LANDO CALRISSIAN / BILLY DEE WILLIAMS

GERARD CHRISTIAN ZACHER'S "STAR WARS" SITE

LANDO CALRISSIAN / BILLY DEE WILLIAMS

Cardplayer. Scoundrel. You'll like him. That was Han Solo's hurried precis on his old pal, Lando Calrissian. While the description is accurate, it barely scratches the surface of this complicated rogue. Calrissian is at home in the shadowy reaches of the fringe, the underworld culture that permeates the galaxy. While he has rubbed elbows with hunters, mercs, outlaws and gangsters, Lando's main difference is that his elbows were covered by some of the most expensive and fashionable clothes this side of the Core. Lando has style and class; some would say in excess. He is a man of sophisticated tastes, and settles for nothing short of the best in his surroundings, his belongings, his look, and his female companionship.
Han and Lando go way back, you'll hear them say, but it hasn't always been friendship and camaraderie. Solo and Calrissian have been rivals in the past. A bitter point of contention between the two has been the ownership of the Millennium Falcon. The deceptively dilapidated freighter once belonged to Calrissian, and much to the gambler's chagrin, he lost it to Solo in a heated game of sabacc. Though Solo insists he won fair and square, Calrissian still questions Solo's victory, if only to goad the Corellian.
Lando was the first of the two friends to go "respectable," a fate worse than death to some smugglers. He distanced himself from the life on the run, and settled down in the floating metropolis of Cloud City, on the gas planet Bespin. Lando became baron-administrator of the city and its lucrative Tibanna gas mining operation. Where once he had only looked out for himself, Lando now found himself responsible for the lives of millions of Cloud City residents. Despite himself, Lando found that he had a knack for administrative duties, and enjoyed being a businessman and community leader as much as a cardshark.
Lando's new world came crashing down around him when the Empire arrived at Cloud City. It was shortly after the Battle of Hoth when the Dark Lord, Darth Vader, and the masked bounty hunter Boba Fett came before him. They had tracked down the Falcon and its crew heading to Cloud City, and forced Calrissian to agree to turn Solo over to the Empire. In exchange, the Empire would not interfere with Cloud City, and allow it to remain an independent colony. Calrissian was torn -- was a friend's life worth more than the lives of his people?
Reluctantly, Calrissian agreed to the Empire's plan and lured Solo into a trap. Throughout the ordeal, Vader kept altering his end of the bargain, and Calrissian was powerless to stop him. The gambler learned an important lesson: never deal with a Dark Lord.
With all the cards on the table, Lando realized that he was set up to lose. Although Solo was captured, frozen in carbonite, and taken to the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt, Calrissian seized the initiative to redeem himself. He freed Solo's friends, Leia Organa and Chewbacca, and warned Cloud City's populace of the impending Imperial takeover. Calrissian, aboard the Millennium Falcon, led the escape from the city. He even helped rescue a wounded Luke Skywalker before returning the fugitive Rebels to the Alliance fleet.
Calrissian volunteered in a daring mission to rescue Solo from Jabba the Hutt's fortress on Tatooine. He concealed himself in the armor of one of Jabba's many faceless skiff guards and infiltrated the palace. Lando was in perfect position when Skywalker sprung his rescue mission over the Great Pit of Carkoon.
The skiff guards never knew they had a Rebel in their midst. Calrissian helped dispose of several of the guards protecting the prisoners, and piloted the rescue skiff that spirited away the newly liberated Solo and his friends.
During the Battle of Endor, Calrissian again proved his mettle. Now a General in the Alliance Forces, Lando volunteered to spearhead the starfighter attack on the second Death Star while Admiral Ackbar led the capital ships. His past exploits in the Battle of Tanaab helped prepare him for the coming conflict. His unorthodox strategies worked well with Ackbar's more conservative tactics. When the Death Star proved operational, Ackbar was ready to retreat. Instead, Calrissian commanded the Alliance Fleet to engage the Imperial Fleet at point-blank range, offering limited protection from the Death Star's massive superlaser weapon.
Once a Rebel strike team deactivated the Death Star's protective deflector shield, Lando led the starfighters into the station's incomplete superstructure. Lando, aboard the Falcon, flew point into the twisting narrow corridors of the Death Star's innards. Once in the massive reactor core, he loosed a volley of concussion missiles at the Death Star's exposed heart. He then outran the fantastic explosion that followed, and the Millennium Falcon emerged triumphantly from the dying Death Star.

Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood Boulevarde, Hollywood Haunted Tours, Hollywood Walk Of Fame, Grauman's Chinese Theater, Mann's Chinese Theater, Kodak Theater, Hollywood And Highland, Hollywood Wax Museum, Macaulay Culkin, Home Alone, Uncle Buck, Fred Krueger, Freddy Krueger, Robert Englund, A Nightmare On Elm Street, A Nightmare On Elm St, Freddy's Revenge, Dream Warriors, Dream Master, Dream Child, Freddy's Dead, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Freddy Vs. Jason, Dream, Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Patricia Arquette, Laurence Fishburne, John Saxon, Breckin Meyer, Jason, Friday The 13th, Ari Lehman, Rock Band, Freak 13, Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Ronni Yu, Michael Myers, Meyers, Chucky, Child's Play, Pinhead, Pin Head, Hellraiser, Box, The Wizard Of Oz, Dorothy, Judy Garland, Toto, Scarecrow, Ray Bolger, Tin Man, Tin Woodsman, Jack Haley, Cowardly Lion, Bert Lahr, The Wicked Witch Of The West, Magaret Hamilton, Glinda Good Witch Of The North, Billie Burke, Frank Morgan, Flying Monkey, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Gary Oldman, Wynona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Cary Elwes, Sadie Frost, Bill Campbell, Anthony Hopkins, Francis Ford Coppola, Star Wars George Lucas, Luke Skywalker, Mark Hamill, Princess Leia Organa, Carrie Fisher, Han Solo, Harrison Ford, Chewbacca, Chewie, Peter Mayhew, C-3PO, See-Threepio, Anthony Daniels, R2-D2, Artoo-Detoo, Kenny Baker, Lando Calrissian, Billy Dee Williams, Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader, Jake Lloyd, Hayden Christensen, David Proswe, James Earl Jones, Padme Naberrie Amidala, Natalie Portman, Senator, Supreme Chancellor, Emperor Palpatine, Darth Sidious, Ian McDiarmid, Count Dooku, Darth Tyrannus, Christopher Lee, Darth Maul, Ray Park, Grand Moff Tarkin, Peter Cushing, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ben Kenobi, Ewan McGregor, Sir Alec Guinness, Jedi Master Yoda, Frank Oz, Mace Windu, Samuel L. Jackson, Qui-Gon Jimm, Liam Neeson, Jedi Knight, Jar Jar Binks, Ahmed Best, Ki Adi Mundi, Nute Gunray, Silos Carson, Bail Organa, Jimmy Smit, Smits, Uncle Owen Lars, Joel Edgerton, Phil Brown, Aunt Beru Whitesun Lars, Bonnie Piess, Piesse, Shaleigh, Shalegh Fraser, Schmi Skywalker, Pernilla August, Jabba The Hutt, The Death Star, Empire, Clone Troopers, Stormtroopers, The Millenium Falcon, Lightsaber, Jedi, Sith, The Force, John Williams, Beetlejuice, Beetleguese, Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Jeffrey Jones, Katherine O'Hara, Robert Goulet, Danny Elfman, Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, John, Michael, Nana, Nanna, Tinkerbell, Tink, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, The Jolly Roger, Pirate, Sir James M. Barry, Neverland, Never-Neverland, Walt Disney, Bobby Driscol, Jeremy Sumpter, Robin Williams, Mary Martin, Sandy Duncan, Cathy Rigby, Mia Farrow, Katherine Beaumont, Catherine, Beaumonte, Olivia Williams, Dame Maggie Smith, Kate Winslet, Julia Roberts, Hans Conreid, Conried, Jason Isaacs, Dustin Hoffman, Bob Hoskins, Crocodile, Croc, Steven Spielberg, Universal Studios, Dreamworks, Dream Works, Amblin Entertainment, Shrek, Mike Myers, Princess Fiona, Cameron Diaz, Donkey, Eddie Murphy, Puss 'N' Boots, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Lord Farquad, John Lithgow, Fairy Godmother, Pinocchio, Mickey Mouse, Sorceror's Apprentice, Fantasia, Fantasia 2000, Snoopy, Peanuts, Charlie Brown, Sally Brown, Lucy Van Pelt, Linus Van Pelt, Schroeder, Piano, Beethoven, Woodstock, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Marcy, Charles Schultz, The Rocky Horror Show, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Doctor Dr Frank 'N' Furter, Tim Curry, Riff Raff, Richard O'Brien, Magenta, Patricia Quinn, Columbia, Little Nell, Rocky, Peter Hinwood, Eddie, Meatloaf, Janet Weiss, Wiess, Susan Sarandon, Brad Majors, Barry Bostwick, Doctor Dr Scott, Narrator, Charles Grey, Time Warp, Sweet Transvestite, Cruella De Vil, Glenn Close, 101 Dalmations, 102 Dalmations, Anita, Roger, Jeff Daniels, Nanny, Pongo, Pertie, Perty, Lucky, Dipstick, Whizzer, Rolly, Fidget, Horace, Jasper, Amadeus, Wolgang Amadeus Mozart, Tom Hulce, Antonio Salieri, F. Murray Abraham, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. Seuess, Boris Karloff, Karlof, Jim Carrey, Max, The Dog, Ron Howard , Walt Disney, Disneyland, Fantasyland, Peter Pan's Flight, Actor, Film, Movie, TV, Television, Show, Music, Score, Band, Special Effects, Special Effects, Special Effects Makeup, Special FX Makeup, Special Effects Make-Up, Special FX Make-Up, Rick Baker, Mt. Prospect, Chicago, Downtown, Illinois, IL, Robert Frost Elementary School, St. Emily, St. Rosalie, Arch Bishop, Archbishop Quigley Prepatory Seminary North, St. John Vianney Hall, Columbia College, Leo Burnett Advertising, Gerard Christian Zacher