Michelle Williams Biography

Courtesy of The Williams Center (offline)

Name: Michelle Williams
Date of Birth: September 9, 1980
Parents: Larry and Carla
Siblings: Paige (younger sister), Jason (half-brother), Kelly (half-sister), and Sara (half-sister).
Hometown: Kalispell, Montana
Currently Residing: Brooklyn, New York and Los Angelos, CA
Engaged to: Heath Ledger (actor)
Children: Matilda Rose Ledger (DOB: 10/28/05)

Michelle Williams was born on September 9, 1980. Williams' parents Larry and Carla raised Michelle and younger sister Paige (whom have three older half siblings named Kelly, Jason, & Sara from their father's previous marriage) in the Montana lumber and farming town of Kalispell (population 16,000). "It was a really small, beautiful, but at the same time industrial, dirty town." Williams told US WEEKLY. Her father, Larry, is a commodities trader who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as a Montana Republican. According to Michelle, they shared a close bond. "He was pretty much my best friend growing up. He taught me to read and love books and to love travel and be independent."

After the family relocated to San Diego, California when Michelle was 10, She began doing local theatre and soon her father, Larry, began driving here to auditions in L.A. It wasn't long before she got her first professional job in an independent film called Friends, starring actor James Earl Jones. After some numerous television commercials, she landed roles in feature films such as Lassie and Species. At the tender age of 15, Michelle made the decision to quit high school in order to pursue acting full time. She completed her final three grades in one year with the help of her dad and via correspondence classes. Not long after that, she declared herself a legally emancipated minor and left home for LA, where she hopped from agent to agent while living alone in series of apartments on the earnings her small roles brought in. Looking back, Michelle describes herself as fearless and indestructible. "Although in a lot of senses I wasn't ready for it."

Just over one year later, Michelle Williams landed the role of Jennifer Lindley on what was to become one of the most sensational prime-time dramas for teens: Dawson's Creek. She expected it to be just another pilot that no one would see, but she was far from being correct. The show became an instant hit and quickly established itself as a key representative of pop culture. Michelle's character Jen, was the girl-next-door from NYC with a shady past and soon the object Dawson's affections. Williams said that "having the experience of moving from a big city to a small town does make it easier to relate to Jen." Along with her three co-stars: James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson, Michelle went for the ride of her life and was definitely not prepared for the instant notoriety that came with the almost over night success of Dawson's Creek. During her annual three months hiatus from filming the series, Michelle took on a few roles in films such as "Halloween: H20" with Jamie Lee Curtis, "Dick" with Kirsten Dunst and the Emmy nominated "If These Walls Could Talk 2" (an HBO original movie).

In the summer of 1999 she made her New York stage debut in the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway play "Killer Joe," and in 2002 returned to the stage to play the role of Melanie-Jane in Mike Leigh's "Smelling A Rat."

"Dawson's Creek" finally came to a close after 6 seasons in 2003 and Michelle has been very busy since then because of her new found freedom from the shooting schedule of that series. Her recent works include "A Hole In One," "Land Of Plenty," and the much anticipated film, "Brokeback Mountain," to be directed by Ang Lee.