Williams was born in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, to Francesca (née Bellini) and Beachard Williams. The family moved to Dallas, Texas, when she was a year old and returned to the San Fernando Valley, when she was 10. \n', 'She has one sibling, a sister, Carol Ann. She graduated from Birmingham High School in 1965. Her classmates included financier Michael Milken, actress Sally Field, and talent agent Michael Ovitz.[citation needed] She attended Los Angeles City College.\n', '

After college, Williams began her professional career by landing national commercials, which included Foster Grant sunglasses and TWA. Her first roles in television, among others, were on Room 222, Nanny and the Professor and Love, American Style.\n', '

Having honed her skills at The Actors Studio West, Williams picked up important film roles early in her career: George Cukor\'s Travels with My Aunt (1972); as Laurie Henderson, Ron Howard\'s character\'s high school sweetheart in George Lucas\'s American Graffiti (1973) for which she earned a BAFTA nomination as Best Supporting Actress; and Francis Ford Coppola\'s The Conversation (1974). She auditioned for Lucas\'s next project, Star Wars, but lost the role of Princess Leia to Carrie Fisher.\n', '

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