- Source of Wealth: film and television directing, acting
- Age: 76
- Birth Place: Poughkeepsie, New York
- Height: 6’4″
- Weight: 79 kgs
- Full Name: William Henry Duke, Jr.
- Nationality: American
- Date of Birth: February 26, 1943
- Occupation: actor, director
- Education: Dutchess Community College, Boston University, New York University’s Tisch School of Arts
Bill Duke is an American actor and a film director.
In 1971, Duke appeared on Broadway in Melvin Van Peebles’ musical Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death. In 1976’s film, Car Wash wherein he portrayed the role of fierce young Black Muslim revolutionary Abdullah Mohammed Akbar.
Duke acted in several films, such as American Gigolo, Commando and Predator, Action Jackson, Payback, X-Men: The Last Stand, and in the 2005 film Get Rich or Die Tryin’. He directed episodes of several noteworthy 1980s television series such as Hill Street Blues and Miami Vice. He also directed the TV movie The Killing Floor in 1985. He began directing theatrical films in the 1990s with crime dramas A Rage in Harlem, Deep Cover and Hoodlum.
He also directed The Cemetery Club and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.
William Henry Duke, Jr. was born on February 26, 1943 in Poughkeepsie, New York. He studied performing arts and in creative writing at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie. Upon graduating from Dutchess, he went on to Boston University for further instruction in drama and for his B.A. He also studied at New York University’s Tisch School of Arts and the AFI Conservatory.