---
name: "Willie Tyler"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/willie-tyler"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "8 September 1940"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-20T05:57:07.464478+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Willie Tyler

Actor. Born 8 September 1940 in Red Level, Alabama, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 8 September 1940, Red Level, Alabama, USA
- **Also known as:** Willie and Lester, Willie Tyler and Lester, Willie Tyler & Lester, Willie & Lester
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 2: 1 acting, 1 other
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 76 (1), 2020s 87 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Tyler, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8021862, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0878939/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/154066

## Biography

Willie Tyler (born 8 September 1940) is an American ventriloquist, comedian and actor. He performs with his dummy Lester, often credited as Willie Tyler and Lester or Willie Tyler & Lester.

Tyler appeared in the 1978 film *Coming Home* as Virgil. He had guest roles in series including *The Jeffersons* (1978) and *Pacific Blue* (1996), and hosted *ABC Weekend Specials* in the early 1980s. His early television work included appearances on *Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In* from 1972. He is seen in archive footage in the 2021 documentary *Summer of Soul* and appeared in *Adam Sandler: Love You* (2024).

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (2)

### Performed in (1) — the average rests on these

- *Coming Home* (1978), Fi1m 76, as Virgil — [page](https://film.one/film/coming-home.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)* (2021), Fi1m 87, as Self - Ventriloquist (archive footage) — [page](https://film.one/film/summer-of-soul-or-when-the-revolution-could-not-be-televised.md)

## Complete filmography (14)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Adam Sandler: Love You* (2024), as Willie Tyler and Lester
- *Pacific Blue* (1996), series, as Dusty Kay
- *In the House* (1995), series, Actor
- *The Parent 'Hood* (1995), series, Actor
- *Motown Returns to the Apollo* (1985), Actor
- *Blockheads* (1982), Actor
- *Americathon* (1979), Actor
- *The White Shadow* (1978), series, as Willie Tyler
- *The Vent Event* (1978), as Willie Tyler/Lester
- *Coming Home* (1978), as Virgil — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/coming-home.md)
- *Vegetable Soup* (1975), series, Actor
- *The Jeffersons* (1975), series, Actor
- *Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In* (1968), series, as Regular Performer
- *Villa Hollywood*, Actor

## Gallery

- ![Willie Tyler and Lester in July 2014 Peter Dzubay](https://film.one/media/person/674774/gallery-21c0eb3f4e9e.jpg) Willie Tyler and Lester in July 2014 Peter Dzubay — Peter Dzubay, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Willie_Tyler_and_Lester_July_2014_PETER_DZUBAY.jpg/1280px-Willie_Tyler_and_Lester_July_2014_PETER_DZUBAY.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Willie Tyler](https://film.one/media/person/674774/gallery-37df3eb7bfc2.jpg) Willie Tyler — International Management Company (personal management), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Willie_Tyler_1969.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Guest performer Willie Tyler and Lester make an appearance with the U.S. Air Force band during a concert at D.A.R. Constitution Hall. (1981)](https://film.one/media/person/674774/gallery-3d998f089cf7.jpg) Guest performer Willie Tyler and Lester make an appearance with the U.S. Air Force band during a concert at D.A.R. Constitution Hall. (1981) — Mickey Sanborn, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Willie_Tyler_%26_Lester_DF-SC-83-03618.jpg/1280px-Willie_Tyler_%26_Lester_DF-SC-83-03618.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/willie-tyler