That time Billy Dee Williams turned down Marlon Brando’s advances

Billy Dee Williams has had quite a life.

In his new memoir, What Have We Here? Portrait of a Life, the 86-year-old actor writes about everything from appearing on Broadway at age 7, to his friendships with Barbra Streisand and James Baldwin, to playing Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars franchise.

Oh, and that time he turned down Marlon Brando’s advances.

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Speaking to People about the memoir, Williams explains, “I’ve been getting hit on all my life. Gay, straight, whatever, somebody’s always hitting on me.”

Including, he claims, Brando.

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Williams, who’s been married three times and has three children, says he ultimately turned Brando down because, “I prefer women.” But he still felt a very strong sense of kinship with the Hollywood legend.

In a follow-up interview with USA Today, he recalls going to a party at Brando’s house with James Baldwin that was “really quite interesting.”

“[Brando] and I ended up sitting in his library and having a long chat that lasted about an hour. He was like a little kid. He was wonderful. But he’s an Aries and I’m an Aries so there was that kind of kinship.”

In 2019, Williams made headlines when he accidentally sparked widespread speculation around his gender identity after he said he sees himself as both “feminine as well as masculine.”

“I say ‘himself’ and ‘herself,’ because I also see myself as feminine as well as masculine,” he told Esquire. “I’m a very soft person. I’m not afraid to show that side of myself.”

He later clarified that he didn’t intend to come out as genderfluid with his remarks and was actually talking about the philosophy of Carl Jung.

“I wasn’t talking about sex,” he explained. “I wasn’t talking about being gay or straight. People should read [Jung]. I mean, it would be an interesting education for a lot of people.” 

“I’m not gay by any stretch of the imagination. Not that I have anything against gay people. But personally? Not gay,” he added.

This was no doubt a disappointment to Brando, who was known for having passionate affairs with both women and men during his lifetime. Among his rumored male lovers were Wally Cox, James Baldwin, Marvin Gaye, and Richard Pryor, just to name a few.

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In a 1976 interview, Brando told his biographer Gary Carey: “Homosexuality is so much in fashion, it no longer makes news. Like a large number of men, I, too, have had homosexual experiences, and I am not ashamed. I have never paid much attention to what people think about me.”

What Have We Here? Portrait of a Life hits bookstore shelves on February 13.