Billy Dee Williams, 83, lives up to his cool and charming reputation during lunch date with friends in West Hollywood
With his chiseled good looks, suave style and unmistakable voice, Billy Dee Williams has personified ‘cool’ for more than six decades in the public eye.
And that cool and charming demeanor was on full display when the Star Wars icon enjoyed a lunch date with friends at Fred Segal’s outdoor restaurant Mauro’s in the West Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The 83-year-old actor appeared to be in great spirits if his seemingly endless smile was any indication.
Mr. Cool: Billy Dee Williams, 83, enjoyed lunch with friends at Fred Segal’s outdoor restaurant Mauro’s in the West Hollywood on Thursday
Williams looked stylish as ever in a long white button-down dress shirt that was paired with black slacks.
He also wore black shoes and had his short hair in his trademark slicked-back style.
The New York City native completed his look with red-framed sunglasses as he carried a black cane just in case he needed some assistance when he walked.
When he wasn’t eating or drinking, he also stayed safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic by having a protective mask handy.
Fashionable: Williams looked stylish as ever in a long white button-down dress shirt that was paired with black slacks and shoes
Emotional: Williams garnered national attention for his Emmy-nominated performance as Chicago Bears hall of fame player Gale Sayers in Brian’s Song (1971), co-starring James Caan.
Williams made his Broadway theater debut at the age of seven in The Firebrand of Florence (1945) and his film debut in The Last Angry Man (1959).
But it was his Emmy-nominated performance as football great Gale Sayers in Brian’s Song (1971), with James Caan, that garnered him national attention.
From there he went on to appear in a number of critically acclaimed films that led up him becoming the first African-American to score a major role in the original Star Wars franchise.
He played Lando Calrissian, the suave, cape-wearing hero in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return Of The Jedi (1983) and again in Star Wars: Rise Of The Skywalker (2019).
Williams will also eternally be associated with the string of commercials and ads for the malt liquor brand, Colt 45, in the 1980s.
Iconic: The New York City native became the first African-American to score a major role in the original Star Wars franchise as Lando Calrissian
No matter what the project, Williams always seemed to bring his unique brand of cool, which he says starts with one simple step: ‘Be yourself.’
‘I never tried to be anything except myself,’ he revealed during an interview with Esquire in November 2019.
‘I think of myself as a relatively colorful character who doesn’t take himself or herself too seriously.’
He went on to explain that he uses ‘himself and ‘herself’ because he’s sees himself as both masculine and feminine,
‘I’m a very soft person. I’m not afraid to show that side of myself.’
Suave: Williams will also eternally be associated with the string of commercials and ads for the malt liquor brand, Colt 45, in the 1980s