Meadow Williams
Born
Melanie Kay Williams[1]

(1966-02-10) February 10, 1966
Miami, Florida, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1989–present
Spouse
Gerald Kessler
​
​
(m. 2010; died 2015)​

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 (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 (2019), and Boss Level (2020). She played Mildred Gillars 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.[2]

Life and career

Melanie Kay Williams was born in Miami, Florida and grew up in Tennessee.[3] She began performing in high school and later moved to New York City for work as a model. In New York, Williams studied acting at Larry Moss Studio[3] 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 (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 in the 2013 horror film The Harvest, and well as action film Den of Thieves (2018) and romantic drama After (2019).[4] In 2017, she won Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series as a producer of web-series The Bay.[5] She starred opposite Sylvester Stallone in the 2018 action film Backtrace,[6][7] and alongside Bruce Willis in the 2019 thriller 10 Minutes Gone.[8] She next played the role of Mildred Gillars in the drama film American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally opposite Al Pacino.[9] 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.[10]

In a 2019 email to producer Randall Emmett, Pacino suggested adding another shooting day to the film "to help [Williams] give a better performance".[10] "Let's do this Randall. I'm not going for the A's or the B's. I’m 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."[2] Pacino also complained that Williams was interfering with director Michael Polish'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.[2]

Personal life

She was married to her first husband until 2010.[1] 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.[1][11] Since 2017 she has been dating actor Swen Temmel.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1989 The Nutzoids at Cannibal Cove Bitsy
1994 Turn of the Blade Calendar Girl
1994 Beverly Hills Cop III Spider Rider
1994 The Mask Pebbles
1995 Apollo 13 Kim
1995 Virtual Seduction Hostess Television film
1999 NewsRadio Julie
2000 The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave Girl Driver
2001 Soulkeeper Buxom Babe
2003 The Box Dancer
2004 Uh Oh! Tara
2004 Miss Cast Away Flight Attendant Television film
2008 Jack Rio Andrea Shane Also producer
2008 Skeletons in the Desert Casey Stevens Also producer
2010 Light Years Away Misty
2010 Raven Raven Also producer
2011 Mysteria Lavinia
2011 Sebastian Miranda Barnes
2013 The Harvest Sandra Also producer
2014 Reclaim Barmaid
2014 Reach Me Phyllis
2016 Officer Downe Mother Supreme
2017 The Intruders Lily Also producer and writer
2018 Den of Thieves Holly Also executive producer
2018 Backtrace Erin Also executive producer
2019 After Professor Soto Also producer
2019 10 Minutes Gone Claire Also executive producer
2019 Escape Plan: The Extractors Executive producer
2020 Boss Level Pam Also executive producer
2020 Broken Soldier Mrs. Ancilla
2020 A Place Among the Dead Alex
2021 American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally Mildred Gillars Also producer
2021 Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman Diane Pittman Also producer
2022 Savage Salvation Detective Zeppelin
2023 The Donor Party Barbara
2023 Confidential Informant Jenny Sullivan
TBA Outlaw Posse Aphrodite Post-production, also executive producer[12]
TBA Den Of Thieves 2[13] Holly Also executive producer

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1993 Murder, She Wrote Michele Episode: "The Sound of Murder"
1994 Docent Episode: "A Nest of Vipers"
1995 Dream On Tina Episode: "Try Not to Remember"
The Larry Sanders Show Woman Episode: "Hank's Sex Tape"
1996 Campus Cops Cindy Episode: "Muskrat Ramble"
Married... with Children Angela Episode: "Spring Break: Part 2"
1999 NewsRadio Julie Episode: "Apartment"
2017–present The Bay Silver Recurring role, also executive producer
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series (2017, 2020)[5][14][15]
Nominated — Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Drama Series (2021)[16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Tycoon leaves $800M to young widow - but is she a bigamist? | Truecrimedaily.com". crimewatch.
  2. 1 2 3 "The man who played Hollywood: Inside Randall Emmett's crumbling empire". Los Angeles Times. June 30, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Meadow Williams | TV Guide". TVGuide.com.
  4. ↑ "Meadow Williams talks 'After' film, motivations and acting advice (Includes interview)". www.digitaljournal.com. April 10, 2019.
  5. 1 2 "The 44th Annual Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Winners" (PDF). New York City: National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. April 28, 2017. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Backtrace (2018)" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  7. ↑ Leydon, Joe (December 14, 2018). "Film Review: 'Backtrace'".
  8. ↑ "'10 Minutes Gone': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
  9. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 1, 2018). "Al Pacino, Meadow Williams Star In MoviePass Films Drama 'Axis Sally'".
  10. 1 2 "The man who played Hollywood: Inside Randall Emmett's crumbling empire". Los Angeles Times. June 30, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  11. ↑ Otis, Ginger Adams (September 14, 2015). "Actress obtained late husband's $800M estate through fraud: lawsuit". nydailynews.com.
  12. ↑ Grobar, Matt (November 9, 2022). "Whoopi Goldberg, Cedric The Entertainer, Edward James Olmos & More Join Quiver Western 'Outlaws' Directed By & Starring Mario Van Peebles".
  13. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (February 2, 2022). "'Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera': Gerard Butler Action Sequel Gears Up For Spring Shoot In Europe; Domestic Buyers Circling — EFM".
  14. ↑ Lewis, Hilary (June 26, 2020). "Daytime Emmys: The Young and the Restless Wins Best Drama Series". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  15. ↑ Evans, Greg (June 27, 2020). "Daytime Emmys: The Young & The Restless, Alex Trebek Take Top Prizes – Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  16. ↑ "The 48th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Nominations". New York: emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
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