Michael Kenneth Williams has recently passed away. He was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment of a suspected overdose. He was only 54 years old. While he has acted in many roles, his break-out role was playing the character Omar Little in HBO’s The Wire for five seasons. He also played the character of Chalky White in HBO’s “The Boardwalk” for five seasons. In addition, he has starred in HBO’s “The Night Of”, “Bessie”, and “Lovecraft Country”. Outside of HBO, he has starred in Netflix’s “When They See Us”, which is based upon the 1989 Central Park jogger rape case. He plays a father to one of the five black teenagers wrongly accused and convicted for raping a white woman in Central Park.
Michael K. Williams was born in Brooklyn. His mother was an immigrant from the Bahamas. His father was from South Carolina. Michael was the youngest of ten children. As a young child, he was sexually molested and left him confused about his sexuality. By the age of 19, he was addicted to drugs and committing crimes to support his habit. He experienced homelessness and spent his weekends dancing in clubs. His facial scar was from a fight at one of the clubs he frequented. He was slashed with a razor and his imaged was changed from a soft guy to a hardened street thug.
Williams became a successful background dancer for George Michael and Madonna. He was a dancer in multiple music videos and received his first acting role from Tupac for the film “Bullet” released in 1996. In addition to starring in multiple HBO series, he was in R. Kelly’s “Trapped In The Closet” video and Vice’s eye-opening series “The Black Market with Michael K. Williams”.
However, it was playing the character of Omar Little which changed his life. The role brought success and his addiction to cocaine. By the end of the series, he was an addict and the line between his life and the character of Omar Little was blurred. Williams was evicted from his home when money from the series dried up. Additionally, he blew his money on drugs. He often spoke of his struggle with drug addiction in interviews. He remained in Brooklyn not far from where he was born and grew up. During the filming of the HBO series, The Night Of, he had a relapse.
Addiction would remain a struggle for Michael K. Williams. He continued to fight his addiction while completing some of the best work in television. He was nominated for multiple Emmy Awards for his portrayals of characters Omar Little, Chalky White, Freddy Knight, and Jack White in “Bessie” co-starring with Queen Latifah and Mo’Nique. Currently, he is pending nomination for an Emmy Award for best-supporting actor in Lovecraft Country.
Michael Kenneth Williams is gone too soon from addiction. He is survived by one son. Like DMX, Whitney Houston, and others – this one also hurts. “You come at the king, you best not miss.”