Mykelti Williamson

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Mykelti Williamson (born Michael T. Williamson on March 4, 1960 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American actor. He is of mixed Blackfoot Indian and African American heritage. His name Mykelti means "spirit" or "silent friend" in the Blackfoot language.^{[citation needed]} He is the son of a certified public account (mother) and an Air Force Staff Sergeant (father).

Williamson began performing at the age of 9 Along with acting, he also danced as an alternate member of The Lockers troupe on Soul Train along with Fred Berry (star of TV show What's Happening). At the age of 15 Williamson relocated to Los Angeles with his family. While in high school he excelled in athletics, particularly football and basketball. But acting was his first love and he no longer pursued sports.

He began acting professionally after graduation. His first TV appearances include Starsky and Hutch, Hill Street Blues, China Beach, and Midnight Caller. His film debut was in Streets of Fire (1984).

His film credits include Wildcats (1986) with Goldie Hawn, The First Power (1990) with Lou Diamond Phillips, Free Willy (1993), Waiting to Exhale (1995), Michael Mann's film Heat (1995) with Al Pacino, and Con Air (1997) with Nicolas Cage.

He is most famously known as Private Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue in the Academy Award winning 1994 film Forrest Gump with Tom Hanks.

He also received favorable reviews when he played Negro League baseball player Josh Gibson in the HBO film Soul of the Game (1996).

He has made many guest appearances in movie and film. His most recent film appearances have been Ali (film) (2001) with Will Smith and ATL (2006) with T.I. (Tip Harris). He was a juror in the 1997 T.V. movie remake of Twelve Angry Men. In 2002, he co-starred as Detective Bobby "Fearless" Smith in the critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful crime drama Boomtown.

He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two daughters. He was also married to Olivia Brown (1983-1985) actress from the Miami Vice series in the 1980s.