Photo: Florida Supercon at http://www.supercon.tv/ / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Fred Williamson is pure swagger, and I mean that as a compliment. Going from an AFL defensive back nicknamed 'the Hammer' to a leading man in 1970s blaxploitation and action cinema is a reinvention most athletes can only dream about. What I admire is that he didn't just act, he directed and wrote too, taking control of his own image at a time when that was rare. There's a confidence in everything he touched that you can't fake. He's a genuine cult figure to me, the kind of self-made screen presence who built a legend on his own terms and never apologized for it.
Overview
Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), nicknamed "the Hammer", is an American actor, filmmaker, and former football player. He played professional football as a defensive back, primarily in the American Football League (AFL) during the 1960s. He was a top sports star during the decade, and became a leading man in blaxploitation and action films beginning in the 1970s.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Fred Williamson
- Name (Japanese)
- フレッド・ウィリアムソン
- Reading
- ふれっど・うぃりあむそん
- Born
- March 5, 1938 (age 88)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Tiger
- Origin
- Gary, Indiana, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 75 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / film director / film actor / American football player / screenwriter
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Northwestern University
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Actor — see all → · Film director — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.