Michael K. Williams commanded your attention when he was on the screen. With his towering physical presence, nuanced delivery, and impeccable sense of timing, his inclusion in a cast was often the secret ingredient that made entertainment legendary.
While Williams was an actor for many years, his big break came in the first season of HBO’s dearly-loved drama series, “The Wire.” Williams portrayed Omar Little, a seemingly indestructible Robin Hood figure who stole from drug dealers and sought justice for weaker characters. Omar was funny and complicated and adventurous and incredibly smart. President Obama called Omar his favorite character from the show. And if you’ve never seen it, you’re missing out on what many people believe is the single greatest TV series of all time.
Williams received three Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie nominations for his roles in “Bessie” (2015), “The Night Of” (2016) and “When They See Us” (2019)
Nearly all of his best work is available with a subscription to HBO Max.
The Best of Michael K. Williams
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Lovecraft Country
August 16, 2020The anthology horror series follows 25-year-old Atticus Freeman, who joins up with his friend Letitia and his Uncle George to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America to find his missing father. They must survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and the malevolent spirits that could be ripped from a Lovecraft paperback.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $94.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $91.99 / month
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When They See Us
May 31, 2019Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they’re falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park.
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The Night Of
July 10, 2016After a night of partying with a female stranger, a man wakes up to find her stabbed to death and is charged with her murder.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $94.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $91.99 / month
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Bessie
May 16, 2015The story of legendary blues performer, Bessie Smith, who rose to fame during the 1920s and ’30s.
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Boardwalk Empire
September 19, 2010Atlantic City at the dawn of Prohibition is a place where the rules don’t apply. And the man who runs things — legally and otherwise — is the town’s treasurer, Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, who is equal parts politician and gangster.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $94.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $91.99 / month
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A Day in the Life
July 7, 2009Onyx rapper Sticky Fingaz directs and stars in this hip-hop musical about a gangster who gets caught up in a bloody war between two feuding crime families while struggling to leave the streets behind. When Black’s family raids one of Stick’s drug houses and kills two of his men, Stick is forced to choose between leaving it all behind or seeking revenge and feeding the cycle of violence.
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Gone Baby Gone
September 18, 2007When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl’s aunt, Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detectives freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasonsβthey’re not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live.
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The Wire
June 2, 2002Told from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the national war on drugs has become a permanent, self-sustaining bureaucracy, and distinctions between good and evil are routinely obliterated.
This brilliant series is routinely cited as the best TV show ever made. (Entertainment Weekly, The BBC, The Telegraph, The Guardian, and Salon.com have all ranked it #1.) It is the closest thing we have to a novel on television. Sprawling narratives, unforgettable characters, and jaw-dropping plot twists combine into something remarkable, unique, and definitively American. From the police to the drug dealers to the junkies to blue-collar workers to politicians to journalists to elementary students, all the pieces matter.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $94.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $91.99 / month
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Williams’ fellow actors eulogized him on Twitter.
Goddamn it. We lost one of our best, most talented. RIP #MichaelKWilliams. Breaks my heart. pic.twitter.com/K2ex1vhA88
β Jeffrey Dean Morgan (@JDMorgan) September 6, 2021
Rest In Peace to this beautiful talented man ππΎππ
β Holly Robinson Peete ππΎβοΈ (@hollyrpeete) September 6, 2021
Michael K. Williams pic.twitter.com/RLRAy7TRIL
Ugh this one hurts πππ Michael K Williams was one of the best to ever do it. And was a really warm, sweet man the few times I had the pleasure of meeting him. #RIPMichaelKWilliams
β Nathalie Emmanuel (@missnemmanuel) September 6, 2021
This is heartbreaking to learn. We have lost an enormous talent in Michael K. Williams. https://t.co/sqY2ryvuAj
β George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) September 6, 2021
π He was my friend. I am gutted hearing this. Itβs been too much death and loss! So many spirits are broken. What is going on in the world?#TheWire actor @BKBMG Williams found dead in NYC apartment https://t.co/9YOKg2T7ds via @nypmetro
β yvette nicole brown (@YNB) September 6, 2021
This is utterly devastating. Sweet Michael. You were one of the greatest actors ever. Rest In Peace. ‘The Wire’ actor Michael K. Williams found dead in NYC apartment https://t.co/zTBtSvyveH via @nypmetro
β Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) September 6, 2021
If you haven’t seen “The Wire,” start watching today. Williams’ work is absolutely mesmerizing.