Tyler James Williams (born October 9, 1992) is an American actor and rapper. He began his career as a child actor, making several appearances on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', ''

Little Bill ''Little Bill'' is an American animated educational children's television series created by Bill Cosby. It is based on the ''Little Bill'' book series, written by Cosby with illustrations by Varnette P. Honeywood. Cosby also composed some of th ...

'', and ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

''. Williams later rose to prominence for playing the role of

Chris Rock Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He first gained prominence for his stand-up routines in the 1980s in which he tackled subjects including race relations, human sexuality, and obse ...

on the

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...

/ CW

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

Everybody Hates Chris ''Everybody Hates Chris'' (stylized in all lowercase) is an American semi-autobiographical sitcom created by Chris Rock and Ali LeRoi that originally aired on UPN from 2005 to 2006, and then on The CW until 2009. The series is based loosely ...

'' (20052009). Following this, he starred as songwriter Cyrus DeBarge in the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

film '' Let It Shine'' (2012), and Noah on the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

drama television series '' The Walking Dead'' (201415)''.'' Since 2021, he has starred as Gregory Eddie on the ABC sitcom ''

Abbott Elementary ''Abbott Elementary'' is an American mockumentary sitcom television series created by Quinta Brunson for ABC. It stars Brunson as Janine Teagues, a perpetually optimistic second-grade teacher at the underfunded Abbott Elementary, a fictional p ...

'', for which he received critical acclaim including a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

, a

Screen Actors Guild Award Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1995 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...

, and three nominations for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre, or even gender, specific. Beginning ...

. In film, Williams has portrayed roles in ''Detroit'' (2017) and '' The United States vs. Billie Holiday'' (2021).

Early life

Williams was born in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

, and grew up in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

. His mother, Angela Williams, is a counselor, and his father, Le'Roy Williams, is a teacher and retired police sergeant.Tyler James Williams
filmreference.com Williams has two younger siblings, both of whom are also actors; Tyrel Jackson Williams (b. 1997) and Tylen Jacob Williams (b. 2001).

Career

Williams began his acting career at age 4. He later starred in ''

'' as the voice of Bobby, briefly replacing Devon Malik Beckford in 2000, and played himself (or an eponymous character, "Tyler") on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

series ''

'' from 2000 to 2005. He rose to fame in September 2005 by playing the title character in the hit series ''

'', which finished in May 2009. He won a

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

in 2007 for his work on the show. He was also a guest star in '' Two for the Money'', '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', and the show ''

Hi-Jinks ''Hi-Jinks'' is a hidden camera show that aired on Nick at Nite Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite since 2009) is an American nighttime programming block on Nickelodeon. List of programs broadcast by Nick at Nite, The block's programming bro ...

''. In late 2009, Williams appeared in the second season of '' True Jackson, VP'' as True's love interest Justin "Lil' Shakespeare" Weber in the two-part episode "Flirting with Fame." In 2012, Williams played the role of Owen in the series ''Go On''. He also played the lead role of Cyrus DeBarge in the

film '' Let It Shine'' alongside

Coco Jones Courtney Michaela Ann "Coco" Jones (born January 4, 1998) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Born in Columbia, South Carolina and raised in Lebanon, Tennessee, Jones began auditioning as a child to pursue a career in entertainment. Sh ...

, Trevor Jackson, and

Brandon Mychal Smith Brandon Mychal Smith (born May 29, 1989) is an American actor, singer, dancer, and rapper. He is best known for playing Bug Wendal in '' Gridiron Gang'', Sam in ''You're the Worst'', Li'l Danny Dawkins in ''Phil of the Future'', Nico Harris in ...

. Williams was also featured on nine songs on the film's soundtrack, showing off his rapping skills. The film premiered on June 15, 2012, and his songs "Don't Run Away," "Me and You," "Guardian Angel," "Let It Shine" and "Moment of Truth" all received airplay on

Radio Disney Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California. The network broadcast music programming ...

. The videos were also played frequently on the Disney Channel. Williams also guest starred in the

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Entertainment units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years old ...

series '' Lab Rats'' as a future version of the character played by his younger brother Tyrel Jackson Williams. In 2014, Williams starred in Justin Simien's independent film '' Dear White People'' as Lionel Higgins, and was cast as the recurring character Noah on the television series '' The Walking Dead''. In 2016, Williams played Russ "Monty" Montgomery in the ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Jeff Davis that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005. It follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral ...

'' spin-off '' Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders''. Williams was diagnosed with

Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, abdominal distension, and weight loss. Complications outside of the ...

in 2017, after experiencing symptoms for three years. Since his diagnosis, he has undergone treatment, including multiple surgeries. In 2019, Williams was cast as Jake in '' The Wedding Year'', a teen

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by

Robert Luketic Robert Luketic ( Croatian: Luketić) is an Australian film director. His films include '' Legally Blonde'' (2001), '' Monster-in-Law'' (2005), '' 21'' (2008), '' Killers'' (2010), and ''Paranoia'' (2013). Early life and education Robert Luketi ...

and starring Sarah Hyland, Jenna Dewan, Matt Shively, and

Anna Camp Anna Ragsdale Camp (born September 27, 1982) is an American actress. She portrayed the villainous Sarah Newlin in the HBO vampire drama ''True Blood'' (2009, 2013–2014), Aubrey Posen in the ''Pitch Perfect'' film series (2012–2017), and t ...

. In 2020, Williams played the role of Paul in '' The Argument''. In 2021, he began playing the role of Gregory Eddie in the ABC

mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

sitcom ''

''. At the

74th Primetime Emmy Awards The 74th Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2021, until May 31, 2022, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The awards ceremony was held live on September 12, 20 ...

, Williams earned a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for the role.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

Black Reel Awards

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1995 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...

Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards were an annual awards show that aired on the Fox television network between 1999 and 2019. The awards, based on a popularity vote that could be overridden by the producerswho reserved the right to choose the winnerscovered ...

Young Artist Awards The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

Discography

* '' Let It Shine'' Soundtrack (2012) * ''Me, My Brother, And A Mic'' (2015)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Tyler James 1992 births Living people 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American rappers African-American male child actors 21st-century African-American male actors African-American male rappers American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (television) winners East Coast hip-hop musicians Male actors from Yonkers, New York People with Crohn's disease Rappers from New York (state) Tyler