Montel Brian Anthony Williams (born July 3, 1956) is an American television personality, radio talk show host, and actor. He is best known as host of the long-running The Montel Williams Show, and more recently as a spokesman for the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA), Williams is also active with the nonprofit MS Foundation, which he founded after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999. Williams is also noted for his service in both the Marine Corps and the Navy, from which he was honorably discharged after 15 years of service.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 3, 1956, Williams attended Andover High School in neighboring Linthicum, Maryland, where he was elected president of his class in both his junior and senior years. He was a good student, athlete, and musician, and active in countywide student government issues in Annapolis, Maryland.
Williams was raised as a Roman Catholic, and served as an altar boy from age 8 until an altercation with a priest when he was 11. After this he moved away from Catholicism, and in 2014 he said that he rejected all organized religion, though he has been a student of many major world faiths.