Tyler James Williams

Tyler James Williams is the three-time Emmy® Award-nominated and Golden Globe® winner for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, Comedy or Drama for his role as Gregory Eddie in the hit award-winning series “Abbott Elementary.” He also directed an episode of “Abbott Elementary” for the first time during the show’s fourth season. After hitting it off with Quinta Brunson on “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” she specifically wrote the “Abbott Elementary” substitute teacher character with Williams in mind. He can also be seen recurring in the sketch comedy “History of the World: Part II.” Perhaps most notably, Williams was discovered at age 4 for Chris Rock’s “Everybody Hates Chris,” which he starred in for four seasons.

On the feature film side, he can most recently be seen in the Lionsgate feature “Amber Alert.” Williams can also be seen in the critically acclaimed film “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” (2021), playing Lester “The Prez” Young alongside Andra Day, who received an Oscar® nomination for her turn as Billie Holiday. Previously, Williams co-starred in the indie comedy “The Argument” directed by Robert Schwartzman, and starred in “The Wedding Year” (2019) opposite Sarah Hyland. He played a pivotal part in Kathryn Bigelow’s “Detroit” (2017) alongside Will Poulter. Williams also had a starring role in the Sundance-winning feature “Dear White People” (2014). In addition, he appeared opposite Craig Robinson and Kerry Washington in “Peeples” (2013) for Lionsgate and in Paul Feig’s “Unaccompanied Minors” (2006) for Warner Bros.

Born in Yonkers, New York, Williams lives between New York and Los Angeles.

PERSONAL INFORMATION
HOMETOWN: Westchester County, New York
BIRTHDATE: October 9