Tyler James Williams

Williams was born in Westchester County, the northern suburbs of New York City, NY. His father was a NYC police officer-turned-sergeant, and his mother was a singer-songwriter. The family made their home in Yonkers, NY, where Williams was the only African-American child on his block. He began his show business career after his mother quickly noticed his spot-on impersonations and hammy nature in general. It was not long before his comedic skills landed him an agent and his first professional gig at age four, as a series regular on "Sesame Street" (1969 -). Williams stayed with the perennial children's show for four years.Williams' next stop was Bill Cosby's animated series on the Nickelodeon Channel, "Little Bill" (1999 -), where he took over the voice of Bobby Glover (older brother to the title character) for seasons three and four. He also did some background work in a number of sketches on "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975-), where Williams honed his comedic timing by watching the series' regulars work their weekly magic.In 2005, Williams beefed up his resume by appearing on an episode of "Law & Order: SVU" (NBC, 1999 -) and as an extra in the sports gambling film, "Two for the Money," starring heavy-hitters, Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey. It was during this same time that his comedic prowess led to his biggest career break to date. In a sea of Chris Rock-wannabes, Williams was hand picked to star as Rock in the comic's semi-autobiographical sitcom, "Everybody Hates Chris" (2005-09). The show, narrated and produced by Rock, was loosely based on his real-life and, well, rocky upbringing in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Unlike other struggling sitcoms, it proved to be one of the more successful comedy debuts of that year. With the success of the show and the inevitable attention shown him, Williams found more doors opening for him, including booking television commercials and landing parts in a number of films to be lensed in 2006. The animated film projects, including "The Ant Bully" and "Everyone's Hero," will allow William to build on the voiceover talents he honed on "Little Bill" only a few short years ago.