What Have We Here?

Portraits of a Life

By: Billy Dee Williams

Narrated by: Billy Dee Williams

Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

A film legend recalls his remarkable life of nearly eight decades—a heralded actor who's played the roles he wanted, from Brian’s Song to Lando in the Star Wars universe—unchecked by the racism and typecasting so rife in the mostly all-white industry in which he triumphed.

Billy Dee Williams was born in Harlem in 1937 and grew up in a household of love and sophistication. As a young boy, he made his stage debut working with Lotte Lenya in an Ira Gershwin/Kurt Weill production where Williams ended up feeding Lenya her lines. He studied painting, first at the High School of Music and Art, with fellow student Diahann Carroll, and then at the National Academy of Fine Art, before setting out to pursue acting with Herbert Berghoff, Stella Adler, and Sidney Poitier.

His first film role was in The Last Angry Man, the great Paul Muni’s final film. It was Muni who gave Billy the advice that sent him soaring as an actor, “You can play any character you want to play no matter who you are, no matter the way you look or the color of your skin.” And Williams writes, “I wanted to be anyone I wanted to be.”

He writes of landing the role of a lifetime: co-starring alongside James Caan in Brian’s Song, the made-for-television movie that was watched by an audience of more than fifty million people. Williams says it was “the kind of interracial love story America needed.”

And when, as the first Black character in the Star Wars universe, he became a true pop culture icon, playing Lando Calrissian in George Lucas’s The Empire Strikes Back (“What I presented on the screen people didn’t expect to see”). It was a role he reprised in the final film of the original trilogy, The Return of the Jedi, and in the recent sequel The Rise of Skywalker.

A legendary actor, in his own words, on all that has sustained and carried him through a lifetime of dreams and adventure.

Cover Credits:

Cover photograph: Courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC

Cover design by Jenny Carrow

COURTESY OF LUCASFILM LTD. LLC

STAR WARS: The Empire Strikes Back (c) & TM Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC.

©2024 Billy Dee Williams (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Williams ruminates on his professional triumphs, disappointments . . . and friendships . . . [he] writes with the panache and suavity that characterize his screen presence. The result is a heartfelt Hollywood self-portrait."—Publishers Weekly

“The debonair actor crafts a memoir that rivals his greatest characters . . . the narrative often reads like fiction . . . The author always retains his cool, laid-back style, whether he’s discussing how he landed breakthrough roles as Gale Sayers in Brian’s Song and Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars franchise, or his friendships with great actors such as Laurence Olivier and Marlon Brando or author James Baldwin. Despite his own numerous issues with racism and discrimination, Williams has always maintained a cool head and used his experiences as a Black man to inform his art in a way that is relatable to all people . . . Williams makes it all sound fascinating."—Kirkus (starred review)

The story of a legend, written by the legend himself! Reading What Have We Here? is nearly as good as actually sitting with Billy Dee Williams and listening to his myriad remarkable stories. Impressive, inspiring, entertaining and endearing.”—J. J. Abrams

Must Read

Learned a lot more about the great Billy Dee, wonderful story. Loved every minute of it.

Chandelier, Baby… Chandelier.

Outstanding! What an inspirational life that’s filled with wonderful experiences. Thank you for the book, Mr. Williams.

Heartwarming Story

I'm not sure what to say about His reading but His Story was His to read. A life of a gentle Man at a time served Everyone! A National Treasure!

Chandelier Baby

What a storyteller. What an honest portrayal of a human being.
He had me at Brian’s Song, Owned me with Lady Sings the Blues and wrapped it all up in a forbidden journey that I got to be a part of. Thank you!

telepathic conversations with flies

Loved hearing more about my hero who played Lando! I don't know all the people he mentions, but they sure sound important. I'm inspired to get back to my artwork! Thanks for all you've done for us Billy Dee!

magnificent memoir if a man's man!

love BDW's openness and vulnerability! the quintessential man's man! I truly wish I could have seen life thru his eyes! it was truly chandelier, baby, chandelier!

Life well lived

This is a true autobiography Billy Dee takes his whole life and put it on pages for future generations. From early childhood in Harlem New York to reprising his role as Lando Calrissian in 2018 and even his experiences with his son Corey Dee Williams along with Grandfatherhood. Another part I personally enjoyed was getting a better understanding on how becoming an American of colored pigmentation in the film industry and how it affected him at that point in history.

Inspirational and Introspective

I really enjoyed this book. He was honest, open, and showed vulnerability throughout his life. The biggest impression he left was he takes a very positive view on life and focuses more on that than the down times. He acknowledges his slip up, weaknesses, and dark times but his constant love of life, people, and learning always keeps him buoyed. I was floored to find out he’s an artist/painter—that was his original intent on his career path. Googling his work shows he’s very talented and has had numerous shows. I note there was criticism in the reading of his work on Audible (noted more on Goodreads). What people aren’t taking into consideration is that he was 86-87 when reading this. We all slow down. I put the speed on 1.2 and that was the Billy Dee I came for. The hesitancy between words can be disconcerting at times but we have to remember as we age, there are good days and slower days. It was insignificant in the overall scheme of the book. Overall, I was very impressed with him as a person and enjoyed learning about his life, path, and musings.

Great book

I loved it. it was like he was talking to me. He's always been my favorite actor.

Narration

I am still listening to the book. He has some great stories to tell about his life. I am having a frustrating time listening to Billy narrating it.

It sounds as if he's reading it, and it seems like he is not one for reading out loud.

Perhaps, if he did it as a performance and told the stories, it would be better to listen to.