Gault, Willie 1960–

views updated

Gault, Willie 1960–

PERSONAL

Full name, Willie James Gault; born September 5, 1960, in Griffin, GA; son of James, Jr. (a textile mill worker) and Willie Mae (a textile mill worker) Gault; married Dainnese Mathis, June 11, 1983; children: Shakari Denise, Gabriel James. Education: University of Tennessee, B.A., business, c. 1983.

Career: Actor and athlete. Chicago Bears, Chicago, IL, professional football player, 1983–88; Los Angeles Raiders, Los Angeles, CA, professional football player, 1988–93. Trained as an Olympic athlete in field and track events, c. 1980–83; alternate for the U.S. bobsled team, Winter Olympic Games, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 1988, pusher for the U.S. bobsled team, 1990–91. Track and field competitor in the World Games, 1982, and the World Track and Field Championships, 1983; competitor in other events, including a track and field championship, Indianapolis, IN, 2006. Worked as a model and appeared in advertisements. Member of Aloha Aviation Group and investor in Aloha Airlines. Worked as a public speaker. Lay Witnesses for Christ, chair, beginning 1983; involved with various organizations, including Willie Gault's Youth Enrichment Program, Stars against Drugs, AIDS and diabetes associations, and the Long Beach Ballet Dance Camp.

Awards, Honors: Grammy Award nomination (with the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew), best rhythm and blues vocal performance—duo or group, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, c. 1986, for "Super Bowl Shuffle." Various athletic achievements. Named an All-American in both football and track at the University of Tennessee; became the first man in the history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to win both the sixty yards and sixty yard hurdles events, 1982; set other football and track and field records for the University of Tennessee and the Southeastern Conference; World Games, silver medalist in a hurdles event, 1982; helped set the world record in the track and field event the 4 × 110 relay, 1982; athlete of the year, Southeastern Conference, 1983; named most valuable player, University of Tennessee football team, 1983; named to the National Football League (NFL) all rookie team, 1983; World Track and Field Championships, gold medalist and world record holder in the track and field event the 4 × 100 relay and bronze medalist in the 100 meter hurdles, 1983; as a member of the Chicago Bears, won Super Bowl XX, 1986; won first place in Super Stars Competitions 1989 and 1990; set the world record for running the fastest 100 meters by a person in his age group, 2006.

CREDITS

Television Appearances; Series:

Willie the sweeper, The Pretender, NBC, between 1997 and 2000.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Mojo, Street of Dreams, CBS, 1988.

Domino player, Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story, Showtime, 1996.

FBI agent Coleman, Night Vision, 1997.

Sergeant Harrison, Malaika (also known as Tons of Trouble), 1997.

Lieutenant Dunne, Millennium Man (also known as Project Overkill), UPN, 1999.

The Darwin Conspiracy, UPN, 1999.

Television Appearances; Specials:

The National Love and Sex Test, 1988.

Football player, Sporting Chance, 1990.

Night of 100 Stars III (also known as Night of One Hundred Stars), NBC, 1990.

Two for the Show, NBC, 1993.

Victor Hendricks, Room 302, 2001.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Detective Carver, "Nearest and Dearest," Bodies of Evidence, CBS, 1992.

Police officer, "Two for the Show," Tales from the Crypt (also known as HBO's "Tales from the Crypt"), HBO, 1993.

Troy Davis, "Singin' the Blues," In the Heat of the Night, CBS, 1993.

"Long Ago and Far Away," Vanishing Son, syndicated, 1995.

Clifford, "True Confessions," Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, ABC, 1996.

Willa's dad, "Scorcher," Baywatch (also known as Baywatch Hawaii and Baywatch Hawai'i), syndicated, 1996.

Agent Madison, "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen: Part 1," The West Wing (also known as West Wing and El ala oeste de la Casablanca), NBC, 2000.

Sergeant Cameron, "Showdown," 18 Wheels of Justice, The National Network, 2000.

Jackson Vance, "Mom's the Word," Girlfriends, UPN, 2001.

Second agent, "Isaac and Ishmael," The West Wing (also known as West Wing and El ala oeste de la Casablanca), NBC, 2001.

Trent, "Not the Best Man," The Steve Harvey Show, The WB, 2001.

Himself, "Jim McMahon," ESPN SportsCentury, ESPN, 2001.

Hugh, "Don't Fear the Reefer," Grounded for Life, Fox, 2002.

Third agent, "Evidence of Things Not Seen," The West Wing (also known as West Wing and El ala oeste de la Casablanca), NBC, 2003.

Secret Service agent, "Impact Winter," The West Wing (also known as West Wing and El ala oeste de la Casablanca), NBC, 2004.

Himself, "Bears' 46 Defense," ESPN SportsCentury, ESPN, 2004.

Himself, "Still Champions," Still Standing, CBS, 2004.

Sportscaster, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (also known as Neds ultimativer Schulwahnsinn), Nickelodeon, episodes beginning c. 2004.

Second police officer, "Holy Lesbo Batman," Fat Actress, Showtime, 2005.

Appeared as a man in a sharkskin suit in Push, Nevada, ABC; and appeared in episodes of other programs, including Today (also known as NBC News Today and The Today Show), NBC.

Television Appearances; Pilots:

Roshod Smith, Sideliners, c. 2006.

Television Work; Pilots:

Executive producer, producer, and costume designer, Sideliners, c. 2006.

Film Appearances:

Nordic Track man, Holy Man, Buena Vista, 1998.

Detective Greg Dalton, Bare Witness, Mainline Releasing, 2002.

Eddie, Cottonmouth (also known as Lethal Force and Silent Justice), Madison Home Video, 2002.

Sportscaster, The Sum of All Fears (also known as Der Anschlag), Paramount, 2002.

Second newscaster, S.W.A.T., Columbia, 2003.

Detector operator, Cellular (also known as Final Call—Wenn er auflegt, muss sie sterben), New Line Cinema, 2004.

Man in airport, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (also known as Deuce Bigalow: Electric Gigolo and Deuce Bigalow 2: Destination Amsterdam), Columbia, 2005.

Monaco, Shut Up and Shoot!, IndustryWorks Distribution, 2006.

Stage Appearances:

Cameo appearance, Singin' in the Rain' (musical), Chicago, IL, 1986.

Night of 100 Stars III (also known as Night of One Hundred Stars), Radio City Music Hall, New York City, 1990.

Performed with the Chicago City Ballet for charity, 1986.

RECORDINGS

Singles:

(With the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew) "Super Bowl Shuffle," 1985.

Music Videos:

(With the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew) "Super Bowl Shuffle," 1985.

Videos:

Some sources cite Gault as the creator and producer of the benefit video Super Bowl Shuffle.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Newsmakers 1991, Issue Cumulation, Gale, 1991.

Who's Who among African Americans, 19th edition, Gale, 2006.