broke new ground as Lando Calrissian, the first Black character in the Star Wars universe, surprising audiences in The Empire Strikes Back and returning for The Return of the Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. Williams reveals how he navigated Hollywood's racism and typecasting while choosing roles that fulfilled his artistic vision across nearly eighty years of dreams and adventure.
Genres: biography, drama, 20th-century, american, african-american, autobiography, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, found-family, overcoming-adversity
Setting: Harlem, Hollywood
Period: 1937, 1970s, 1980s, 2010s
288 pages · Hardcover · Knopf