Frederick Robert "Fred" Williamson was born on
March 5, 1938 in Gary, Indiana. Fred attended Northwestern University studying
to be an architect. He starred in football and became a professional football
player for the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs. He received the nickname
Hammer for his heavy hits on runners and wide receivers. "Put the hammer
on you". After retiring from professional football he took up acting and
appeared in the 1968 TV series ‘Julia’. He then rose to prominence as one of
the first African-American male action stars of the "blaxploitation"
genre of the early 1970s including “That Man Bolt” (1973), “Black Caesar”
(1973), and “Mean Johnny Barrows” (1976). The talented Williams established his
own production company "Po 'Boy Productions" in 1974, which has produced
over 40 movies to date. Fred has since gone on to a long and illustrious career
as an actor, director, writer, and producer. Williamson has appeared in only
one Euro-western “Take a Hard Ride” (1975) with Lee Van Cleef and Jim Brown.
Still acting, Fred’s latest film appearance is in the upcoming action film
“Unkillable”. Today we celebrate Fred Williamson’s 75th birthday.
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