Do you ever wonder about Michael K Williams’s net worth? Michael K Williams was an Emmy-nominated American Actor, also a Dancer and Model. He was best known for his role as ‘Omar Little’ on the HBO drama series ‘The Wire’ from 2002 to 2008.
Unfortunately, Michael K Williams passed away due to a drug overdose on September 6th, 2021. Perhaps you heard of him when he was alive or perhaps you never heard of who he was until his passing.
Here you will find out how he managed to make the wealth of $5 million at the time of his death and what we can learn from his success.
Contents
Early Life
Williams was born in Brooklyn New York to an African American father and a Bahamian mother on November 22, 1966. He attended George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School.
Williams got inspired by Janet Jackson, who really persuaded him to drop out of school and pursue a career in dance. From this inspiration, he enrolled himself at the National Black Theatre in New York City.
Career Development
Williams had a long and successful acting career, and appeared in various movies, music videos, and TV shows.
Dancing Career
Williams started his career working as a temporary worker for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. He then left this role to pursue a career in dance. It wasn’t easy during this time, as he was made homeless going from one dance studio to another dance studio to look for a job.
He luckily managed to bag a job as a backing dancer for Kim Sims. This opportunity working for Kim led to several other dancing opportunities for him – including dancing for the likes of George Michael and Madonna.
What’s with the Scar on His Face
Williams’s signature feature was a large facial scar. When he was celebrating his 25th birthday at a bar in New York, he got into a fight to help his friends and was slashed by a razor.
This scar actually bought him good luck as it resulted in him acting as the gangster villain in music videos. Alongside this, Williams managed to book various modeling opportunities with David LaChapelle. From this, Williams managed to bag a role with the likes of Tupac Shakur in Bullet (1996).
Become Famous Due to ‘Omar Little’ in ‘The Wire’
Williams was most recognized for his portrayal of ‘Omar Little’ in ‘The Wire’. The Wire kicked started off in 2002. Williams got the job just after one audition showing us exactly how talented he really is.
After 7 episodes, William’s character in the show was supposed to be killed off, but due to how engaging and popular he was, they continued to keep him to play ‘Omar Little‘ as one of the main characters.
USA Today stated in 2004 that Williams was one of ten reasons make people still love to watch TV. Mr.Barack Obama said ‘Omar Little’ was the best character on ‘The Wire’, and “that was one of the best shows of all time.”
That is to say, Williams was so successful in his role ‘Omar Little’ in ‘The Wire’ at that time.
After ‘The Wire’
After 41-episode of The Wire, Williams had an ongoing role on J.J Abrams’ Alias. Other programs include CSI (Crime Scene investigation), Law & Order plus various other Law & Order shows.
Williams took roles on other notable shows, such as Chalky White in Boardwalk Empire (2010-2014), and Montrose Freeman in Lovecraft Country (2020).
He also starred in The Kill Point and made various appearances there as guest star Q. He also debuted in the film ‘Gone, Baby Gone.’
Williams has been seen in various music videos such as R.Kelly’s ‘trapped in the Closet’; Trick Daddy’s ‘Tuck Your Ice In’ video plus various other rap artists’ videos.
In 2016, Williams landed a really good deal with Vice News where he would be hosting ‘Black market’ which is a VICELAND program. This series would depict where Williams would visit different clandestine markets to see how they run things alongside investigating how they go about generating clients.
He then joined the Vice team in 2018 in an extended premiere episode called ‘Raised in the System’ where he looked at his personal journey to expose the juvenile justice system.
He performed at the BET awards 2021 was a brilliant contribution towards the late DMX. This was a real theatrical performance that really showcased his skills and talent.
Michael K Williams Net Worth 2022
Williams had an estimated net worth of $5 million dollars. Most of his earnings were from his acting career.
What Can We Learn From Michael K Williams
Do What You Want To Do
Michael K Williams dropped out of school as he knew from a young age exactly what he wanted to do. He was inspired by Janet Jackson, and then took the executive decision to leave school to pursue his dreams to become a dancer/ performer.
In the African-American community, it’s normally taboo if you drop out of school. You are expected to stay in school, finish your education otherwise, your life is ruined. He believed in his talent, and used one of Janet Jackson’s performances to push him into the direction of where he wanted to go in life.
Do Not Give Up On Your Dreams
Williams can be seen just grinding and grinding. His career just continued to progress. He did not branch out to different avenues but always made sure that whatever he did, it always was on the lines of really showing his skills and talents. For instance, he was always either in a series, a music video, or a short film.
There was an incident where he was homeless, but he used his struggle to keep on going. There was an incident where he got into a fight at a bar and unfortunately, was left permanently scarred.
He used what was intended to harm him (i.e, having a permanent scar on his forehead after the bar fight) to result in the better good of his life hence him receiving modeling contracts and also playing gangster villains in various videos.
Williams showed us that nothing in life can ever stop you from believing and achieving.
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