Russell Williams: American Oscar Winner A Living Black History Fact
Saturday, February 23rd, 2013 @ 10:17 pm | Education, You Think So
With this entry we are providing our readers with a kind of info-edu-tainment special. It’s Black History Month and Oscar season.
The following video interview conducted by reporters from the Washington Post web site The Fold features two-time Academy Award winner Russell Williams…who is also Distinguished-Artist-in-Residence at the American University in Washington, D.C.
Russell Williams II won two consecutive Oscars for best sound mixing. He received an award for the 1989 film “Glory” and then an award for the 1990 film “Dances with Wolves.” He is the first black African American to win two of the Academy’s awards for best sound mixing.
In a recent interview with The Root Williams said after winning the award a second time:
“I used to tell my agent, ‘Look, tell that person that I record voices. A microphone doesn’t know what color these people are.’ So that’s the reputation I wanted. I didn’t want a reputation of, he’s a black mixer, and he only works on black projects. No, I work on projects. You want to be thought of as the top; you don’t want to be thought of as the top black person. Because your reputation is really all you have, period. So if someone gets that sullied, or you, yourself, sully it, it may take a long, long time before someone takes a chance on you again.” ~ Russell Williams II, two time Oscar winner for Best Sound Mixing in a feature film.
Russell Williams’ mentor is Willie D. Burton (Bird, Dreamgirls). They are the only African Americans to be nominated and to win Oscars for best sound. As of 2012, Willie D. Burton, sound engineer Russell Williams II and actor Denzel Washington are the only African-Americans who have won two Oscars.
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