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Montel Brian Anthony Williams (born July 3, 1956) is an American television host and actor. He is known for hosting the daytime tabloid talk show The Montel Williams Show, which ran in syndication from 1991 to 2008. He currently hosts The Balancing Act and Military Makeover with Montel airing on Lifetime. Williams founded the Montel Williams MS Foundation after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999. He is noted for his service in both the United States Marine Corps and the United States Navy, from which he retired after 22 years of service. Montel Williams to host national convention opening. American Legion. Retrieved May 26, 2021. Montel Williams, A Lifetime of Service. U.S. Veterans Magazine. Retrieved May 26, 2021. Montel Williams at Omega Eomega.org. Retrieved May 26, 2021. 24 cultural icons who served in the US military: Montel Williams served in the US Navy Reserve for 22 years. Business Insider. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
Williams was raised as a Catholicism and served as an altar server in the Catholic Church.
Montel's father, Herman Williams, Jr., was a firefighter who in 1992 became Baltimore's first African American fire chief. Montel's mother is biracial.
He graduated in 1980 with a degree in general engineering and a minor in international security affairs. He completed naval cryptologic officer training, and spent 18 months in Guam as a Cryptography officer for naval intelligence. He was later supervising cryptologic officer with the Naval Security Fleet Support Division at Fort Meade, Maryland. There, Williams worked for the National Security Agency, where he was involved in the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983, known as Operation Urgent Fury. On several occasions, he worked to secure the release of United States citizens—typically military personnel who had been captured in foreign lands—returned to U.S. soil. After 17 years of active duty and five more as a reservist, Williams retired in 1996 from the Naval Reserve at the rank of lieutenant commander after 22 years of service. His awards include two Meritorious Service Medals, two Navy Commendation Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, the Navy Achievement Medal, two Navy Expeditionary Medals, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, and two Humanitarian Service Medals. Interview with Montel Williams – by Dr. Gillian Friedman and Chet Cooper. Ability Magazine. Retrieved May 26, 2021. Williams, Montel, LCDR – USN Veteran. TogetherWeServed. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
As a civilian, Willams was again honored in 2008 with a Navy Superior Public Service Award for his "continuous support and recognition of Sailors, Marines and their families throughout his 17 years on television".
On January 30, 2008, Variety reported that CBS TV Distribution had terminated The Montel Williams Show when key Fox-owned stations chose not to renew it for the 2008–09 season.Littleton, Cynthia. (January 30, 2008) Variety – Montel Williams calls it quits . Variety.com. Retrieved on 2013-01-07. On May 16, 2008, the last episode of The Montel Williams Show aired. Montel Williams – Bonus Videos . Montelshow.com. Retrieved on January 7, 2013. Speculation followed the end of The Montel Williams Show, which was canceled immediately after Williams criticized mainstream news media's preference for stories about Hollywood stars over those about military personnel and events. Commentators felt his statements may have alienated the Fox TV Network.
On November 10, 2010, Oprah Winfrey invited Williams, along with former talk show hosts Phil Donahue, Geraldo Rivera, Ricki Lake, and Sally Jessy Raphael, as guests on her show. This was the first time that the fellow talkers had appeared together since their programs left the air. from Donahue, Sally Jessy, Geraldo, Montel, Ricki: Talk show hosts—where are they now? . Oprah.com (November 10, 2010). Retrieved on 2013-01-07.
Williams' work has been criticized by the Independent Investigations Group, which declared The Montel Williams Show to be noteworthy Truly Terrible Television with its satirical TTTV award (for similar reasons, awarded to "every episode featuring Sylvia Browne").
Controversial self-declared psychic Sylvia Browne featured frequently on The Montel Williams Show from 1991 until its finale in 2008. Williams described Browne as "the most-appearing guest on a talk show in the history of television" and "the longest-running guest in daytime television", and her appearances included particularly controversial incidents relating to kidnap victims Shawn Hornbeck and Amanda Berry. Williams was criticized for allowing his high-profile show to serve as a channel for Browne, notably by fellow retired military officer Hal Bidlack, with Bidlack publicly asking, "Commander Williams, have you lost your honor?" In February 2019, an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver featured a segment on television psychics and Williams' association with Browne was criticized.IMDb, Last Week Tonight,
Williams also appeared in a Perry Mason movie in 1993 titled The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host. His character, Boomer Kelly, was a former football player who was appearing on a radio talk show whose owner was found murdered. He was also a voice actor in 2008 in the political satire film War, Inc., providing the voice of the main character's GPS tracking device/counselor.
On October 1, 2019, Williams appeared in an episode of the Fox drama The Resident entitled, "Flesh of My Flesh". Williams played himself, as a TV personality covering a nearly impossible cancer surgery being performed on an adoptive mother of seven.
Williams's public-relations representatives later apologized for his hostile outburst in an issued statement: "I mistakenly thought the reporter and photographer in question were at the hotel to confront me about some earlier comments. I was wrong, and I apologize for my overreaction". In 2010 Williams became chief spokesman for the Poker Training Network, now Card Geniuses, a MLM-based poker instruction and playing website.
As of May 2009, he started hosting an infomercial for the Living Well Healthmaster, a blender product. It is presented under the title Living Well with Montel; the infomercial is structured similarly to his old talk show, featuring guests talking about their health problems, with the Healthmaster mixer being the solution. Later episodes of Living Well with Montel advertised a home pressure cooker and an identity theft protection service. In June 2010, Williams began doing infomercials for LifeLock, a security fraud company. Media Spots | Living Well | Montel . LifeLock (July 28, 2010). Retrieved on 2013-01-07.
On October 1, 2014, Williams spoke in front of a Congressional committee in support of Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, who was arrested in Tijuana, Baja California, for carrying guns across the U.S.-Mexican border.
Williams was once a Republican, leaving the political party in 1993 and registering as an independent. He is a supporter of LGBT rights. He endorsed Hillary Clinton for president as the superior choice, writing that Donald Trump posed a "clear and present danger" to the nation.
On September 2, 2021, Williams was appointed as a director on the board of Better for You Wellness, Inc.
In 2001, Williams briefly dated Kamala Harris, who later went on to become Vice President of the United States after future President, Joe Biden, won the 2020 election. Williams tweeted in 2020 that he had "'great respect'" for Harris.
In July 2006, Williams proposed to girlfriend Tara Fowler, an American Airlines flight attendant. They married before friends and family on a beach in Bermuda on October 6, 2007. Montel Williams Marries – Weddings, Montel Williams. People. Retrieved on January 7, 2013.
Williams participated in the 2007 World Series of Poker main event, and planned to donate any potential winnings to American families affected by the Iraq War. He was eliminated on Day 2. During the event, Williams also spoke out about the port security bill signed in 2006 that banned online gaming sites from accepting money transactions from the U.S.
Four months after making a guest appearance in an episode of Touched by an Angel, in 1999, Williams was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In the following year, Williams created the MS Foundation, a nonprofit organization with a focus on research and education. Williams has openly stated that he uses medical cannabis, stating it helps to ease his multiple sclerosis-caused neuropathic pain. Williams has become a vocal advocate of cannabis, supporting efforts to pass medical cannabis laws in the United States, as well as calling for full legalization. He has also said that snowboarding is his "best therapy" for multiple sclerosis, commenting, "When I stand up, I need first to hold on to something and think about the positioning of my legs. If I were to just start walking, I would fall. I have to get my brain to find my legs and then I will usually take a test step, but I say something at the time to anyone who might be watching to distract from what I'm really doing. Then I'll find places to grab as I walk and talk, sometimes even walking backwards because I have more control that way. People have no idea that I'm doing this. But when I'm snowboarding and my feet are strapped in, my brain seems to have a direct connection to my legs. After snowboarding, it's night and day for my balance and walking. There's a real physical change before I get up the mountain and when I come down. The benefits last for days."
Williams was hospitalized on May 30, 2018, when he had a cerebellar hemorrhagic stroke while working out at a gym.
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