Michael T. "Mykelti" Williamson is an American actor best known for his role as Benjamin
Buford Blue in the 1994 film Forrest Gump, as Detective Bobby "Fearless" Smith in the
critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful crime drama Boomtown, as Baby-O in the 1997
film Con Air, as Director Brian Hastings in Season 8 of TV-series 24, and recently as
Ellstin Limehouse in the critically acclaimed Justified.
Early life Williamson was born on March 4, 1960 in St.
Louis, Missouri.
He is the son of Elaine, a certified public accountant, and a father who was an Air Force
Non-Commissioned Officer.
Williamson began performing at the age of nine.
Along with acting, he also danced as an alternate member of The Lockers troupe on Soul Train
along with Fred Berry.
At age nine, Williamson relocated to Los Angeles with his family.
While in high school he excelled in athletics, particularly football and basketball.
However, acting was his first love and he pursued sports no farther than high school.
Williamson studied television/film at Los Angeles City College.
He audited acting classes at USC under the tutelage of Dr. Frank X.
Ford.
Williamson later transferred to Gene Evans Motion Picture School in San Jose and earned
his certificate in Cinematography/ Film Production.
Career Williamson began acting professionally as
a child.
His first TV appearances include "The Righteous Apples", Starsky and Hutch, Hill Street Blues,
Miami Vice, China Beach, and Midnight Caller.
His film debut was in Streets of Fire.
His credits include Wildcats with Goldie Hawn, Miracle Mile, The First Power with Lou Diamond
Phillips, Free Willy, Forrest Gump with Tom Hanks, Waiting to Exhale, Heat, Con Air, Truth
or Consequences, N.M., William Friedkin's TV version of 12 Angry Men, Three Kings, Having
Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, Black Dynamite and The Final Destination.
Williamson is best known as Private Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue in the Academy Award-winning
1994 film Forrest Gump.
He also received favorable reviews when he played Negro League baseball player Josh Gibson
in the HBO film Soul of the Game.
Williamson has made many guest appearances in TV and film.
His most recent film appearances have been Lucky Number Slevin, Ali,The Assassination
of Richard Nixon, Get Rich or Die Tryin' ATL, August Rush, Black Dynamite and The Final
Destination.
He was Juror #10 in the 1997 TV movie remake of 12 Angry Men.
He also appeared in a short-lived TV series remake of the The Fugitive.
CBS canceled the series after one season with a total of 22 episodes.
Williamson also starred in PBS's TV series The Righteous Apples.
The show focuses on the activities of The Righteous Apples, five Boston-area high school
musicians, who in a troubled world, seek to help people in distress.
Williamson was the lead singer of the group in the show in which he was just a teenager
at that time.
In 2002, he co-starred as Detective Bobby "Fearless" Smith in the critically acclaimed
but commercially unsuccessful crime drama Boomtown.
He was invited to join AMPAS in 2005.
In 2006, Williamson played the character Virgil Hayes, a body guard on the cancelled television
drama series, Kidnapped.
Recently, he has appeared in several episodes of CSI: NY as Chief Sinclair, reuniting him
with his Forrest Gump co-star Gary Sinise.
He is a main character in season 8 of 24 starring as the special agent in charge of the New
York CTU named Brian Hastings.
He also appeared as race-track security guard George Lanter in The Final Destination, the
4th entry in the Final Destination film series.
He currently has a recurring role as Ellstin Limehouse on the FX drama Justified.
Personal life Williamson was married to Miami Vice star
Olivia Brown from July 2, 1983 – 1985.
He later married Cheryl Chisholm in 1989 with whom he had his first child, Phoenix.
He has been married to Sondra Spriggs since April 26, 1997; together they have two daughters,
Nicole and Maya.
In 1998, he was arrested for stabbing his ex-wife Cheryl Chisholm's partner Leroy Edwards,
while stalking Chisholm's home.
He was acquitted of attempted manslaughter due to a hung jury, but, in his own words,
"I lost my home, which I sold to pay my lawyers, my car and basically lost my career," He appeared
with Sondra Spriggs in the 1998 film Species II.
The two were married during the filming of TNT's production of Buffalo Soldiers.
References
External links Mykelti Williamson at the Internet Movie Database
Mykelti Williamson at AllMovie