Movies

Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media.

He has starred in such films as The Thing (1982), Platoon (1986), They Live (1988), Dead Presidents (1995), Armageddon (1998), There's Something About Mary (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), Pitch Black (2000), Barbershop (2002), Crash (2004), The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), Cloud Atlas (2012), The Nice Guys (2016), and Nope (2022). He starred as Elroy Patashnik in the sixth season of the NBC series Community (2015) and starred as Bishop James Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama Greenleaf (2016–2020).

His Emmy-winning voice-over career includes work as the narrator of Ken Burns films such as The War (2007) and Muhammad Ali (2021). In film, characters that he has voiced include Dr. Facilier in The Princess and the Frog (2009) and the Cat in Coraline (2009). On television, he portrayed Goliath on Gargoyles (1994–1997), Al Simmons / Spawn on Todd McFarlane's Spawn (1997–1999), The Flame King on Adventure Time (2012–2017), the President on Rick and Morty (2015–), and King Andrias on Amphibia (2020–2022). Video game roles include the Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee in the Halo franchise (2004–2015), Julius Little and himself in the Saints Row series (2006–2017), Anderson in the Mass Effect series (2007–2013), Chaos in Dissidia Final Fantasy (2008), and Sergeant Foley in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009).

Early life and education
David was born June 4, 1956, in Harlem, New York City, and raised in Corona, Queens. His mother, Dolores (née Dickenson), was a manager at New York Telephone, and his father, Lester Williams, worked as a director of payroll operations.

He initially intended to become an actor after playing the Cowardly Lion in a school production of The Wizard of Oz and went on to study at Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts. He attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division (1975–1979, Group 8) where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1979.