If you searched Billy Dee Williams age, here’s the short answer: he was born on April 6, 1937, in New York City, which makes him 89 years old as of August 2026. Yes, he is still alive and still working.
Most pages stop there. We’re going to do the thing the top results skip entirely — tell you exactly how old he was at every career milestone, and connect his birth year to the Harlem streets that actually shaped him.
Who Is Billy Dee Williams? (Quick-Answer Age Summary)
Billy Dee Williams is an American actor and painter, best known to two generations as Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars saga. Before the galaxy far, far away, he was already a leading man — a genuinely rare thing for a Black actor in 1970s Hollywood.
| Full birth name | William December Williams Jr. |
| Date of birth | April 6, 1937 |
| Birthplace | Harlem, New York City |
| Age in 2026 | 89 years old |
| Zodiac sign | Aries |
| Known for | Lando Calrissian; Lady Sings the Blues; painting |
Early Life and Harlem Connection
Williams and his twin sister, Loretta, were born in 1937 and raised largely by their grandmother on 110th Street in Harlem — the northern edge of Central Park, a few blocks from the Strivers’ Row world of Black professional and artistic ambition. That address matters. This wasn’t a suburban childhood retrofitted with a “born in New York” line. He grew up inside the cultural engine of mid-century Black America.
His parents were working people: his father worked as a caretaker, and his mother — who had come from Montserrat — operated an elevator while chasing a career as an opera singer. That combination, hard labor plus artistic aspiration, is the whole story of the neighborhood in one household.
Young Billy Dee Williams: a Broadway debut at seven
Here’s a fact almost no “age” listicle includes: Williams was a working actor before he could do long division. He made his Broadway debut at age 7, appearing in The Firebrand of Florence in 1945. He then studied at the celebrated High School of Music and Art — alongside future star Diahann Carroll — before winning a place at the National Academy of Fine Arts, where he took the Hallgarten Prize for painting. The painting was never a hobby; it ran parallel to the acting for his entire life.
Career and Major Milestones (Age-by-Age Timeline)
The cleanest way to answer “how old was Billy Dee Williams in Empire Strikes Back” and its cousins is a single timeline. Ages are calculated against each film’s release date and his April 6 birthday.
- Age 7 (1945): Broadway debut in The Firebrand of Florence.
- Age 35 (1972): Lady Sings the Blues opposite Diana Ross — the breakout that made him a romantic lead and earned comparisons to Clark Gable.
- Age 43 (1980): Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, his first turn as Lando Calrissian.
- Age 46 (1983): Return of the Jedi, with Lando helping lead the assault on the second Death Star.
- Age 52 (1989): Harvey Dent in Tim Burton’s Batman.
- Age 82 (2019): Reprised Lando in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, more than 35 years after last playing him on screen.
- Age 89 (2026): Still making public appearances and still painting.
A note on “young Lando” and young Billy Dee Williams
Searchers routinely confuse two things. Donald Glover played a younger Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) — Billy Dee Williams did not appear in that film. So when people search “young Billy Dee Williams,” they usually mean one of two things: Glover’s Solo performance, or the actual young Williams of the 1970s, the mustachioed leading man of Lady Sings the Blues and Mahogany. Those are the images worth looking up.
Personal Life and Family
Marriage timelines are where the thin celebrity-bio sites contradict each other most. Here is the clear version. Williams has been married three times:
- Audrey Sellers (married 1959, divorced 1963), with whom he had a son, Corey Dee Williams, himself an actor.
- Marlene Clark, the actress, in a brief late-1960s marriage.
- Teruko Nakagami, married in 1972. The couple separated for a stretch and later reconciled. They have a daughter, Hanako Williams.
So the accurate count is three marriages and two children. If a page tells you otherwise, it’s guessing.
On the “is he still alive” question that drives so much of this search traffic: yes. At 89 he has slowed his film schedule but remains active, and he has spoken publicly and comfortably about aging and mortality — a candor that fans find as disarming as the on-screen charm.
Legacy and Cultural Impact
Age is the hook here, but legacy is the point. Williams broke through as one of Hollywood’s first Black romantic leading men at a time when the industry offered Black actors almost none of those roles. Lady Sings the Blues and Mahogany made him a bona fide heartthrob; Lando then handed him something even rarer — permanent status inside the biggest film franchise on earth.
That combination is why later Black actors in blockbuster franchises owe him a direct debt. He proved a Black lead could carry romance, sell tickets and headline a space opera without being a sidekick. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a body of exhibited paintings, and a fan base that spans Blaxploitation-era cinephiles and toddlers in Lando capes.
His story also belongs to a specific place. Harlem in the 1930s and ’40s produced an extraordinary run of performers, athletes and artists, and Williams sits squarely in that lineage. If you like this kind of profile, we cover it as a cluster — see our piece on fellow Harlem-raised screen talent Joan Hackett and on director Ivan Dixon, another trailblazer who moved between the neighborhood and the industry that often underused Black talent.
Why the age question keeps trending
Every December, when a Star Wars anniversary or re-release cycles around, “Billy Dee Williams age” spikes. The math is simple once you anchor it: he’s roughly the same age as the century’s midpoint minus thirteen years, and he was 43 when he first walked onto the Cloud City set. Keep April 6, 1937, in mind and you can date-check any milestone yourself.
FAQs
How old is Billy Dee Williams now?
Billy Dee Williams was born on April 6, 1937, which makes him 89 years old as of August 2026. His next birthday, in April 2027, will bring him to 90.
How old was Billy Dee Williams in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi?
He was 43 when The Empire Strikes Back was released in May 1980, and 46 when Return of the Jedi came out in May 1983. He returned to the role at age 82 for The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.
Who played young Billy Dee Williams, or young Lando Calrissian?
Donald Glover played a younger Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Billy Dee Williams did not appear in that film. Searches for “young Billy Dee Williams” also often refer to his 1970s leading-man era in Lady Sings the Blues and Mahogany.
Is Billy Dee Williams still alive?
Yes. As of 2026, Billy Dee Williams is alive at 89, making occasional public appearances and continuing his career as a painter.
Is Billy Dee Williams married, and does he have children?
He has been married three times — to Audrey Sellers, Marlene Clark and, since 1972, Teruko Nakagami. He has two children: son Corey Dee Williams and daughter Hanako Williams.
Where did Billy Dee Williams grow up?
He grew up in Harlem, largely raised by his grandmother on 110th Street alongside his twin sister, Loretta. He later studied at the High School of Music and Art and the National Academy of Fine Arts.
