Early life

Williams was born Micah Sierra Williams on September 2, 1971 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was raised in Dayton, Ohio. Williams emancipated himself from his parents at the age of 13, moved to Florida, and supported himself as a street vendor.

Career

Stand-up career

Williams started performing comedy in his Cincinnati neighborhood, Avondale.

Williams honed his comic delivery by performing his routine in clubs nationwide, from Oklahoma to Oakland, California. By 1999, Katt had become an established comic, appearing on stage at the likes of The Improv, The Comedy Club, The Icehouse and The Hollywood Park Casino. Most notably he appeared on BET's Comic View as Katt "In the Hat" Williams.

Williams starred in his first comedy special in 2006 entitled Katt Williams: Live: Let a Playa Play. His second & first HBO stand-up special was 2006’s The Pimp Chronicles, Pt. 1, with his comedy piece "This Shit Right Here Nigga, This Shit Right Here Nigga". In 2007 Williams was offered a movie/standup which he entitled American Hustle. The film had critical success and established Williams as a Mainstream Comedian. In 2008 Williams released his second HBO comedy special entitled It's Pimpin' Pimpin', with Williams doing more of a Political standup. In 2012 after 4 years of not doing stand-up comedy, Williams returned to stand up in his third HBO comedy special entitled Kattpacalypse.

On December 3, 2012, Williams announced the end of his stand-up comedy career, a day after a bizarre incident in Seattle, Washington that landed him in jail. However, just 3 days later, Williams announced he was coming out of retirement.

As of late 2013, Williams was on his "Growth Spurt" Tour.

On August 16, 2014, Williams returned with a new HBO special titled Katt Williams: Priceless: Afterlife, which was directed by Spike Lee.

On September 3, 2015, during an interview, Williams would announce and describe the name of his new upcoming tour entitled "Conspiracy Theory" stating, "The conspiracy conversation is a conversation that we are all familiar with. We know that there are conspiracies out there, but this is a conversation that encompasses a lot of things that aren't being discussed other places. That's the basis for all conspiracy theories: the fact that there is hidden information out there, and how our process changes about things that we thought we used to know. We all, at some point, if we're are at a certain age, we grew up thinking Pluto was a planet. This is probably going to go down as one of my finest works, just because it's a collection of forbidden topics that we can't seem to get answered. I am one of the rare urban public officials. Part of my guarantee in my ticket price is that I'm going to be talking about what we are talking about now, and discussing from now to the next time we see again. This is the open discussion that we’ve had since 2003. This is what it is about."

Film and television career

In 2002, Williams made his acting debut on NYPD Blue. He gained notoriety on Wild 'n Out, in which he appeared for several seasons. Williams also appeared in the official music video for Wild 'n Out colleague Nick Cannon's single 'Gigolo' in 2003.

In 2007, he provided the voice of A Pimp Named Slickback in The Boondocks; he plays himself as an on-stage stand-up comedian in Grand Theft Auto IV; and Williams has appeared in several episodes of My Wife and Kids as character Bobby Shaw. He was also the roastmaster of the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav.

Williams has also played supporting characters in films, such as First Sunday and Norbit, but is more widely recognized for his character Money Mike in Friday After Next.

Music career

He has also used the Money Mike stage name when rapping for songs by such artists as Baby Bash, The Game, and Suga Free. In 2006 William's joined well known New York rapper Cam'ron's group The Diplomats but was never signed as an official artist for the label. On January 29, 2009 Williams released his debut studio/live album entitled It's Pimpin' Pimpin'. On November 19, 2013 Williams & Hell Rell released a diss song to Atlanta rapper Trinidad James entitled "Lames In The Game" due to comments made by the rapper about the state of current Hip Hop music.

Controversy

Incidents at live shows

On August 27, 2011, his performance at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona was marred by an incident during which Williams responded to a heckler, identified as being of Mexican descent, with an angry tirade that included Williams shouting "...so if you love Mexico, bitch, get the fuck over there!" In an interview following the performance, Williams stated that the incident was precipitated by the heckler. "If a person starts their heckling with 'f' America, then that gives me the right to defend my country," Williams said. Williams offered no apology for his remarks during the performance, stating "I don't think I need to apologize for being pro-American."

Two live performances in November 2012 were ended early because of Williams' confrontational behavior. A November 1 performance at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Denver ended after Williams jumped off the stage to confront a heckler. A November 16 performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California ended after Williams again entered into a profanity-laced confrontation with a heckler and was assisted off stage by his own security staff.

Williams failed to appear for a scheduled performance on Thursday, November 29, 2012, at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, Washington. No explanation was immediately offered and the booking agency was forced to offer refunds to audience members.

Legal issues

On November 13, 2006, Williams was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after a stolen gun was found in his briefcase. On December 14, 2006, Williams pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed firearm and was sentenced to three years probation, ordered to pay restitution, and was given credit for the three days he spent in jail.

In November 2010, Williams was arrested by police while working on a film in Coweta County, Georgia. He was accused of stealing $3,500 worth of coins and jewelry. He was released the following day on a $40,000 bond. Police later charged Williams with burglary and criminal trespass.

On June 11, 2011, Williams was arrested in connection of an alleged assault on a tractor driver. The alleged victim said three women approached his tractor at around 4:30pm local time and attacked him with rocks and dirt clods, causing him facial injuries. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officers arrived on the scene and arrested the three women for assault with a deadly weapon and Williams for felony intimidation of a witness. Williams was booked into jail and released that same night on $50,000 bail.

On November 9, 2012, a lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles which alleges that on October 6, 2012 Williams hit his former assistant with "a closed fist" causing serious injury. The plaintiff is asking for punitive damages in the amount of $5 million.

On November 15, 2012, he was arrested in Oakland, California on charges of suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly beating an 18-year-old Berkeley, California man with a bottle aboard Williams' tour bus.

An attendee of Williams' aborted November 16, 2012 performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland filed a class action lawsuit days after the event, seeking compensation for himself and "all others who paid money for a show and got nothing but Katt Williams' nonperformance."

On December 2, 2012, he was arrested in Seattle after he allegedly got into a dispute at a bar in South Lake Union. Williams’ arrest came after his no-show November 29, 2012 for the first night of a planned two-night engagement at the Paramount Theatre. Five days later, Williams was arrested in Dunnigan, California on a bench warrant arising from a November 25, 2012, incident in Sacramento during which he allegedly drove a three-wheeled motorbike on a sidewalk and refused to stop for police. The resulting chase was halted due to safety concerns, and the bench warrant issued, after Williams narrowly missed several bystanders.

On December 28, 2012, Williams was arrested in Los Angeles on child endangerment charges. He was held in lieu of $100,000 bail, and his four children were placed in protective custody.

On January 8, 2013, he was arrested at his LA home after failing to appear in Sacramento to answer the November 25 motorbike charges.

On October 29, 2014, Williams and Suge Knight were arrested for the theft of a camera from a female photographer in Beverly Hills on September 5.

On February 29, 2016, Williams was arrested in Gainesville, Georgia after a clerk at a pool store said that Katt hit him. Katt was laying face down with hands behind back when police arrived.

In March 2016, a video went viral showing Williams involved in a tussle with a 7th grader in Gainesville, Georgia. Because Williams allegedly threw the first punch, police launched an investigation into his actions.

On April 27, 2016, Williams was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia and charged with battery after allegedly throwing a salt shaker at the manager of Spondivits, a local restaurant. The manager claimed to have been hit in the mouth with the salt shaker after Williams' group was denied preferential seating. Williams was arrested a short time later at a nearby Waffle House.

Personal life

Williams is the father of eight children, including one biological son named Micah from his former marriage and seven adopted children.

In 2008, he moved with his children to South Dakota and set-up temporary residence. He later tried to purchase said house from his attorney J.J James as a permanent residence for him and his family. A former nanny won custody of one of his children (an 8-year-old girl) after Williams failed to make a court appearance. The following month, he filed a claim that the nanny was a "shameless fraud" and won back custody of his child.

Williams temporarily joined the Nation of Islam before reverting to Christianity.

Awards and nominations

In 2007, Williams was nominated for the Teen Choice Awards Choice Comedian Award.

Awards and nominations for Katt Williams

Year	Work	Category	Award Show	Result	Ref
2007	N/A	Choice Comedian	Teen Choice Awards	Nominated

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
2002	Friday After Next	Money Mike
2003	Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd	Neighbor	Uncredited
2006	Repos	Mr. Henderson
	Katt Williams: Live: Let a Playa Play	Himself	Stand-up
	The Pimp Chronicles, Pt. 1	Himself	Stand-up
2007	Roast Of Flavor Flav	Himself	Host
	Norbit	Lord Have Mercy
	The Perfect Holiday	Delicious
	American Hustle: The Movie	Himself	Stand-up
	Epic Movie	Harry Beaver	Voice
2008	Internet Dating	Mickey
	First Sunday	Rickey
	It's Pimpin' Pimpin'	Himself	Stand-up
2009	Lonely Street	Rodent
	Katt Williams Presents: Katthouse	Himself	Host
	Katt Williams: Pimpadelic	Himself	Documentary
2010	Katt Williams: 9 Lives	Himself	Documentary
	Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore	Seamus	Voice
2012	Kattpacalypse	Himself	Stand-up
	The Obama Effect	MLK
2013	Scary Movie 5	Blaine Fulda
2014	Priceless: Afterlife	Himself	Stand-up
	School Dance	Darren
2016	Bastards		Filming

Television

Television
Year	Show	Role	Notes
2002	NYPD Blue	Martel Cates
2004	The Tracy Morgan Show	Freddie
2004-2005	My Wife and Kids	Bobby Shaw
2005	Girlfriends	Rick Beatty
	Cuts	Barry
2005-2008	The Boondocks	A Pimp Named Slickback (voice)
2007	Nick Cannon Presents: Short Circuitz	Barry

Discography

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US	US Heat
The Pimp Chronicles, Pt. 1	Released: 2006 Label: Salient Media Formats: CD, LP	—	—
It's Pimpin' Pimpin'	Released: January 29, 2009 Label: Warner Bros. Records Formats: CD, LP	174	5
Pimpadelic	Released: April 17, 2012 Label: KattPack / Comedy Central Records Formats: CD, LP	—	—
Kattpacalypse	Released: September 18, 2012 Label: KattPack / E1 Music Formats: CD, LP	—	—
Live	Released: October 15, 2012 Label: Three T's Entertainment Formats: CD, LP	—	—

[ Source: Wikipedia ]