The 84th Academy Awards show aired Sunday, February 26, 2012 and it was surely one to never forget. Not only was there much surprise that “The Artist” walked away with the Oscar for Best Picture beating out what everyone felt was a landfall win for, “The Help”, the producers, also dropped the ball over looking the remembrance of Dick Anthony Williams. Others were remembered including, Jane Russell, Elizabeth Taylor, Cliff Robertson, our beautiful Whitney E. Houston, and director Sidney Lumet, but somehow the legendary Dick Anthony Williams fell through the cracks.
Actor Dick Anthony Williams passed away February 16, 2012. He was 77.
We remember Williams the most as the characters of, Pretty Tony in 
The Mack (1973), Joe Creole in Slaughter’s Big Rip-Off (1973) and Preston in Five on the Black Hand Side (1973). Williams worked steadily in television and film for over fifty years, landing roles in movies like The Jerk (1979), Mo’ Better Blues (1990), Edward Scissorhands (1990), The Rapture (1991), The Gifted (1993) and The Players Club (1998). Williams was actually cast in over 50 roles in his career.
Many cast stones at the blaxploitation era because of the focus on the underworld, urban settings and stereotypical representations of black characters. Yet it was this time in film that gave black actors an opportunity to work steadily, actors like Morgan Freeman, Juanita Moore, Richard Pryor, Moses Gunn, Paul Winfield, Diana Sands, Ossie Davis, Virginia Capers, Ron O’Neal and Julius Harris.
Williams received a Tony Award nominations for his role in the 1974 stage play What the Wine-Sellers Buy and in 1975 for Black Picture Show. He also received critical acclaim for his performance in the 1978 NBC miniseries King, in which he played Malcolm X opposite Paul Winfield as Martin Luther King Jr.
The renowned New Federal Theatre was a project that Williams co-founded. There talent was showcased before it made it to the big screen. Actors as Amiri Baraka, Ntozake Shange, Samuel Jackson, Denzel Washington and Phylicia Rashad were showcased at New Federal Theatre.
Williams married actress Gloria Edwards, a strong black woman in film during the 1970s and they had three children, two daughters and a son. She preceded him in death in 1988.
Although the academy neglected to remember Williams, we wanted to remember him for his dedication to the film world, his prolific stamina to withstand over fifty years as an actor and his commitment to pave the way for black talent in film and theater.
Dick Anthony Williams we at The Heat salute your life! Gone but never forgotten.
Dick Anthony Williams
(August 9, 1934 – February 16, 2012)
Much Love! One Love!
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