The absolutely incredible Michael Kenneth Williams - also known simply as Michael K. Williams - passed away over the weekend and it was a sudden and sad loss. As one of the best actors of our time who brought to life one of the most iconic television characters, we want to honor his memory and remember his finest roles.
Michael K. Williams was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1966. He began his career as a dancer who started dancing professionally in major music videos at the age of 22. He even went on tour and danced for pop stars like Madonna and George Michael. After that close stint with celebrity, he decided to become one himself. He pursued acting after that, acting in several experimental theater shows in New York City.
He had his first breakthrough in 1996 when Tupac Shakur discovered him and he landed a role in Bullet. From there, it was all up up and up! It only took him one audition to land the role that made him famous.
Obviously, he is best known for playing Omar Little on The Wire. Omar was a complicated and cool vigilante who had us rooting for him. He was feared by everyone on the streets and he worked for himself. Because he was so feared, everyone looked the other way when he openly flaunted his gay relationships.
He made us laugh as Omar, the whistling drug dealer, and robber. Were we turned on when he showed his cock on the show? Oh, indeed.
He suffered a bit of a crisis after playing Omar, losing parts of himself to the characters. He had previously said that he had nothing in common with Omar as someone who never even liked to fight (his scar came from one drunk fight when he was 25), but he struggled with his identity playing this role. He formed a drug addiction which he fought throughout his career.
He then played Chalky White on Boardwalk Empire and Freddy in The Night Of which earned him an Emmy nomination.
Michael also played a prisoner in 2004's Doing Hard Time in which his butt-naked shower scene made everyone hard watching it.
He was most recently in Lovecraft Country where he once again played gay. He played a father who hid his homosexuality from his son, but his secrets filled him with anger. Yet again, he realistically played a great gay character! Sadly, there was not much in the way of skin in this role, but we loved that he went back to gay.
He sadly passed away yesterday on September 6th due to a drug overdose. Michael will definitely be missed. His death comes as a surprise to many and it is certainly heartbreaking.
