Celebrity Biographies
Michael Kenneth Williams
He was known for his memorable portrayal of Omar Little on “The Wire.” Michael K. Williams passed away at the age of 54, on September 6, 2021. The New York Police Department confirmed that the actor was found dead at 2 p.m. inside his Brooklyn residence. Everything pointed to a drug overdose.
Born in the same New York neighborhood on November 22, 1966, Michael Kenneth Williams –his full name– had a troubled adolescence, but later enrolled at the National Black Theatre, where he learned acting. After some time earning a living as a dancer, for example appearing in music videos, he got into a bar fight in which he was cut with a razor blade. The scar became a characteristic feature that made him suitable for thug roles, so he debuted as a drug dealer’s henchman in Bullet . He also had small roles on The Sopranos and Alias .
After participating in the series The Kill Point and in the feature films Goodbye Little Girl, Goodbye and The Incredible Hulk , Michael Kenneth Williams got his big break when he was offered the role of Omar Little, a homosexual drug dealer thief with a moral code that forces him not to steal from honest citizens, in The Wire (Under listening) . “The character was based on famous Baltimore street characters from the eighties,” David Simon said in an interview., creator of fiction. “They gave me the role after a single audition,” recalled the interpreter. “Because of the wide range of nuances he had, I knew from the beginning that he was going to stand out from other African-American actors.” When he was still running for president, Barack Obama claimed that it was his favorite character, in the series he liked the most.
The producer of the series, HBO, offered him another starring role in one of its most powerful series, Boardwalk Empire , where Michael Kenneth Williams gave life to Albert “Chalky” White, leader of the black community of Atlantic City in the decade of the 20. It also became a luxury secondary, for titles such as The Messenger , 12 Years a Slave , RoboCop , Anarchy: Night of the Beasts , Kill the Messenger , Ghostbusters and Pure Vice .
In his last years of his career, he gave life to Montrose Freeman, father of a missing boy, in Lovecraft Territory , also another great HBO bet. At his death, Michael Kenneth Williams had the western Surrounded , with Jamie Bell , and the thriller 892 , with John Boyega , pending release . He leaves three children orphaned.