Montell Williams
Montel Brian Anthony Williams (born July 3, 1956) is an American television personality, radio talk show host and actor.
Williams was born in San Antonio, Texas. As a resident of Glen Burnie, Maryland, he was bussed to predominantly white Andover High School in neighboring Linthicum, Maryland where he was elected president of both his junior and senior classes. He was a good student, athlete and musician and active in county-wide student government issues in Annapolis, Maryland. His father, Herman Williams, Jr., was a firefighter who in 1992 became Baltimore's first African-American Fire Chief.
Montel began The Montel Williams Show (syndicated by CBS Paramount Television) in 1991. In 1996, Williams received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host. Ratings for the show peaked during the 1996-1997 season, with 4.4 average rating. He was again nominated for Outstanding Talk Show Host in 2002, and the Montel Williams Show was nominated for Outstanding Talk Show in 2001 and 2002.
On January 30, 2008, Variety reported that CBS TV Distribution terminated The Montel Williams Show when key Fox-owned stations chose not to renew it for the 2008-09 season.[5] It has been alleged that this resulted in part from an appearance on the show Fox & Friends in which Williams criticized the media's lack of coverage on the Iraq War, and took the hosts to task for their excessive coverage (along with the media in general) of the death of actor Heath Ledger, contrasted with the sparse coverage of U.S. soldiers dying in Iraq[citation needed]. Some have noted that one of the segment's hosts told viewers that Williams would return for further conversation after a commercial break, but that Williams was no longer on the set when the commercials ended. On May 16, 2008 the last episode of The Montel Williams Show aired
In 1999 he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He tried a litany of pain killers; none of which effectively worked in controlling his symptoms, and all had horrible side effects. Turning to medical marijuana he found a safe and effective remedy. Now, he is one of MS’s most recognizable faces, and one of medical marijuana’s staunchest defenders.
Williams was born in San Antonio, Texas. As a resident of Glen Burnie, Maryland, he was bussed to predominantly white Andover High School in neighboring Linthicum, Maryland where he was elected president of both his junior and senior classes. He was a good student, athlete and musician and active in county-wide student government issues in Annapolis, Maryland. His father, Herman Williams, Jr., was a firefighter who in 1992 became Baltimore's first African-American Fire Chief.
Montel began The Montel Williams Show (syndicated by CBS Paramount Television) in 1991. In 1996, Williams received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host. Ratings for the show peaked during the 1996-1997 season, with 4.4 average rating. He was again nominated for Outstanding Talk Show Host in 2002, and the Montel Williams Show was nominated for Outstanding Talk Show in 2001 and 2002.
On January 30, 2008, Variety reported that CBS TV Distribution terminated The Montel Williams Show when key Fox-owned stations chose not to renew it for the 2008-09 season.[5] It has been alleged that this resulted in part from an appearance on the show Fox & Friends in which Williams criticized the media's lack of coverage on the Iraq War, and took the hosts to task for their excessive coverage (along with the media in general) of the death of actor Heath Ledger, contrasted with the sparse coverage of U.S. soldiers dying in Iraq[citation needed]. Some have noted that one of the segment's hosts told viewers that Williams would return for further conversation after a commercial break, but that Williams was no longer on the set when the commercials ended. On May 16, 2008 the last episode of The Montel Williams Show aired
In 1999 he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He tried a litany of pain killers; none of which effectively worked in controlling his symptoms, and all had horrible side effects. Turning to medical marijuana he found a safe and effective remedy. Now, he is one of MS’s most recognizable faces, and one of medical marijuana’s staunchest defenders.
