Williams was born in 1944 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He grew up in the city and attended Temple University for two years before dropping out to join the activist organization Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during the Civil Rights Movement. After a couple years organizing, he returned to school with the desire to learn about cinema in order to utilize it as a tool to reach people and specifically the Black community. After enrolling in the DGA Assistant Directors Training Program in 1969, he graduated from the program after two years, having worked on projects including James Goldstone’s The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight (1971), Alan Pakula’s Klute (1971), and William Friedkin’s The French Connection (1971). After completing the program, William’s first Guild position was as a second AD on Irvin Kirshner’s Up the Sandbox in 1972. He gained his first credit as a UPM on Ted Demme’s Who’s the Man? (1993).
Williams’ credits include work in feature film, movies for television, and television. As a first assistant director he has worked on Beat Street (1984), A Soldier’s Story (1984), Krush Groove (1985), Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987), New Jack City (1991), and Friday (1995). As a UPM, his credits include Who’s the Man? (1993), Rosewood (1997), The Player’s Club (1998), How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), Something New (2006), Waist Deep (2006), Peeples (2013), and the pilot of The Mayor.
Williams has been a member of the Directors Guild since 1971. As an active Guild member, he has served four terms on the Eastern AD/UPM council beginning in 1985 and 9 terms as an alternate on the Western AD/UPM council beginning in 2008. He was elected as the co-chair of the African American Steering Committee in 2020. He also accepted the Frank Capra Achievement Award in 2018.