Personal life

Williams was born in London. In the mid-1970s, he was a regular dancer on TV's Soul Train, and was one of the few dancers not to solve the Scramble Board.

Career

Williams began portraying Jesse Hubbard on All My Children in 1981. His character became involved in a love affair with upper middle class Angie Baxter (Debbi Morgan). The characters eventually married and thus Darnell Williams was one half of the first African American supercouple on an American soap opera. Williams won two Daytime Emmy Awards for his work on All My Children in the 1980s. During the mid-1980s, both he and Morgan co-hosted a dance show titled "New York Hot Tracks," that also featured music videos.

In 1988, Williams left All My Children and returned to soap operas as Jesse's look-alike Jacob Foster on Loving and The City. He later briefly reprised his role of Jesse on All My Children, albeit in angel form, when he welcomed Gillian Andrassy (Esta TerBlanche) into Heaven in 2001.

Williams had a recurring role as the counsellor on the primetime drama Felicity, and worked as a director and acting coach for All My Children.

In May 2007, Williams joined the cast of Guiding Light in the recurring role of the villainous Griggs, a man who A.C. Mallet was once employed by as a hit-man. He appeared in the play Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell in New York City through June 2007. In 2008, Williams, along with Gregori J. Martin, co-directed the independent film Manhattanites, starring Ilene Kristen, Forbes March, and Aiden Turner, Williams's co-star.

Williams returned to All My Children in January 2008 as Jesse Hubbard, along with Debbi Morgan, who plays Dr. Angie Hubbard. He appeared on "Oprah- the Last Season" with cast mates Debbi Morgan and Michael E. Knight in 2011.

In September 2011, Darnell Williams concluded his run on All My Children along with the rest of the cast, due to the cancellation of the serial. At the time All My Children ended, Williams was the oldest contracted male actor cast member with the show and the second oldest contracted actor after Susan Lucci.

In January 2012, it was confirmed that Williams will be joining the cast of the CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless, where he will reunite with All My Children co-star Debbi Morgan.

Williams returned in the new internet version of All My Children, reprising his role of Jesse Hubbard. The new show premiered on iTunes, Hulu and Hulu Plus on April 29, 2013.

Williams's film appearances include Sidewalk Stories, Short Cuts, and Simone.

Awards and nominations

Daytime Emmy Awards

Year	Award	Work	Result
1982	Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	All My Children	Nominated
1983			Won
1985	Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series		Won
2012			Nominated

Venice Film Festival

Year	Award	Work	Result
1994	Venice Film Festival for Best Ensemble Cast	Short Cuts	Nominated

Golden Globe Awards

Year	Award	Work	Result
1994	Golden Globe Award for Best Ensemble Cast	Short Cuts	Won

Soap Opera Digest Awards

Year	Award	Work	Result
1996	Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor	Loving	Won

NAACP Image Awards

Year	Award	Work	Result
1996	NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series	The City	Nominated
2003		All My Children	Nominated
2011			Won

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Macdonald Carey (1974) Macdonald Carey (1975) Larry Haines (1976) Val Dufour (1977) James Pritchett (1978) Al Freeman Jr. (1979) Douglass Watson (1980) Douglass Watson (1981) Anthony Geary (1982) Robert S. Woods (1983) Larry Bryggman (1984) Darnell Williams (1985) David Canary (1986) Larry Bryggman (1987) David Canary (1988) David Canary (1989) A Martinez (1990) Peter Bergman (1991) Peter Bergman (1992) David Canary (1993) Michael Zaslow (1994) Justin Deas (1995) Charles Keating (1996) Justin Deas (1997) Eric Braeden (1998) Anthony Geary (1999) Anthony Geary (2000) David Canary (2001) Peter Bergman (2002) Maurice Benard (2003) Anthony Geary (2004) Christian LeBlanc (2005) Anthony Geary (2006) Christian LeBlanc (2007) Anthony Geary (2008) Christian LeBlanc (2009) Michael Park (2010) Michael Park (2011) Anthony Geary (2012) Doug Davidson (2013) Billy Miller (2014) Anthony Geary (2015) Tyler Christopher (2016)

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Peter Hansen (1979) Warren Burton (1980) Larry Haines (1981) David Lewis (1982) Darnell Williams (1983) Justin Deas (1984) Larry Gates (1985) John Wesley Shipp (1986) Gregg Marx (1987) Justin Deas (1988) Justin Deas (1989) Henry Darrow (1990) Bernard Barrow (1991) Thom Christopher (1992) Gerald Anthony (1993) Justin Deas (1994) Jerry verDorn (1995) Jerry verDorn (1996) Ian Buchanan (1997) Steve Burton (1998) Stuart Damon (1999) Shemar Moore (2000) Michael E. Knight (2001) Josh Duhamel (2002) Benjamin Hendrickson (2003) Rick Hearst (2004) Greg Rikaart (2005) Jordan Clarke (2006) Rick Hearst (2007) Kristoff St. John (2008) Jeff Branson/Vincent Irizarry (2009) Billy Miller (2010) Jonathan Jackson (2011) Jonathan Jackson (2012) Scott Clifton/Billy Miller (2013) Eric Martsolf (2014) Chad Duell (2015) Sean Blakemore (2016)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]