Billy Dee Williams bows out of 'Dancing With the Stars' citing 'back problems'

theGRIO REPORT - Dancing With the Stars was always going to be an uphill battle for legendary film actor Billy Dee Williams...

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

Dancing With the Stars was always going to be an uphill battle for legendary film actor Billy Dee Williams.

The 76-year-old Lady Sings the Blues star has undergone two hip surgeries in recent years and wasn’t remotely as mobile as his competitors.

After three weeks of tepid reviews from judges, Williams is bowing out of the popular ABC series because of chronic back problems.

“I’ve had a wonderful, brilliant, fantastic blast of a time…Pure joy. And I want to thank every one of you folks for your support,” said Williams who turns 77 on April 6th.

“My time on Dancing With the Stars is an epic moment,” he said. “This is something I’m going to carry with me.”

Still, Billy Dee fans can at least hope that he will re-emerge in next year’s highly anticipated Star Wars sequel.

When recently asked about whether his popular character Lando Calrissian will return, Williams was candid.

“I have no idea,” he said. “We’ll see what happens. They got a whole agenda of plans for that whole thing, so I have no idea.”

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