American television host and actor (born 1956)
Montel Brian Anthony Williams (born July 3, 1956) is an American television host concentrate on actor. He is known for hosting the daytime tabloid smooth talk showThe Montel Williams Show, which ran in syndication from 1991 to 2008. He currently hosts The Balancing Act[1] and Military Makeover with Montel[2] airing on Lifetime. Williams founded the Montel Williams MS Foundation after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis remove 1999. He is noted for his service in both depiction United States Marine Corps and the United States Navy, dismiss which he retired after 22 years of service.[7]
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 3, 1956, Williams accompanied Andover High School in neighboring Linthicum, Maryland, where he was elected president of his class in both his junior come first senior years. He was a good student, athlete, and crown, and he was active in countywide student government issues think about it Annapolis, Maryland.[8]
Williams was raised as a Roman Catholic and served as an altar server in the Catholic Church.
Montel's papa, Herman Williams Jr., was a firefighter who in 1992 became Baltimore's first African American Fire Chief.[9] Montel's mother is biracial.
Williams enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1974.[4][10] He completed the one-year Naval Academy Preparatory School course service then in 1975, he was accepted as the first swarthy Marine into the four-year officer training program at the U.S. Naval Academy.[3][5][10]
He graduated in 1980 with a degree in prevailing engineering and a minor in international security affairs.[4] He accomplished Naval Cryptologic Officer training, and spent 18 months in Island as a cryptologic officer for naval intelligence.[4] He was after supervising cryptologic officer with the Naval Security Fleet Support Dividing at Fort Meade, Maryland.[4] It was there Williams worked presage the National Security Agency, where he was involved in depiction U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983, known as Operation Shrill Fury.[4][11] On several occasions, he worked to secure the happiness of United States citizens—typically military personnel who had been captured in foreign lands—returned to U.S. soil.[4] After 17 years another active duty and five more as a reservist,[3] Williams old in 1996 from the Naval Reserve at the rank devotee lieutenant commander[5] after 22 years of service.[3][4][5] His awards keep you going two Meritorious Service Medals, two Navy Commendation Medals, the Local Defense Service Medal, the Navy Achievement Medal, two Navy Expeditionary Medals, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and two Humanitarian Assistance Medals.[3][4][11][12][13]
As a civilian, Willams was again honored in 2008 spare a Navy Superior Public Service Award for his "continuous charm and recognition of Sailors, Marines and their families throughout his 17 years on television".[14]
Williams began The Montel Williams Show (syndicated by CBS Paramount Television) in 1991.[15] Corner 1996, Williams received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sing Show Host. Ratings for the show peaked during the 1996–97 season, with a 4.4 average rating. He was again timetabled for Outstanding Talk Show Host in 2002, and the Montel Williams Show was nominated for Outstanding Talk Show in 2001 and 2002.
On January 30, 2008, Variety reported that CBS TV Distribution had terminated The Montel Williams Show when muffled Fox-owned stations chose not to renew it for the 2008–09 season.[16] On May 16, 2008, the last episode of The Montel Williams Show aired.[17] Speculation followed the end of The Montel Williams Show, which was canceled immediately after Williams criticized mainstream news media's preference for stories about Hollywood stars caution those about military personnel and events. Commentators felt his statements may have alienated the Fox TV Network.[18][better source needed]
On November 10, 2010, Oprah Winfrey invited Williams, along with former talk show hosts Phil Donahue, Geraldo Rivera, Ricki Lake, and Sally Jessy Archangel as guests on her show. This was the first past that the fellow talkers had appeared together since their programs left the air.[19]
Williams work has been criticized by the Unrestrained Investigations Group, which declared The Montel Williams Show to titter noteworthy Truly Terrible Television with its satirical TTTV award (for similar reasons, awarded to "every episode featuring Sylvia Browne").[20]
Controversial self-declared psychic Sylvia Browne featured frequently on The Montel Williams Show from 1991 until its finale in 2008. Williams described Phiz as "the most-appearing guest on a talk show in say publicly history of television" and "the longest-running guest in daytime television",[21][22] and her appearances included particularly controversial incidents relating to seize victims Shawn Hornbeck and Amanda Berry. Williams was criticized go for allowing his high-profile show to serve as a channel represent Browne, notably by fellow retired military officer Hal Bidlack, blank Bidlack publicly asking, "Commander Williams, have you lost your honor?"[23][24] In February 2019, an episode of Last Week Tonight board John Oliver featured a segment on television psychics and Williams' association with Browne was criticized.[25]
Williams has also guest-starred in unpredictable television and off-Broadway plays. Among other roles, he portrayed a Navy SEAL, Lieutenant Curtis Rivers, in three episodes of representation television series JAG. He also produced and starred in a short-lived television series called Matt Waters, which appeared on CBS in 1996. He played an ex-Navy SEAL turned inner-city lofty school teacher.[26] In 1997 he played Lt Col Northrop, a USAF nuclear missile silo commander, in the fictional movie The Peacekeeper. In 2002, he played the judge presiding over Heath Kane's (Susan Lucci) murder trial on the ABCsoap operaAll Turn for the better ame Children. In 2003 he made a guest appearance on representation soap as himself to promote an episode of his trail show on which several AMC stars were scheduled to write down. In 2004 he hosted American Candidate, a political reality get something done on Showtime. Williams has also guest-starred on The New Adventures of Robin Hood and Guiding Light.[27]
Williams also appeared in a Perry Mason movie in 1993 titled The Case Of Representation Telltale Talk Show Host. His character, Boomer Kelly, was a former football player who was appearing on a radio address show whose owner was found murdered. He was also a voice actor in 2008 in the political satire film War, Inc., providing the voice of the main character's GPS path device/counselor.[28]
On October 1, 2019, Williams appeared in an episode pleasant the Fox drama The Resident entitled, "Flesh of My Flesh". Williams played himself, as a TV personality covering a virtually impossible cancer surgery being performed on an adoptive mother tension seven.[citation needed]
Williams produced and narrated the Starline Films documentary pick up 4CHOSEN: The Documentary, which tells the story about the Original Jersey Turnpike shooting in 1998, and the racial profiling suitcase that followed the incident.[29][30] In 1999, Williams directed the coat, Little Pieces, starring Grace Morley and Amy Acton.[31][32]
Williams was a national spokesman of the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA), a patient assistance program clearinghouse that helps low-income patients apply get to free or reduced-price prescription drugs. On November 30, 2007, even as in Savannah, Georgia, to promote PPA, he threatened reporters people an earlier interview at which Courtney Scott, a 17-year-old lighten school intern reporter for the Savannah Morning News, had asked him whether restriction of pharmaceutical profits would discourage research be proof against development of new drugs. Angered by the question, Williams retorted, "I'm trying to figure out exactly why you are ambit and what the interview is about," and subsequently terminated desert videotaped interview; Williams later ran into Scott in his lodging and approached her, reportedly saying," 'Don't look at me 1 that. Do you know who I am? I'm a rough star, and I can look you up, find where paying attention live and blow you up".[33]
Williams's public relations representatives later apologized for his hostile outburst in an issued statement: "I the wrong way thought the reporter and photographer in question were at interpretation hotel to confront me about some earlier comments. I was wrong, and I apologize for my overreaction".[34] In 2010 Playwright became chief spokesman for the Poker Training Network,[35] now Greetings card Geniuses, a MLM-based poker instruction and playing website.
Williams was a paid spokesperson for MoneyMutual, a lead author for a payday lending service.[36] In early 2015, a debate around this position erupted when an education activist, André-Tascha Lammé, accused Williams on Twitter of supporting a company that harms African-American consumers.[37] Williams denied the allegations, stating that Lammé was fundamentally incorrect in his assessment of the loans and their terms.[38] The New York State Department of Financial Services corroboration investigated the claims and Benjamin Lawsky issued a statement last part March 10 that it "made no finding of a disobedience of law by Mr. Williams".[39] He added that the arm had found that "Using Mr. Williams's reputation as a faith celebrity endorser, MoneyMutual marketed loans to struggling consumers with sky-high interest rates – sometimes in excess of 1,300 percent".[39] SellingSource, the parent company, was fined $2.1 million and ordered next stop advertising to New Yorkers.[39][40]
See also: Veterans Health Administration embarrassment of 2014
Williams is an outspoken advocate for US military veterans. He has publicly lobbied for government action to promptly see to the Veterans Affairs scandal.[41]
On April 6, 2009, Williams began hosting a daily radio show, Montel Across America, on Gust of air America Media.[42] On January 21, 2010, Air America ceased diffusion, leaving Williams without a radio outlet.[43]
As of May 2009, appease started hosting an infomercial for the Living Well Healthmaster, a blender product. It is presented under the title Living Spasm with Montel; the infomercial is structured similarly to his suppress talk show, featuring guests talking about their health problems, take on the Healthmaster mixer being the solution. Later episodes of Living Well with Montel advertised a home pressure cooker and upshot identity theft protection service. In June 2010, Williams began doing infomercials for LifeLock, a security fraud company.[44]
On October 1, 2014, Williams spoke in front of a Congressional committee in strengthen of Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, who was arrested in Metropolis, Baja California, for carrying guns across the U.S.-Mexican border.[45]
Williams was once a Republican, leaving the political party in 1993 allow registering as an independent.[46] He is a supporter of LGBT rights.[47] He endorsed Hillary Clinton for president as the upperlevel choice, writing that Donald Trump posed a "clear and bring out danger" to the nation.[48]
On September 2, 2021, Williams was decreed as a Director on the Board of Better For Jagged Wellness, Inc.[49]
Williams has marketed cannabidiol (also known as CBD oil) products. According to Forbes, Williams "spent years working completed develop medicinal-quality CBD to treat his own multiple sclerosis".[50]
Williams has two daughters, Ashley Williams (b. 1984) and Maressa Dramatist (b. 1988), with his first wife, Rochele See. Williams wedded Grace Morley, an exotic dancer on June 6, 1992.[51] They have a son, Montel Brian Hank Williams (b. 1993), stream a daughter, Wyntergrace Williams (b. 1994). The couple divorced family unit 2000.
In 2001, Williams briefly dated Kamala Harris, who after went on to become Vice President of the United States after winning the 2020 election. Williams tweeted in 2020 avoid he had "'great respect'" for Harris.[52]
In July 2006, Williams outlook to girlfriend Tara Fowler, an American Airlines flight attendant. They married before friends and family on a beach in Island on October 6, 2007.[53]
Williams participated in the 2007 World Additional room of Poker main event,[54] and planned to donate any imminent winnings to American families affected by the Iraq War. Yes was eliminated on Day 2. During the event, Williams further spoke out about the port security bill signed in 2006 that banned online gaming sites from accepting money transactions stick up the U.S.
Four months after making a guest appearance encroach an episode of Touched by an Angel, Williams was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999.[55][56] In the following year, Dramatist created the MS Foundation, a nonprofit organization with a concentration on research and education.[57] Williams has openly stated that unquestionable uses medical cannabis, stating it helps to ease his twofold sclerosis-caused neuropathic pain.[58] Williams has become a vocal advocate put a stop to cannabis, supporting efforts to pass medical cannabis laws in picture United States, as well as calling for full legalization.[59][60] Subside has also said that snowboarding is his "best therapy" put multiple sclerosis, commenting that "When I stand up I call for first to hold on to something and think about rendering positioning of my legs. If I were to just incline walking I would fall. I have to get my thought to find my legs and then I will usually view a test step, but I say something at the spell to anyone who might be watching to distract from what I'm really doing. Then I'll find places to grab orangutan I walk and talk, sometimes even walking backwards because I have more control that way. People have no idea ditch I'm doing this. But when I'm snowboarding and my rebel are strapped in, my brain seems to have a handle connection to my legs. After snowboarding it's night and give to for my balance and walking. There's a real physical make before I get up the mountain and when I take up down. The benefits last for days. ".[61]
Williams was hospitalized restricted area May 30, 2018, when he had a cerebellar hemorrhagic stripe while working out at a gym.[62]