Tag Archives: Billy Dee Williams

In a recent interview, veteran actor Billy Dee Williams, best known for his iconic characters in “Lady Sings the Blues,” “Mahogany,” and the “Star Wars” franchise, candidly addressed rumors surrounding his personal life. The 86-year-old OG revealed surprising details about his experiences and the LGBTQIA+ community in his memoir, “What Have We Here?,” lifting the veil on a lesser-known chapter of his life.

Williams, who has spent nearly eight decades in the entertainment game, shared that he never saw anything unusual or controversial about being associated with the LGBTQIA+ community. In fact, he revealed that he used to attend secret gay parties in the Metropolitan Opera’s basement, and considered it a normal part of his life. “It all seemed very normal to me. I was around it all of my life, so I never really gave it much thought,” Williams stated.

Despite facing speculations and derogatory remarks, Williams remained unbothered and resilient. Refusing to be defined by societal labels, he proudly asserted that he identifies primarily as a man, debuting his book with the affirmation that he is “not gay.” Billy Dee has always seen himself as a charismatic and multifaceted brotha, unbound by strict gender definitions. “I think of myself as a relatively colorful character who doesn’t take himself or herself too seriously,” Williams jokingly expressed in an interview with Esquire.

While some misconstrued his words as some type of official ‘coming out’ statement, Williams later clarified that he was referring to people, regardless of gender, embracing their softer and more emotional sides. His intent was to encourage others to explore their whole selves, inspired by the concept of the “Anima animus” coined by psychologist, Carl G. Jung. Williams emphasized that his comments were not about sexuality but about understanding and incorporating both masculine and feminine qualities within oneself:

“[Carl Jung] coined a phrase that’s, ‘Anima animus.’ And anima means that is the female counterpart of the male self, and the animus is the male counterpart of the female,” said Billy Dee. “So, that’s what I was referring to. I was talking about men getting in touch with the female side of themselves. I wasn’t talking about s-x, I wasn’t talking about being gay or straight. People should read [Jung]. I mean, it would be an interesting education for a lot of people.”

The LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign commended Williams for embracing his truth as a gender-fluid individual. However, the actor clarified that he sees himself as a man who advocates for self-expression and a deeper understanding of one’s own identity.

Billy Dee Williams continues to inspire audiences with his talent and genuine personality, both on and off the screen. Despite the misconception and gossip surrounding his personal life, he remains an icon of the “Star Wars” franchise and a symbol of strength and authenticity. Through his memoir, Williams provides a valuable insight into a side of his life that many were unaware of, challenging stereotypes and encouraging others to embrace their unique selves.

As fans eagerly await Williams’ upcoming projects, his courage and willingness to candidly address these rumors serve as a reminder of the power of personal authenticity in creating a stronger, more inclusive society.

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If you love ’70s TV shows and films, you probably remember seeing the beautiful actress, Marlene Clark, in at least one of them (and she’s still beautiful by the way…scroll down for photo). She starred in several 1960’s and 1970’s films, including Night of the Cobra Woman, Switchblade Sisters, Black Mamba, and others, but her most popular role to date is probably that of “Lamont’s” (Demond Wilson) fiancée on Sanford and Son.

Just as fans were getting used to seeing “Janet” on the Sanford and Son, she was soon out of “Lamont’s” life and off the show. But in real life, Marlene (now 73) was just getting started. A few years prior to her 1976 appearances on Sanford and Son, she married one of the most popular actors of the ’70s era, but many people never even knew they had a thing going on.

Who Is Her Ex-Husband?

Embed from Getty Images

Marlene Clark’s ex-husband is the legendary Billy Dee Williams! Who would’ve thought it, right? They actually made a good couple back in the day, but their marriage didn’t last past 3 years. They wed in 1968…divorced in 1971.

For a few years after their divorce, Marlene kept it pushin’ with her acting career. In fact, she landed even more acting gigs than before, which not only included Sanford and Son, but also TV shows, like What’s Happening and Barnaby Jones.

Surprising Facts About Marlene’s Clark’s Life

Here are a few very interesting Old School facts about Marlene, from her prior interview with interviewer,Chris Poggiali:

1. Sadly, she was once nearly ‘gang raped’ by a group of little people on a movie set.

Marlene explained that while working on the set of the 1974 film, Black Mamba, she was almost raped by 24 midgets at one time, during filming! Wait…WHAT???:

“There’s a scene where I get raped by two dozen midgets, and when they jumped on me, half of them didn’t know they were supposed to be acting. They were all pulling their pants down. I said, ‘Oh no! Whoa! It’s time for me to leave, ‘cause these midgets are really trying to rape me!’ The director said ‘Marlene, wait…’ and started yelling at them, ‘No, this is play! This is pretend!’ I was looking around, like ‘Where’s the plane? Get me on that plane!’” – Marlene Clark

2. While filming the 1969 film, Putney Swope, Marlene and several of her female co-stars were tricked into doing a topless scene, but she took it all in stride.

“That was my first experience with onscreen nudity,” says [Marlene] Clark, who plays a topless stewardess in the film’s Lucky Airlines commercial spoof. “Bob Downey lied to all of us. He said, ‘Take off your tops. You’re out of focus. Nobody will see anything’ — and we were so stupid, we believed him. Of course, when I saw the movie, I was speechless. Not only was I not out of focus, I couldn’t have been more in focus!” she laughs.

Marlene Clark is no longer in the acting game and the last we heard, she was living a very quiet life in Los Angeles, Ca. She is 66 years young now and a few years back she said that she was really enjoying working at a popular L.A. restaurant as the general manager. As far as getting in front of the camera again, she says she’s open to it, but for now that chapter of her life is closed and she’s grateful for having had those experiences in entertainment that took her around the world and back.–

ILoveOldSchoolMusic, old school news with a new point of view

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One of these twins (above) has been a major player in the acting world for six decades and their star is still shining now. If you love old school movies, you know all about this twin. There was a time when Hollywood couldn’t mention Black actresses/actors without mentioning this icon.

Alright ILOSM fam,’ those are all of the hints we’ll dish out on this one. Scroll down to find out if your guess was on pint with this one…

He Is None Other Than…

That’s right! It is ‘Mr. Smooth’ himself, Billy Dee Williams!

Did you know he is a twin? His sister’s name is Loretta, which is also their mother’s name. Billy Dee is a junior- his Pops’ name is William December Williams Sr. (Billy’s real name).

Billy once stated that he and his sister are extremely close, although he often laughed when she and their mom used to try to get him to convert to their religion, Jehovah’s Witness. He said he respects their religion tremendously and that they’re religion always seemed to help them have a “wonderful attitude about life,” as opposed to his outlook on life, which he said was sometimes confusing to him. Although Williams had nothing but high praise for their religion, he just said that it wasn’t for him and that the topic of religion was the main thing he and his twin sis’ didn’t see eye to eye on, but other than that, they talked all the time and were tight as can be.

Like we mentioned earlier, Billy Dee is still relevant today. In recent years he reprised his classic “Landon Carlissian” role in the “Star Wars” film. Prior to that, the then-77-year-old also got his dance-on in the competition show,  Dancing With The Stars. He had to back out of the show eventually, because of health reasons. He said, “I’ve got this chronic back problem. I’ve had a wonderful, brilliant, fantastic blast of a time…Pure joy. And I want to thank every one of you folks for your support.” He also said “I’m doing pretty good for a 77-year-old, but I can’t do all the things I did when I was a young lad.” We totally agree and it was still inspiring to see him doing his thing on the show though.

Billy Dee is now 85 years young and lookin’ like the bill of health these days! Whenever a legend, like Billy Dee Williams, has found a way to continue to reinvent himself over and over again, and continue to stake his claim and remain relevant in an industry that oftentimes changes “stars” like used bed sheets, it’s a very inspirational and beautiful thing to see. Billy Dee is an excellent template to show these new cats how to build longevity in the game and it’s not always about who can be the most outrageous on the internet, it’s about who can be smart enough and calculated enough to keep their brand thriving for six decades. We look forward to seeing much more work from smooth brother number one, Mr. Billy Dee Williams, in the future.

When talking about a masterpiece like Lady Sings The Blues, it’s easy to get caught up in the actual story of the life of iconic jazz great, Billie Holiday. But oftentimes, the stories of what happened behind the scenes of the film are usually just as intriguing.

In researching this film, we found out that one of those stories, in particular, came directly from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. Billy Dee Williams revealed an interesting tidbit of info about a few tense, awkward moments between himself, Diana, and Berry Gordy during filming. Maybe you can already tell where we’re going with this, but let’s continue.

Remember how Billy Dee’s character, “Louis McKay,” was deeply in love with Diana’s character, “Billie Holiday?” Well of course capturing their love for each other also entailed them getting lovey-dovey on camera. The only problem, according to what Billy Dee revealed in the book, Diana Ross: A Biography, was that our man, Berry Gordy, wasn’t cool with the love scenes at all. Although Berry and Diana were supposedly not seeing each other at the time of the filming (although 6 months prior to filming ‘Lady Sings,’ Diana had just given birth to she and Berry’s daughter, Rhonda Ross…that’s a whole ‘notha story), Billy Dee said that didn’t stop Berry from getting jealous, understandably so.

Billy Dee Tells What Happened Between Him, Gordy, & Ross On Set

As a result of his reported jealousy, Berry -who funded the entire movie- did everything he could to cut those kissing scenes short. Those interruptions eventually took a toll on Billy and Diana’s groove. Here’s what Billy Dee had to say about that:

“Well, it was clear to me from the beginning that they [Berry and Diana] had this psychodramatic, complex love affair going on, even though she was married to someone else. I don’t mean they were having sex; everyone knew that was over. But, just because you’re not having sex with a woman doesn’t mean you don’t still feel territorial where she’s concerned, and Berry did.”

Billy Dee continued:

“I think there was only one scene in the whole film where Diana and I really kissed, and Berry made it very tough on us. It sounds silly in retrospect, but he really did not want the kiss to take place. We’d get to that place in rehearsal and he’d stop it. He was saying he wanted the real kiss to take place on camera, but we knew that he just didn’t want the real kiss to make out more than once. Diana was beyond frustrated. “Jesus Christ, Berry,” she said, “it’s only a kiss.” I have to tell you, I truly believed that he had never seen her kiss another man before in his life, and he did not want to see it. So I thought that was kind of sweet.

And kind of weird, too. In the end, we did the kiss, obviously. Diana has the best mouth in show business, and kissing her was…well, magical. An I was only acting. So, after that kiss, i was like, okay- I get it- if this was my woman, no way would I want her kissing another man.” -Quote from Billy Dee Williams in the book, ‘Diana Ross: A Biography by J. Randy Taraborelli’

Diana Ross seemingly had Berry Gordy hooked, and from the sounds of it, Billy Dee got a hit of her sensual spell too (although it was just acting). There’s nothing like a woman who knows how to truly own her sensuality…Berry was obviously worried about his ex-woman sharing that sensuality with anyone else- acting, or no acting.

To Berry’s credit, his worry was justifiable because after Billy Dee said that classic line to Diana, “Do you want my hand to fall off?” women all across America were trying to get a piece of the brotha!  Pretty sure Berry didn’t wanna witness his ex falling into that same spell. However, there’s no denying that the chemistry Billy Dee and Diana had in Lady Sings The Blues allowed them to create on-screen magic, catapulting the film into an Old School cult classic. So glad Berry Gordy didn’t sabotage it.

When talking about a masterpiece like Lady Sings The Blues, it’s easy to get caught up in the actual story of the life of iconic jazz great, Billie Holiday. But oftentimes, the stories of what happened behind the scenes of the film are usually just as intriguing.

In researching this film, we found out that one of those stories, in particular, came directly from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. Billy Dee Williams revealed an interesting tidbit of info about a few tense, awkward moments between himself, Diana, and Berry Gordy during filming. Maybe you can already tell where we’re going with this, but let’s continue.

Remember how Billy Dee’s character, “Louis McKay,” was deeply in love with Diana’s character, “Billie Holiday?” Well of course capturing their love for each other also entailed them getting lovey-dovey on camera. The only problem, according to what Billy Dee revealed in the book, Diana Ross: A Biography, was that our man, Berry Gordy, wasn’t cool with the love scenes at all. Although Berry and Diana were supposedly not seeing each other at the time of the filming (although 6 months prior to filming ‘Lady Sings,’ Diana had just given birth to she and Berry’s daughter, Rhonda Ross…that’s a whole ‘notha story), Billy Dee said that didn’t stop Berry from getting jealous, understandably so.

Billy Dee Tells What Happened Between Him, Gordy, & Ross On Set

As a result of his reported jealousy, Berry -who funded the entire movie- did everything he could to cut those kissing scenes short. Those interruptions eventually took a toll on Billy and Diana’s groove. Here’s what Billy Dee had to say about that:

“Well, it was clear to me from the beginning that they [Berry and Diana] had this psychodramatic, complex love affair going on, even though she was married to someone else. I don’t mean they were having sex; everyone knew that was over. But, just because you’re not having sex with a woman doesn’t mean you don’t still feel territorial where she’s concerned, and Berry did.”

Billy Dee continued:

“I think there was only one scene in the whole film where Diana and I really kissed, and Berry made it very tough on us. It sounds silly in retrospect, but he really did not want the kiss to take place. We’d get to that place in rehearsal and he’d stop it. He was saying he wanted the real kiss to take place on camera, but we knew that he just didn’t want the real kiss to make out more than once. Diana was beyond frustrated. “Jesus Christ, Berry,” she said, “it’s only a kiss.” I have to tell you, I truly believed that he had never seen her kiss another man before in his life, and he did not want to see it. So I thought that was kind of sweet.

And kind of weird, too. In the end, we did the kiss, obviously. Diana has the best mouth in show business, and kissing her was…well, magical. An I was only acting. So, after that kiss, i was like, okay- I get it- if this was my woman, no way would I want her kissing another man.” -Quote from Billy Dee Williams in the book, ‘Diana Ross: A Biography by J. Randy Taraborelli’

Diana Ross seemingly had Berry Gordy hooked, and from the sounds of it, Billy Dee got a hit of her sensual spell too (although it was just acting). There’s nothing like a woman who knows how to truly own her sensuality…Berry was obviously worried about his ex-woman sharing that sensuality with anyone else- acting, or no acting.

To Berry’s credit, his worry was justifiable because after Billy Dee said that classic line to Diana, “Do you want my hand to fall off?” women all across America were trying to get a piece of the brotha!  Pretty sure Berry didn’t wanna witness his ex falling into that same spell. However, there’s no denying that the chemistry Billy Dee and Diana had in Lady Sings The Blues allowed them to create on-screen magic, catapulting the film into an Old School cult classic. So glad Berry Gordy didn’t sabotage it.

One of these twins (above) has been a major player in the acting world for six decades and they’re star is still shining now. If you love old school movies, you know all about this twin. There was a time when Hollywood couldn’t mention Black actresses/actors without mentioning this icon.

Alright ILOSM fam,’ those are all of the hints we’ll dish out on this one. Scroll down to find out if your guess was on pint with this one…

He Is None Other Than…

That’s right! It is ‘Mr. Smooth’ himself, Billy Dee Williams!

Did you know he is a twin? His sister’s name is Loretta, which is also their mother’s name. Billy Dee is a junior- his Pops’ name is William December Williams Sr. (Billy’s real name).

Billy once stated that he and his sister are extremely close, although he often laughed when she and their mom used to try to get him to convert to their religion, Jehovah’s Witness. He said he respects their religion tremendously and that they’re religion always seemed to help them have a “wonderful attitude about life,” as opposed to his outlook on life, which he said was sometimes confusing to him. Although Williams had nothing but high praise for their religion, he just said that it wasn’t for him and that the topic of religion was the main thing he and his twin sis’ didn’t see eye to eye on, but other than that, they talked all the time and were tight as can be.

Like we mentioned earlier, Billy Dee is still relevant today. In recent years he reprised his classic “Landon Carlissian” role in the “Star Wars” film. Prior to that, the then-77-year-old also got his dance-on in the competition show,  Dancing With The Stars. He had to back out of the show eventually, because of health reasons. He said, “I’ve got this chronic back problem. I’ve had a wonderful, brilliant, fantastic blast of a time…Pure joy. And I want to thank every one of you folks for your support.” He also said “I’m doing pretty good for a 77-year-old, but I can’t do all the things I did when I was a young lad.” We totally agree and it was still inspiring to see him doing his thing on the show though.

Billy Dee is now 84 years young and lookin’ like the bill of health these days! Whenever a legend, like Billy Dee Williams, has found a way to continue to reinvent himself over and over again, and continue to stake his claim and remain relevant in an industry that oftentimes changes “stars” like used bed sheets, it’s a very inspirational and beautiful thing to see. Billy Dee is an excellent template to show these new cats how to build longevity in the game and it’s not always about who can be the most outrageous on the internet, it’s about who can be smart enough and calculated enough to keep their brand thriving for six decades. We look forward to seeing much more work from smooth brother number one, Mr. Billy Dee Williams, in the future.

If you love ’70s TV shows and films, you probably remember seeing the beautiful actress, Marlene Clark, in at least one of them (and she’s still beautiful by the way…scroll down for photo). She starred in several 1960’s and 1970’s films, including Night of the Cobra Woman, Switchblade Sisters, Black Mamba, and others, but her most popular role to date is probably that of “Lamont’s” (Demond Wilson) fiancée on Sanford and Son.

Just as fans were getting used to seeing “Janet” on the Sanford and Son, she was soon out of “Lamont’s” life and off the show. But in real life, Marlene (now 71) was just getting started. A few years prior to her 1976 appearances on Sanford and Son, she married one of the most popular actors of the ’70s era, but many people never even knew they had a thing going on.

Who Is Her Ex-Husband?

Embed from Getty Images

Marlene Clark’s ex-husband is the legendary Billy Dee Williams! Who would’ve thought it, right? They actually made a good couple back in the day, but their marriage didn’t last past 3 years. They wed in 1968…divorced in 1971.

For a few years after their divorce, Marlene kept it pushin’ with her acting career. In fact, she landed even more acting gigs than before, which not only included Sanford and Son, but also TV shows, like What’s Happening and Barnaby Jones.

Surprising Facts About Marlene’s Clark’s Life

Here are a few very interesting Old School facts about Marlene, from her prior interview with interviewer,Chris Poggiali:

1. SMH…She was almost ‘gang raped’ by a group of little people on a movie set.

Yep, you read that right. Marlene explained that while working on the set of the 1974 film, Black Mamba, she was almost raped by 24 midgets at one time, during filming! Wait…WHAT???:

“There’s a scene where I get raped by two dozen midgets, and when they jumped on me, half of them didn’t know they were supposed to be acting. They were all pulling their pants down. I said, ‘Oh no! Whoa! It’s time for me to leave, ‘cause these midgets are really trying to rape me!’ The director said ‘Marlene, wait…’ and started yelling at them, ‘No, this is play! This is pretend!’ I was looking around, like ‘Where’s the plane? Get me on that plane!’” – Marlene Clark

2. While filming the 1969 film, Putney Swope, Marlene and several of her female co-stars were tricked into doing a topless scene, but she took it all in stride.

“That was my first experience with onscreen nudity,” says [Marlene] Clark, who plays a topless stewardess in the film’s Lucky Airlines commercial spoof. “Bob Downey lied to all of us. He said, ‘Take off your tops. You’re out of focus. Nobody will see anything’ — and we were so stupid, we believed him. Of course, when I saw the movie, I was speechless. Not only was I not out of focus, I couldn’t have been more in focus!” she laughs.

Marlene Clark is no longer in the acting game and the last we heard, she was living a very quiet life in Los Angeles, Ca. She is 66 years young now and a few years back she said that she was really enjoying working at a popular L.A. restaurant as the general manager. As far as getting in front of the camera again, she says she’s open to it, but for now that chapter of her life is closed and she’s grateful for having had those experiences in entertainment that took her around the world and back.–

ILoveOldSchoolMusic, old school news with a new point of view

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Right about now, everybody’s talking about the new deal acting legend, Billy Dee Williams, has just inked to reprise his upcoming “Star Wars IX” role as ‘Lando Carlissian.’ However, we’d rather talk about the personal successes he’s had with his wife and kids.

Don’t get us wrong, we’re more than elated to see Billy Dee out here making major moves at the age of 83. It’s a beautiful thing to see the brotha adding more depth to his legacy. It’s just that, although the “Star Wars” movie franchise is iconic, for many of us Old Schoolers, it’d be far more interesting if it were his “Lady Sings The Blues” or “Mahogany” movie characters that Billy Dee was reprising instead…if we’re keepin’ it real with y’all. Therefore, wth that said, back to his wife and kids….

How They Made It Last For 48 Years

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Many of Billy Dee’s fans had no earthly idea he’s been married for the past 48 years, to his 80 year old wife, Teruko Nakagami (pictured above with Billy Dee Williams and his son). Y’all already know that 48 years of marriage in Hollywood years is something that we rarely see, especially for a long-time Hollywood sex symbol, like Billy Dee. He had women everywhere, throwing panties at him and trying to get with him at every waking moment, especially in his hey day, so his 48 year marriage success is damn near a miracle.

Somehow though, he and Teruko made it work, but as with most marriages, but as to be expected, it didn’t come without a few bumps in the road. Teruko once filed for divorce from Billy Dee in 1993, after 23 years of marriage. At that time, they ended up separating and Billy Dee’s spokesman back then, told Jet Magazine that “theirs is an amicable parting, not a messy Hollywood divorce.” Fortunately for the Mr. and Mrs., by 1997 they ended up resolving their issues and reunited like Peaches & Herb, which is how they’ve been ever since.

Meet Their Children

When Billy Dee Williams and Teruko first met, each of them had one child from previous marriages. Teruko had daughter, Miyako (b. 1962), with her ex-husband/jazz legend, Wayne Shorter. Billy Dee had son, Corey Dee Williams (b. 1960), with his first wife, Audrey Sellers. Teruko is Billy Dee’s third wife and once they wed in 1972, they eventually had their daughter, Hanako Williams (b. 1973). Like Teruko, both Hanako and Corey Dee live very private lives…unlike their mega superstar, Colt 45 pushin,’ “Dancing With the Stars” alumni pops.

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Hanako is married and has a son (both are pictured above) She works as the general manager for an upscale Beverly Hills, Ca. art gallery.

Corey Dee Williams (pictured below) lives a private, yet eclectic lifestyle. He’s a die-hard “Star Wars” fan and . Get this, he was even his dad’s stunt double in the Star Wars “Return of the Jedi” and several other TV and film roles. films. He’s also a fitness trainer, who’s worked with many legends in the entertainment game:

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Corey developed his passion for fitness and health while working at the prestigious Century West Club at the ABC Entertainment Center in Century City, California at the age of 18. … He began working as a fitness trainer in 1991 and has worked with celebrities such as Jane Fonda, Mykelti Williamson, Ice Cube, and has also trained WNPF world bench press champion Colonel Craig Berlette. -via coreydeewilliams.com

When he’s not training, Corey creates music with his band, 3D Nucleus. Like we said, he’s the more eclectic one outta the bunch…

Not much is known about Teruko’s and Wayne Shorter’s daughter, Miyako, other than…well, the fact that her name is Miyako.

At any rate, it’s pretty clear that Billy Dee Williams and his wife have worked hard at keeping their children out of the spotlight and trained them to live life for themselves, by following their personal passions.

When talking about a masterpiece like Lady Sings The Blues, it’s easy to get caught up in the actual story of the life of iconic jazz great, Billie Holiday. But oftentimes, the stories of what happened behind the scenes of the film are usually just as intriguing.

In researching this film, we found out that one of those stories, in particular, came directly from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. Billy Dee Williams revealed an interesting tidbit of info about a few tense, awkward moments between himself, Diana, and Berry Gordy during filming. Maybe you can already tell where we’re going with this, but let’s continue.

Remember how Billy Dee’s character, “Louis McKay,” was deeply in love with Diana’s character, “Billie Holiday?” Well of course capturing their love for each other also entailed them getting lovey-dovey on camera. The only problem, according to what Billy Dee revealed in the book, Diana Ross: A Biography, was that our man, Berry Gordy, wasn’t cool with the love scenes at all. Although Berry and Diana were supposedly not seeing each other at the time of the filming (although 6 months prior to filming ‘Lady Sings,’ Diana had just given birth to she and Berry’s daughter, Rhonda Ross…that’s a whole ‘notha story), Billy Dee said that didn’t stop Berry from getting jealous, understandably so.

Billy Dee Tells What Happened Between Him, Gordy, & Ross On Set

As a result of his reported jealousy, Berry -who funded the entire movie- did everything he could to cut those kissing scenes short. Those interruptions eventually took a toll on Billy and Diana’s groove. Here’s what Billy Dee had to say about that:

“Well, it was clear to me from the beginning that they [Berry and Diana] had this psychodramatic, complex love affair going on, even though she was married to someone else. I don’t mean they were having sex; everyone knew that was over. But, just because you’re not having sex with a woman doesn’t mean you don’t still feel territorial where she’s concerned, and Berry did.”

Billy Dee continued:

“I think there was only one scene in the whole film where Diana and I really kissed, and Berry made it very tough on us. It sounds silly in retrospect, but he really did not want the kiss to take place. We’d get to that place in rehearsal and he’d stop it. He was saying he wanted the real kiss to take place on camera, but we knew that he just didn’t want the real kiss to make out more than once. Diana was beyond frustrated. “Jesus Christ, Berry,” she said, “it’s only a kiss.” I have to tell you, I truly believed that he had never seen her kiss another man before in his life, and he did not want to see it. So I thought that was kind of sweet.

And kind of weird, too. In the end, we did the kiss, obviously. Diana has the best mouth in show business, and kissing her was…well, magical. An I was only acting. So, after that kiss, i was like, okay- I get it- if this was my woman, no way would I want her kissing another man.” -Quote from Billy Dee Williams in the book, ‘Diana Ross: A Biography by J. Randy Taraborelli’

Diana Ross seemingly had Berry Gordy hooked, and from the sounds of it, Billy Dee got a hit of her sensual spell too (although it was just acting). There’s nothing like a woman who knows how to truly own her sensuality…Berry was obviously worried about his ex-woman sharing that sensuality with anyone else- acting, or no acting.

To Berry’s credit, his worry was justifiable because after Billy Dee said that classic line to Diana, “Do you want my hand to fall off?” women all across America were trying to get a piece of the brotha!  Pretty sure Berry didn’t wanna witness his ex falling into that same spell. However, there’s no denying that the chemistry Billy Dee and Diana had in Lady Sings The Blues allowed them to create on-screen magic, catapulting the film into an Old School cult classic. So glad Berry Gordy didn’t sabotage it.

Embed from Getty Images

Here at ILOSM, we love acting legend, Billy Dee Williams. Matter of fact, it’s tough to mention him, without also reciting one of his classic movie lines, just for ol’ time’s sake: “Do you want my arm to fall off?”  Billy Dee Williams and that Lady Sings The Blues line will forever be synonymous in the minds of most of us Old Schoolers.

Now, onto what y’all are really here for- the new talent Billy Dee has unveiled, to the surprise of his fans, might I add.

Billy Dee Williams’ Hidden Talent…
Turns out at 82 years young, the Star Wars legend has embarked on fulfilling another passion of his, as an artistic painter. That’s right, Billy Dee is a true artist and will run circles around some of these painters out here!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpqfzGygKcq/

In one post Bill Dee Williams confessed:

“It is…so fulfilling to express myself when painting… The Struggles, The Joys, The Pain of The People. Something tangible to reflect upon.”

That’s Not The Only Thing Billy Dee Is Showing Off…Wait ‘Til Y’all See This>>>