Katt Williams facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Katt Williams
Williams in February 2017
Birth name	Micah Williams
Born	(1971-09-02) September 2, 1971 (age 53) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up comedy, television, film, music
Genres	Black comedy, blue comedy, satire, observational comedy, physical comedy
Subject(s)	African-American culture, racism, politics, celebrities
Children	10 (3 biological, 7 adopted)

Micah "Katt" Williams (born September 2, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Money Mike in Friday After Next, was a recurring guest on Wild 'n Out, portrayed Bobby Shaw in My Wife and Kids, provided the voice of Seamus in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, and portrayed Lord Have Mercy in Norbit. In 2008, he voiced himself in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV.

Early life

Micah Williams was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 2, 1971. He was raised in Dayton, Ohio by Jehovah's Witness parents.

Williams has stated that he learned to read at 3 years old and was communicating in multiple languages, including French and Creole. During his childhood he lived in Haiti for 1.5 years where he did mission trips with his family. He emancipated himself from his parents at age 13, moved to Florida and supported himself as a street vendor. This was due to his father being intolerant and unsupportive of a life outside of the Jehovah's Witnesses and him wanting a future that was without the religion. He was homeless in Florida and lived at a park.

Career

Stand-up career

Williams started performing comedy in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati. He honed his comic delivery by performing his routine in clubs around the country and had become an established comic by 1999, appearing at the likes of The Improv, The Comedy Club, The Ice House, and Hollywood Park Casino. Most notably, he appeared on BET's ComicView as Katt "N da Hatt" Williams.

Williams starred in his first comedy special, Let a Playa Play, in 2006. His first HBO stand-up special came in 2006. In 2007, he co-wrote and starred as himself in the comedy film Katt Williams: American Hustle. The film had critical success and established Williams as a mainstream comedian. Keeping busy releasing comedy DVDs and touring, Williams had a comedy tour that was named the best of 2008 by Billboard.

After a four-year hiatus, Williams returned to stand-up in 2012 for his third HBO comedy special, Kattpacalypse. Later that year, one day after a bizarre incident at a bar in Seattle that landed him in jail, he announced the end of his stand-up comedy career. However, three days later, he announced he would not retire.

During late 2013, Williams was on his Growth Spurt Tour. On August 16, 2014, he returned with a new HBO special titled Katt Williams: Priceless: Afterlife, which was directed by Spike Lee.

In September 2015, during an interview, Williams announced and described his upcoming Conspiracy Theory Tour: "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 [me] again. This is the open discussion that we've had since 2003. This is what it is about."

In 2018, Williams released a new stand-up special on Netflix called Great America and shot in Jacksonville, Florida. In 2022, he released a new stand-up special on Netflix called World War III.

Acting career

In 2002, Williams made his acting debut on NYPD Blue on the sixth episode of its tenth season on October 29. Williams is best-known for his character Money Mike in the film Friday After Next (2002), and has played supporting characters in Norbit (2007) and First Sunday (2008).

He appeared as a regular on Wild 'n Out on MTV during its first three seasons.

Williams plays himself as an on-stage stand-up comedian in Grand Theft Auto IV performing several routines, including an abbreviated version of one of his routines from Katt Williams: American Hustle. He has appeared in several episodes of My Wife and Kids as character Bobby Shaw. He was the roastmaster of the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav.

In 2018, he played the character Willy in the season 2 premiere of Atlanta, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

Music career

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

Personal life

Williams has ten children consisting of three biological and seven adopted children. Williams is a Christian and often wears a cross during his shows as a symbol of his faith, though he briefly joined the Nation of Islam while living in Oakland, California.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stand-up comedy specials

Video games

Documentaries

Discography

Awards and nominations

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

In 2018, he won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his appearance on the show Atlanta.

See also

In Spanish: Katt Williams para niños