Montel Williams
| Montel Williams | |
|---|---|
Williams at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival
|
|
| Birth name | Montel Brian Anthony Williams |
| Born |
July 3, 1956 Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Marine Corps United States Navy
|
| Years of service | 1974-1976 (USMC) 1976-1980 (United States Naval Academy) 1980-1989 (Navy) |
| Rank | Lieutenant Commander |
| Awards |
Meritorious Service Medal Navy Commendation Medal Navy Achievement Medal Navy Superior Public Service Award |
| Spouse(s) | Rochele See (1982–89) Grace Morley (1992–2000) Tara Fowler (2007–present) |
| Website | www.montelwilliams.com |
Montel Brian Anthony Williams (born July 3, 1956) is an American television personality, radio talk show host, and actor. He is best known as host of the long-running The Montel Williams Show, and more recently as a spokesman for the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA), Williams is also active with the nonprofit MS Foundation, which he founded after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999. Williams is also noted for his service in both the Marine Corps and the Navy, from which he was honorably discharged after 15 years of service.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 3, 1956, Williams attended Andover High School in neighboring Linthicum, Maryland, where he was elected president of his class in both his junior and senior years. He was a good student, athlete, and musician, and active in countywide student government issues in Annapolis, Maryland.
Williams was raised as a Roman Catholic, and served as an altar boy from age 8 until an altercation with a priest when he was 11. After this he moved away from Catholicism, and in 2014 he said that he rejected all organized religion, though he has been a student of many major world faiths.
He frequently visited his sister who lives in Westminster, Maryland. There he met and befriended WOCM's famous news man Magellan. They have been close friends ever since.
His father, Herman Williams Jr., was a firefighter who in 1992 became Baltimore's first African American Fire Chief. Montel has five siblings.
Williams enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps upon graduating high school in 1974. He completed Boot Camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, where he was promoted to platoon guide. After boot camp, he was sent to the Desert Warfare Training Center at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, near Palm Springs, California, where he placed in the Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS) at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island. He completed the one-year NAPS course and was accepted to the four-year officer training program at the U.S. Naval Academy as part of the Class of 1980.
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