Fred Williamson
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Former Oakland Raiders/Kansas City Chiefs football star who rose to
prominence as one of the first African-American male action stars of
the "blaxploitation" genre of the early 1970s, who has since gone on to
a long and illustrious career as an actor, director, writer, and
producer! Burly, yet handsome 6' 3" Williamson first came to attention
in the TV series Julia (1968) playing
love interest, Steve Bruce. However, his rugged, athletic physique made
him a natural for energetic roles and he quickly established himself as
a street wise, tough guy in films including
That Man Bolt (1973), Black Caesar (1973), and
Mean Johnny Barrows (1975).
Talented Williamson established his own production company "Po 'Boy
Productions" in 1974, which has produced over 40 movies to date. Like
many young American stars of the 1960s and '70s, Williamson was noticed
by Italian producers who cast him in a slew of B-grade action movies
that occupied a lot of his work in the 1980s. From the late '80s
onwards, much of his work has been of the "straight to video" fare
(often playing police officers), but none could deny he has kept
actively busy in movies and TV for over three decades, both in front of
and behind the camera. More recently, indie director
Robert Rodriguez cast him
alongside FX guru Tom Savini as two vampire
killing bikers, in his bloody action film
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996),
and he has most recently appeared on screen (displaying his wonderful
comedy skills) playing grumpy Captain Dobey in
Starsky & Hutch (2004).