Sammy Davis, Andy Williams, Tony Bennett… their records sell in the millions; when I do it, it just trickles. But for the composer and lyricist, there’s a tidy bit to be made that way, too, so I don’t really mind.
I’m a big fan of rocky girls. I love Hayley Williams and the lead singer from Tonight Alive.
Even when I first started modeling, my loyalty to those girls like Molly Goddard, Ashley Williams, and Dilara Findikoglu was important. I like to support them as much as I can. For me, it’s as important to walk in their show or wearing their clothes as it is doing a Marc Jacobs show.
‘The Glass Menagerie’ by Tennessee Williams is a great play. I had to read it for school when I was younger, but I started writing scripts after that. That’s what got me into writing.
There was something about Hank Williams, Jr. that I really latched onto from an early age.
My education as a film composer, you can’t not – if you like the orchestra like I do, if you are a symphonist like I am – you can’t not listen to John Williams’ work.
I love Glenn Gould. Max Steiner. John Williams. Louis Prima. Benny Goodman. Miles Davis. John Philip Sousa.
There was no saying I could ever step in and do what John does, because it’d be really hard to be John Williams.
By the age of 15, I knew over 40 Hank Williams songs.
I love Michelle Williams and Natalie Portman – those are the careers I want. My goal is to win an Oscar, and I’m going to take the steps to get there.
I worked with an indie filmmaker called Mark Williams, a lawyer who was making a zero-budget family drama called ‘Move Me.’
In reality, I never even got to have a Hank Williams instrument. I got a tie, a fishing lure and a check.
Everybody remembers Robbie Williams said I had a face like a satellite dish.
I’ve gotten to wrestle some of the best women and men in the world – Brian Cage, AR Fox, Scorpio Sky, Tracy Williams, David Starr.
Again like Williams, with the emphasis now regrettable, when a man makes a poem, makes it mind you, he takes the words as he finds them lying interrelated about him.
I’ve always looked at guys who I’ve admired, like John Williams and Lalo Schifrin and Max Steiner, and looked at the choices they made and always try to take a cue from that.
One of the things I did, I would go, ‘Dad, I know you don’t know how to work YouTube, but wait until you see this concert. I found Hank Williams in 1940. And look at this.’ Then that brings on memories and it brings happiness and it gives him a little extra breath in life.
Serena Williams is my sports idol.
I wish there was a painter who could paint as well as Ted Williams could hit.
Tony Williams, Billy Cobham and Lenny White; some of those guys were big influences on me.
You were saying that once when visiting Yale, you were struck that unlike Pound, Williams’s thinking was volatile, I mean, did not stay locked into a pattern of concepts that then defined his subsequent necessary behavior, whereas Pound did.
No, I want my kids to be Tiger Woods. And Serena Williams. I dig those two.
Look, when I started out, mainstream culture was Sinatra, Perry Como, Andy Williams, Sound of Music. There was no fitting into it then and of course, there’s no fitting into it now.
I was like, ‘If I bang your thing, will you bang my thing? Will you sing on my album?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, of course.’ So I’ve got Robbie Williams on my album. Robbie Williams on grime.
I wouldn’t want to cover a Hank Williams song in a country-western way. It doesn’t occur to me instinctually to re-create productions. I’m interested in re-creating songs. Putting different clothes on them.
The prospects for a coherent, hilarious and consistent American comedy seem to lessen every year, as the poor waterlogged, gassy corpse called ‘Evan Almighty’ proved when it floated ashore recently. So there’s a temptation to think too highly of Robin Williams’s uneven but occasionally funny ‘License to Wed.’
Treat Williams and I have been friends for years. To finally get to work together was great.
When I was a kid, man, my dad used to buy me the Ted Williams glove at Sears with the Ted Williams shoes with the eight stripes on ’em. I used to play Little League, and I was Ted Williams-ed out.
I trained as a classical actor in London for three years. We did Tennessee Williams and dialect and accent classes; they were one of my favorite things to do each week. And we’d strip it down to the phonetics and listen to the sound. It was a really interesting way to look at it all.
Perhaps because my background is theatrical, I have a great affinity with the classics. Hamlet has always been a character of great interest to me and a character I would really love to play. Or a character in a Tennessee Williams play, maybe Tom in ‘The Glass Menagerie.’
Like a lot of young lads who dreamt about being a singer, I was a massive fan of Robbie Williams and couldn’t believe my luck when, not only did I get to meet my idol, but sing with him, too.
Williams has a long history of nurturing young drivers at the start of their F1 careers.
Before Williams, what I wanted more than anything was a Division I offer. Not getting it, and going to Williams, and embracing that, I guess… it sounds corny, but that gave me respect for the game.
My heroes were always Looney Toons, Robin Williams, the Three Stooges. I think everything I do is kinda funny. I think I’m sort of ridiculous.
I didn’t get to meet Hank Williams. I was in the Air Force on Okinawa when he passed away.
It was cinematographer George C. Williams who first told me about ‘Sakhavu.’ He said that the script was good and asked me to listen to it. Later, Sidhartha Siva called me and narrated the script over the phone.
When they told me there would be a statue erected at Wrigley Field, I was happy with that. I know there will be a meeting place for a lot of people. There will be a conversation every day. They say now, ‘I’ll meet you at Ernie Banks’ statue.’ After Sept. 7, they’ll say, ‘I’ll meet you by Billy Williams’ statue.’
I have to audition for everything; there is no Mrs. Robbie Williams free pass, and because I’m working with British actors everyone is so polite – no one mentions Robbie.
I remember seeing ‘Aladdin’ when I was five or six and loving it. I looked at the big screen and said to my mum, ‘Whatever this Genie guy does, I want to do.’ Mum said I couldn’t be a genie, but that Robin Williams, who did the voice-over in the film, was an actor. So I said, ‘OK, then, I want to be an actor.’
I’m often asked who my style icon is, and almost every time I try to think of someone current who excites me. And although there are a few women who interest me – Tilda Swinton, Michelle Williams, Julianne Moore – the real answer is Twiggy.
I got a lot of influences. I got relevant influences today. I got influences that you wouldn’t even think of. I’m very influenced by Marilyn Manson. His style is ridiculous. Like, honestly, if you want me to keep it 100, Marilyn Manson has as much style as Kanye West and Pharrell Williams.
I don’t believe in ghosts or ESP or elves… or God. But I am spiritual in the sense that I get a lump in my throat when I listen to Vaughan Williams.
I’m still a huge Yankees fan. Growing up, Jeter was my guy, but Bernie Williams was my favorite player.
I think most people read and re-read the things that they have liked. That’s certainly true in my case. I re-read Pound a great deal, I re-read Williams, I re-read Thomas, I re-read the people whom I cam to love when I was at what you might call a formative stage.
The day I heard Hank Williams for the first time, my life changed.
It’s right there on my birth certificate, ‘Shelton Hank Williams III.’ It’s not fake.
I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who don’t like Robbie Williams but he is presented to the public in such a way that they have no choice.
I’m not gonna lie, I love Usain Bolt and Serena Williams. What I love about Serena is that she just gets on the floor and she dominates. She handles her business very well, I respect that.
Warren Moon and Doug Williams really didn’t run that much. That’s the negative stereotype when it comes to African-American quarterbacks, that most of us just run. Those guys threw it around. I like to think I can throw it around a little bit.
My father took me to see Hank Williams on December 14th, 1952. I was two years and four months of age. And I remember a little cool eddy of hair hitting my cheek, and I remember the smell of his hair oil, and I remember the mingling tonality of the small talk before the show started. Those are my memories.
I could have took the easy way and just been a cowboy, looking good, trying to make my money off Hank Williams and being this clean-cut guy. But I always wanted to be myself and go against the grain.
Something I grew up with is John Williams, of course, with ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘Star Wars.’
Yeah, well, I guess Andy Williams would be considered by some to be schmaltzy, but to me, he’s one of the greatest singers of all time. Just absolutely amazing. And if anyone doesn’t believe me, just YouTube him. He’s just one of a kind.
Since I retired, I very much enjoy watching Serena Williams play. While I was playing, she was one of the toughest players I ever faced. Her ground strokes are so solid, her serve is one of the most powerful in women’s tennis, and mentally she is just so strong.
