The King of Queens

Background:

American actor Victor Williams is celebrated for playing the supporting role of Deacon Palmer on the successful CBS comedy series “The King of Queens” (1998-2007), from which he picked up an Image nomination for his performance. He also played the role of Roger McGrath in four episodes of “ER” (1998-2001) and has guest starred in other popular TV series, including “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “Law & Order,” “The Jamie Foxx Show,” “The Practice,” “Girlfriends” and “Fringe.” In addition, Williams acted in the films “The Preacher's Wife” (1996), “Cop Land” (1997), “A Brooklyn State of Mind” (1998), “Bewitched” (2005), “A New Tomorrow” (2007) and “Lenox Avenue” (2009).

Williams currently resides in Los Angeles. He is single.

Basketball

Childhood and Family:

Victor L. Williams was born on September 19, 1970, in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Midwood High School, where he played on the basketball team. He received a Bachelor of Arts in theater from Binghamton University, in New York and a Masters of Fine Arts degree in acting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

A New Tomorrow

Career:

Victor Williams made his feature film debut in “The Barbaric Beast of Boggy Creek, Part II,” a 1985 horror film written, directed by and starring Charles B. Pierce. He then disappeared from the screen for over a decade before making a return in 1996 when he was cast as Robbie in the Academy Award nominating film “The Preacher's Wife,” which was helmed by Penny Marshall and starred Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston and Loretta Devine. The same year, he also made his television debut in an episode of the NBC hit series “Homicide: Life on the Street” called “Scene of the Crime.”

During the next few years, Williams landed guest spots in “Law & Order,” “New York Undercover” and “Profiler” (all 1997) and “The Jamie Foxx Show” (1998). In 1998, he joined the cast of the NBC hit medical drama “ER” in the recurring role of Carla's husband, Roger McGrath (2 episodes). He reprised the role in two more episodes in 1999 and 2001. It was also in 1998 that Williams received his big breakthrough when he won the role of Deacon Palmer on the CBS sitcom “The King of Queens,” which starred Kevin James and Leah Remini. Created by David Litt and Michael J. Weithorn, the show ran from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007. In 2007, Williams was nominated for an Image Award in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance on the series.

Williams maintained his presence on the big screen when he was cast as Officer Russell in the James Mangold dramatic film “Cop Land” (1997), featuring an ensemble cast of Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Robert Patrick, Peter Berg and Michael Rapaport. The film earned primarily positive reviews from critics and won the Best Actor Award at the 1997 Stockholm Film Festival for Stallone's performance as Sheriff Freddy Heflin. Williams was next seen in the award winning movie “A Brooklyn State of Mind” (1998), which was directed and co-written by Frank Rainone, and worked with L. Scott Caldwell, Yolanda Snowball and Garrett Morris in Courtney Byrd's “Graham's Diner” (1999).

In 2000, Williams appeared as Officer Craig Armstrong in an episode of “The Practice” called “Blowing Smoke.” He then played a role in the film “Me & Mrs. Jones,” which premiered at the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame on December 2, 2001, and acted in the G. Stubbs directed comedy “With or Without You,” which premiered at the Hollywood Black Film Festival on March 29, 2003 before opened in theaters on May 11, 2003. He next portrayed Eddie in the short film “First Breath” (2004), received a role in the family film “Bewitched” (2005), which was written, produced and directed by Nora Ephron and starred Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell, and appeared as Marcus in the pilot of “Love, Inc.” (2005). His voice could also be heard in the segment “World Record” of “The Animatrix,” in an episode of “Justice League” called “Eclipsed: Part 1” (both 2003), and in the 2005 animated film “The Toy Warrior,” directed by Kyungwon Lim.

After “The King of Queens” left the airwaves in 2007, Williams starred with Devon Bernsley and Eric Bloom in “A New Tomorrow” (2007), which was directed by Carey Corr and scripted by Carole Parker. He then played the role of Darrell in the comedy film “Traci Townsend,” which was shown at the BFM International Film Festival in the U.K. in 2007, appeared in a short film titled “Tomorrow Never Knows” (2008) and guest starred in “Girlfriends” (2008, as Mr. Hines). In 2009, he portrayed Officer West in two episodes of the HBO comedy series “The Flight of the Conchords” and guest starred in an episode of the J. J. Abrams science fiction series “Fringe.” The same year, he also appeared in the short films “Release” and “Dream State” and costarred with Dorian Missick, Al Thompson and Ryan Vigilant in the dramatic film “Lenox Avenue,” by director Al Thompson.

In 2010, Williams played Robert Mercer in an episode of the now-canceled NBC medical series “Mercy” and Oliver in an episode of the CBS series “Blue Bloods.” He also portrayed Dr. Christenfeld in the short film “Notes on Being Young” (2010).

Awards:
---