Topics: Film and TV, Good News, Timothee Chalamet , Entertainment, Mental Health
A man who was homeless has stunned fans with a cameo in the film Marty Supreme.
The latest Timothée Chalamet movie is loosely inspired by the tennis pro Marty Reisman and landed in theaters on Christmas Day.
The film features a huge cast, including Ted Williams who plays a worker at a tennis club.
The name may sound familiar because this is the same Ted Williams whose journey from homelessness to becoming ‘The Man with the Golden Voice’ has inspired many.
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Williams is a well-recognised American announcer, radio personality, voice-over artist, and now and actor.
However, the 68-year-old New Yorker’s life was not always as lustrous as it is now.
Williams grew up in Brooklyn, New York, having been adopted at three weeks old, as per Dallas' AMPS Magazine.
He pursued a career in radio after being honourably discharged after three years serving in the US Army. He became a late-night disc jockey for WVKO in Columbus, Ohio.
His job went well early on, and he told AMPS he was 'doing very well with [his] broadcasting career' in the early 1980s, had children, a family and 'life was good'.
But things took a turn for the worse in 1988 after smoking what he thought was marijuana - it turned out to contain 'crack-cocaine' - he became 'hooked'.
He faced alcohol and drug abuse, he was evicted from his house and his life spiralled further.
Williams explained his drug use 'separated' him from his family, job and home. He added: "I was embarrassed and I embarrassed my family. My voice was a gift from God and I was abusing it."
With his mental and physical health rapidly declining, Williams later found himself arrested on charges including drug possession, theft and robbery.
In 1990, he even served three months in prison for theft and in 2004, he was sent down for nearly two months for obstructing official business, theft and forgery.
During this period he was interviewed by a Columbus Dispatch reporter while standing at an intersection in Columbus, Ohio in January 2011.
The recording of the interview went viral on social media - titled 'Ted Williams: homeless man with a golden voice' - showing Williams stood with a cardboard sign, exemplifying how he uses his 'golden' voice and asking for donations.
Williams then found himself in receipt of an influx of job offers and appeared on multiple news programmes, such as CBS' The Early Show and Today.
NBA basketball team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, even offered him a home as well as a job and he was later hired for voice-over work by Kraft Foods, MSNBC and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
"The Columbus Dispatch reporter was instrumental in changing my life. Because of his actions, I was given an avenue to make the change that saved my life," Williams said.
He has been able to turn his life around and fans were delighted to see him in Marty Supreme. Check out some of the reactions below:
One user said: "Josh safdie putting the man with the golden voice in marty supreme was an elite pull. ohio excellence at work."
"Lost my mind when The Golden Voice popped up in Marty Supreme," another added
"Shoutout Marty Supreme for giving Ted Williams (the homeless man with a golden voice) a role in a major film. I clocked him immediately," a final said.
