Melanie Kay "Meadow" Williams (born February 10, 1966) is an American actress and producer. She began her career appearing in small roles in films including ''
Beverly Hills Cop III
''Beverly Hills Cop III'' is a 1994 American action comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by John Landis, who had previously worked with Murphy on ''Trading Places'' and ''Coming to America''. It is the third film in the Beverly Hills C ...
'' (1994), ''
The Mask'' (1994) and ''
Apollo 13'' (1995). In the 2000s, Williams began working as film producer; her credits include ''
The Harvest'' (2013), ''
Den of Thieves'' (2018), ''
After
After may refer to:
Literature
* ''After'' (Elgar), an 1895 poem by Philip Bourke Marston set to music by Edward Elgar
* ''After'' (Prose novel), a 2003 novel by Francine Prose
* ''After'' (book), a 2005 book by Canadian writer Francis Chalifour
...
'' (2019), and ''
Boss Level
''Boss Level'' is a 2020 American science fiction action film directed by Joe Carnahan and written by Carnahan and Chris and Eddie Borey, from a story by the Boreys. It stars Frank Grillo as a retired special forces soldier who tries to escape a ...
'' (2020). She played
Mildred Gillars
Mildred Elizabeth Gillars ( Sisk; November 29, 1900 ā June 25, 1988) was an American broadcaster employed by Nazi Germany to disseminate Axis propaganda during World War II. Following her capture in post-war Berlin, she became the first woman t ...
in the 2021 drama film ''
American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally'', which she also financed.
Williams' acting talent and professional conduct as a film producer were criticized by her ''American Traitor'' co-star,
Al Pacino.
Life and career
Melanie Kay Williams was born in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and grew up in
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
.
She began performing in high school and later moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
for work as a model. In New York, Williams studied acting at
Larry Moss Studio[ and later moved to Los Angeles when she began appearing in episodes of television series include '' Murder, She Wrote'', '' Dream On'' and '' Married... with Children''. Williams also had secondary roles in films '']Beverly Hills Cop III
''Beverly Hills Cop III'' is a 1994 American action comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by John Landis, who had previously worked with Murphy on ''Trading Places'' and ''Coming to America''. It is the third film in the Beverly Hills C ...
'' (1994), '' The Mask'' (1994) and '' Apollo 13'' (1995).
In 2008, Williams began producing and starring in the independent films, include the leading roles in ''Skeletons in the Desert'' (2008), ''Raven'' (2010), and '' Mysteria'' (2011). She produced and co-starred opposite Samantha Morton
Samantha Jane Morton (born 13 May 1977) is an English actress and director. Known for her work in independent cinema, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two ...
in the 2013 horror film '' The Harvest'', and well as action film '' Den of Thieves'' (2018) and romantic drama ''After
After may refer to:
Literature
* ''After'' (Elgar), an 1895 poem by Philip Bourke Marston set to music by Edward Elgar
* ''After'' (Prose novel), a 2003 novel by Francine Prose
* ''After'' (book), a 2005 book by Canadian writer Francis Chalifour
...
'' (2019). In 2017, she won Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series
The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series was an award presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS).
The first incarnation of the award was the ...
as a producer of web-series '' The Bay''. She starred opposite Sylvester Stallone in the 2018 action film ''Backtrace
In computing, a stack trace (also called stack backtrace or stack traceback) is a report of the active stack frames at a certain point in time during the execution of a program. When a program is run, memory is often dynamically allocated in two p ...
'', and alongside Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985ā1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...
in the 2019 thriller ''10 Minutes Gone
''10 Minutes Gone'' is a 2019 crime thriller action film directed by Brian A. Miller. The film stars Bruce Willis and Michael Chiklis, and was released on September 27, 2019.
Plot
Expert bank robber Frank Sullivan (Michael Chiklis) never had a jo ...
''. She next played the role of Mildred Gillars
Mildred Elizabeth Gillars ( Sisk; November 29, 1900 ā June 25, 1988) was an American broadcaster employed by Nazi Germany to disseminate Axis propaganda during World War II. Following her capture in post-war Berlin, she became the first woman t ...
in the drama film '' American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally'' opposite Al Pacino.
Williams' ''American Traitor'' co-star Al Pacino criticized her acting performance in the film, as well as her professionalism as a producer on the project.
In a 2019 email to producer Randall Emmett
Randall Emmett (born March 25, 1971) is an American film producer and television personality. He is the chairman and co-founder of production company Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films.
Emmett is best known as the producer of the films ''2 Guns'', ''Sil ...
, Pacino suggested adding another shooting day to the film "to help illiamsgive a better performance". "Let's do this Randall. I'm not going for the A's or the B's. Iām going for something between C and B. I don't like Ds," wrote Pacino, "And, as long as you put the effort in with what you know about filmmaking and Michael too I'm sure we'll get to a B-. And that's good enough for me, if it's good enough for you." Pacino also complained that Williams was interfering with director Michael Polish
Mark Polish and Michael Polish (born October 30, 1970), known informally as the Polish brothers, are American twin screenwriters and film producers. Michael usually directs their films, and Mark often has an acting role.
Life
The Polish brothe ...
's editing process. "My thought Randall is very simple. She is not a professional. ... Someone has to say 'back off a second dear, we're completing the film still, take a look when it's ready'," Pacino wrote to Emmett.
Personal life
She was married to her first husband until 2010. In 2010, she married Gerald Kessler, a vitamin tycoon multi-millionaire. Kessler died in 2015 and she inherited almost all of his $800 million estate, which was the subject of legal action by Kessler's children from his previous marriage. Since 2017 she has been dating actor Swen Temmel.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Meadow
1966 births
Living people
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American businesspeople
Actresses from Miami
American film actresses
American film producers
American television actresses
American women film producers
Businesspeople from Miami
Film producers from Florida