ManRank: The Bill's
A list where I rank all the Bill's in entertainment and the world of celebrity in terms of hotness. This is just my opinion, I'll warn you ahead of time that you will disagree with me plenty of times. I tend to like meat over muscle and handsome over pretty most days of the week unless it's whatever weird kind of pretty and muscular my particular gay-ass brain is wired to. Also: I love older men. Deal with it. Make your own list at any time if you'd care to.
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- Actor
- Producer
- Director
William Thomas Sadler was born on April 13, 1950 in Buffalo, New York, to Jane and William Sadler. He began his acting career in New York theaters, appearing in more than 75 productions over the course of 12 years. His roles included that of Sgt. Merwin J. Toomey in Neil Simon's Tony Award winning play "Biloxi Blues". He is best remembered for his roles in Die Hard 2 (1990), Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991), The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995). He is also a television star, appearing in such sitcoms as Roseanne (1988) and Murphy Brown (1988) and such movies-of-the weeks as Charlie and the Great Balloon Chase (1981). Sadler also starred as Sheriff Jim Valenti on the WB science fiction television series Roswell (1999).- Billy Warlock was born on 26 March 1961 in Gardena, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Days of Our Lives (1965), Society (1989) and Halloween II (1981). He has been married to Julie Pinson since 26 August 2006. He was previously married to Marcy Walker.
- Actor
- Producer
William Scott Goldberg , better commonly known as Goldberg, is an American professional wrestler, actor, and former American football player. He is best-known for his time in WCW and WWE.
Goldberg is one of the most popular figures of the late 1990s/early 2000s professional wrestling boom. He is regarded as the inventor of the spear finishing move in wrestling and is credited with popularizing, and being the best at executing, that move. He rose to fame in WCW with a lengthy undefeated streak in 1997-1998 singles competition. During his time with the promotion, he became a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion and one-time WCW World Tag Team Champion with Bret Hart. Along with Hart, he is the fifth WCW Triple Crown winner.
Following WCW's closure in 2001, Goldberg wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) between 2002 and 2003 and for WWE between 2003 and 2004, becoming a one-time World Heavyweight Champion in the latter. After 12 years away from the company, he returned to WWE in 2016, winning the WWE Universal Championship for the first time in March 2017 and a second time in February 2020. Goldberg has headlined multiple WCW and WWE pay-per-view events, including WCW's premier annual event, Starrcade (in 1998 and 1999). He headlined the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018 and is a four-time world champion in his professional wrestling career between WWE and WCW. He is also the only man in history to have been WCW World Heavyweight, World Heavyweight and WWE Universal Champion.- A native of south Arkansas, William began acting in community theater at age eleven. He was honored by the International Thespian Society during his high school years and, in his senior year, won National Society of Arts and Letters Drama competition at the state level, becoming the youngest participant ever to compete at the National Competition. After graduating from Hendrix College in Arkansas, he attended the Drama Studio London's American school in Berkeley, CA. While still in school he was asked by prominent casting director Jackie Burch to audition for the role of Rocky in the feature film Mask, directed by Peter Bogdanovich. He didn't get the role, but shortly thereafter was cast as Laura Dern's love interest in her very first film, Smooth Talk. Meanwhile, Burch remembered him for her next project, the Columbia Pictures horror classic Fright Night. Shortly after its premiere, he made his Broadway debut in Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues, replacing Matthew Broderick in the lead role of Eugene Jerome. He subsequently reprised his roles as Charlie Brewster in the sequel to Fright Night and Eugene for the national tour of Simon's Broadway Bound, with Nathan Lane. He began starring in television projects also around this time. After a few non-picked up pilots, he landed the role of Herman Brooks on the Fox Network's Herman's Head, which ran for three years, anchoring the networks Sunday night line up with The Simpsons, In Living Color, and Married With Children. His subsequent television credits, both as a series regular and guest work, are extensive.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
For many years Snow was one of Australia's top male commercial actors. He starred in numerous television commercials in Australia, Europe and the USA. His acting career took off when he landed the lead role as "David Grief" in the International Television Series "Tales of the South Seas", based on novels by Jack London. He then stared in the US Independent feature "Dead End" after which he appeared as "Lord John Roxton" in the three year running US series "The Lost World" for producer "John Landis". William is now perusing his acting career in the US, where he has completed work on the NBC miniseries "Hercules", as well as Warner Bros "The Closer", "Charmed" and a lead role in the independent feature "Brotherhood of Blood".- Actor
- Soundtrack
Will Patton was born in Charleston, South Carolina. His father, Bill Patton, is a playwright, acting/directing instructor, and Lutheran minister. Patton attended the North Carolina School of the Arts. He has won two OBIE awards for Best Actor -- for the off-Broadway plays "Fool for Love" (by Sam Shepard) and the Public Theatre production of "What Did He See?" (by Richard Foreman).- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Billy Eichner was born on September 18, 1978 and raised in New York City. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School (NY) in 1996. He is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he majored in Theater.
He is the star, executive producer and creator of Billy on the Street (2011), a comedy game show that airs on Fuse TV.
Billy will be a voiceover guest star on a season two episode of the animated series, Bob's Burgers (2011). He has been a regular performer at New York's Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. He is also a commentator on pop culture, via his Twitter account.- William Lee Scott was born on 6 July 1973 in Hudson, New York, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for The Butterfly Effect (2004), October Sky (1999) and Gone in 60 Seconds (2000). He has been married to Charlene Bloom since 2002. They have two children.
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Will Arnett is a Canadian-American actor, voice actor, and comedian. He is most famous for playing George Oscar "Gob" Bluth II in the Fox series Arrested Development (2003). He also appeared in films such as The Lego Movie (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016), and The Lego Batman Movie (2017). Arnett also voices the title character of Netflix's original animated series BoJack Horseman (2014). He has been the voice heard in the GMC commercials since 1998.- Actor
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William Hall Macy Jr. is an American actor. His film career has been built on appearances in small, independent films, though he has also appeared in mainstream films. Macy has won two Emmy Awards and four Screen Actors Guild Awards, while his performance in Fargo earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. From 2011 to 2021, he played Frank Gallagher, a main character in Shameless, the Showtime adaptation of the British television series. Macy has been married to Felicity Huffman since 1997.- Producer
- Actor
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Willard Carroll "Will" Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has enjoyed success in television, film, and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him "the most powerful actor in Hollywood". Smith has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and has won four Grammy Awards.
In the late 1980s, Smith achieved modest fame as a rapper under the name The Fresh Prince. In 1990, his popularity increased dramatically when he starred in the popular television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show ran for six seasons (1990-96) on NBC and has been syndicated consistently on various networks since then. After the series ended, Smith moved from television to film, and ultimately starred in numerous blockbuster films. He is the only actor to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in the domestic box office, eleven consecutive films gross over $150 million internationally, and eight consecutive films in which he starred open at the number one spot in the domestic box office tally.
Smith is ranked as the most bankable star worldwide by Forbes. As of 2014, 17 of the 21 films in which he has had leading roles have accumulated worldwide gross earnings of over $100 million each, five taking in over $500 million each in global box office receipts. As of 2014, his films have grossed $6.6 billion at the global box office. He has received Best Actor Oscar nominations for Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness.
Smith was born in West Philadelphia, the son of Caroline (Bright), a Philadelphia school board administrator, and Willard Carroll Smith, Sr., a refrigeration engineer. He grew up in West Philadelphia's Wynnefield neighborhood, and was raised Baptist. He has three siblings, sister Pamela, who is four years older, and twins Harry and Ellen, who are three years younger. Smith attended Our Lady of Lourdes, a private Catholic elementary school in Philadelphia. His parents separated when he was 13, but did not actually divorce until around 2000.
Smith attended Overbrook High School. Though widely reported, it is untrue that Smith turned down a scholarship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); he never applied to college because he "wanted to rap." Smith says he was admitted to a "pre-engineering [summer] program" at MIT for high school students, but he did not attend. According to Smith, "My mother, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college."
Smith started as the MC of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, with his childhood friend Jeffrey "DJ Jazzy Jeff" Townes as producer, as well as Ready Rock C (Clarence Holmes) as the human beat box. The trio was known for performing humorous, radio-friendly songs, most notably "Parents Just Don't Understand" and "Summertime". They gained critical acclaim and won the first Grammy awarded in the Rap category (1988).
Smith spent money freely around 1988 and 1989 and underpaid his income taxes. The Internal Revenue Service eventually assessed a $2.8 million tax debt against Smith, took many of his possessions, and garnished his income. Smith was nearly bankrupt in 1990, when the NBC television network signed him to a contract and built a sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, around him.
The show was successful and began his acting career. Smith set for himself the goal of becoming "the biggest movie star in the world", studying box office successes' common characteristics.
Smith's first major roles were in the drama Six Degrees of Separation (1993) and the action film Bad Boys (1995) in which he starred opposite Martin Lawrence.
In 1996, Smith starred as part of an ensemble cast in Roland Emmerich's Independence Day. The film was a massive blockbuster, becoming the second highest grossing film in history at the time and establishing Smith as a prime box office draw. He later struck gold again in the summer of 1997 alongside Tommy Lee Jones in the summer hit Men in Black playing Agent J. In 1998, Smith starred with Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State.
He turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix in favor of Wild Wild West (1999). Despite the disappointment of Wild Wild West, Smith has said that he harbors no regrets about his decision, asserting that Keanu Reeves's performance as Neo was superior to what Smith himself would have achieved, although in interviews subsequent to the release of Wild Wild West he stated that he "made a mistake on Wild Wild West. That could have been better."
In 2005, Smith was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for attending three premieres in a 24-hour time span.
He has planned to star in a feature film remake of the television series It Takes a Thief.
On December 10, 2007, Smith was honored at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. Smith left an imprint of his hands and feet outside the world-renowned theater in front of many fans. Later that month, Smith starred in the film I Am Legend, released December 14, 2007. Despite marginally positive reviews, its opening was the largest ever for a film released in the United States during December. Smith himself has said that he considers the film to be "aggressively unique". A reviewer said that the film's commercial success "cemented [Smith's] standing as the number one box office draw in Hollywood." On December 1, 2008, TV Guide reported that Smith was selected as one of America's top ten most fascinating people of 2008 for a Barbara Walters ABC special that aired on December 4, 2008.
In 2008 Smith was reported to be developing a film entitled The Last Pharaoh, in which he would be starring as Taharqa. It was in 2008 that Smith starred in the superhero movie Hancock.
Men in Black III opened on May 25, 2012 with Smith again reprising his role as Agent J. This was his first major starring role in four years.
On August 19, 2011, it was announced that Smith had returned to the studio with producer La Mar Edwards to work on his fifth studio album. Edwards has worked with artists such as T.I., Chris Brown, and Game. Smith's most recent studio album, Lost and Found, was released in 2005.
Smith and his son Jaden played father and son in two productions: the 2006 biographical drama The Pursuit of Happyness, and the science fiction film After Earth, which was released on May 31, 2013.
Smith starred opposite Margot Robbie in the romance drama Focus. He played Nicky Spurgeon, a veteran con artist who takes a young, attractive woman under his wing. Focus was released on February 27, 2015. Smith was set to star in the Sci-Fic thriller Brilliance, an adaptation of Marcus Sakey's novel of the same name scripted by Jurassic Park writer David Koepp. But he left the project.
Smith played Dr. Bennet Omalu of the Brain Injury Research Institute in the sports-drama Concussion, who became the first person to discover chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a football player's brain. CTE is a degenerative disease caused by severe trauma to the head that can be discovered only after death. Smith's involvement is mostly due to his last-minute exit from the Sci-Fi thriller-drama Brilliance. Concussion was directed by Peter Landesman and-bead filmed in Pittsburgh, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. It received $14.4 million in film tax credits from Pennsylvania. Principal photography started on October 27, 2014. Actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw played his wife. Omalu served as a consultant.
As of November 2015, Smith is set to star in the independent drama Collateral Beauty, which will be directed by David Frankel. Smith will play a New York advertising executive who succumbs to an deep depression after a personal tragedy.
Nobel Peace Prize Concert December 11, 2009, in Oslo, Norway: Smith with wife Jada and children Jaden and Willow Smith married Sheree Zampino in 1992. They had one son, Trey Smith, born on November 11, 1992, and divorced in 1995. Trey appeared in his father's music video for the 1998 single "Just the Two of Us". He also acted in two episodes of the sitcom All of Us, and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and on the David Blaine: Real or Magic TV special.
Smith married actress Jada Koren Pinkett in 1997. Together they have two children: Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (born 1998), his co-star in The Pursuit of Happyness and After Earth, and Willow Camille Reign Smith (born 2000), who appeared as his daughter in I Am Legend. Smith and his brother Harry own Treyball Development Inc., a Beverly Hills-based company named after Trey. Smith and his family reside in Los Angeles, California.
Smith was consistently listed in Fortune Magazine's "Richest 40" list of the forty wealthiest Americans under the age of 40.- Actor
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- Cinematographer
Billy Jayne was born in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Just One of the Guys (1985), Cujo (1983) and The 'Burbs (1989). He was previously married to April Jayne.- Billy Aaron Brown was born on 28 July 1981 in Clarinda, Iowa, USA. He is an actor, known for Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003), 8 Simple Rules (2002) and First Night (2007).If it weren't for his hair in this picture, he'd be in the top 10- maybe the top 5.
- Actor
- Producer
William Remington Moses was born on November 17th, 1959 to actress Marian McCargo and businessman Richard Cantrell Moses Sr.
William's parents divorced when he was young. His mother met and married Alphonzo E. Bell, Jr. in 1970. Alphonzo adopted William and his three brothers. Alphonzo later became one of the most loved congressmen in California. Growing up on in a citrus farm in Ojai, California, he was not interested in showbiz until he met his brother Rick Moses' agent and did a commercial for Sprite. William's first movie opportunity came with Choices (1981). Shortly after that, his big break came - he read and won for the part of "Cole Gioberti" in the prime time series Falcon Crest (1981). He stayed there for 5 seasons.
He also guest-starred in episodes of Fantasy Island (1977), The Love Boat (1977), Maxwell Ltd: Finder of Lost Loves Pilot (1984), Hotel (1983) and "Battle Of The Network Stars" (1983-1985). He excelled at the latter because of his athletic skills. This is also how he met actress Tracy Nelson, daughter of rock legend Ricky Nelson and Kristin Harmon. They were married on romantic Catalina Island in July 1987.
A month after the wedding, Tracy was diagnosed with a form of cancer, Hodgkins' Disease. Because of her illness and waiting for her remission, they delayed having a baby. On August 11, 1992, their daughter, Remington Moses, was born. They divorced in 1997. William later found Sarah, whom he married in 2002. They have two daughters.
He will probably always be remembered for two roles, Falcon Crest (1981) and the Perry Mason Mysteries series (1989-1995). He comes from a talented family. His brothers are actor Rick Moses, musician Graham Moses and minister/director Harry Morgan Moses. His late mother, Marian McCargo, was a tennis star and actress before becoming a mother and stepmother to seven boys. He also has three stepbrothers.- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
In 2019 Billy Campbell won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor for his role in the CTV/HULU television series "Cardinal" for the second year in a row, as well as being nominated for a 2018 International Emmy Award for Best Actor in a series. He is also known for his work as a co-lead in the critically acclaimed AMC series "The Killing", the Lifetime MOW "Lizzie Borden Took an Ax," DirecTV's Neil LaBute drama, "Full Circle," as well as the title role in Nat Geo Channel's "Killing Lincoln", which garnered record-breaking ratings. Other feature film credits include Disney's "The Rocketeer," "Ghost Town" opposite Ricky Gervias, "Bram Stoker's Dracula" directed by Francis Ford Coppola and the male lead in "Enough" opposite Jennifer Lopez.
Billy Campbell is best known for starring in the beloved ABC drama "Once and Again," for which he earned a Golden Globe Awards nomination in the Best Actor - Drama Series category, as well as a People's Choice Award in the Favorite Male Performer in a New Television Series category.
Among his stage credits, Campbell starred in "A Winter's Tale" at The Old Globe, San Diego in 2014, as well as "Fortinbras," for which he received a 1996 Ovation Award for best actor in LA theatre, along with "Comedy of Errors" and "Much Ado about Nothing" at the Old Globe, San Diego.- Actor
- Producer
- Costume Designer
Willie Gault was born on 5 September 1960 in Griffin, Georgia, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for S.W.A.T. (2003), Cellular (2004) and The Sum of All Fears (2002).- Actor
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- Producer
Forte was age 32 before he came to the public's attention on Saturday Night Live (1975), but had been working in comedy since 1997.
Will Forte was born in Alameda County, California, and is the son of artist Patricia (Stivers) and financial broker Orville Willis Forte III (divorced). He has an older sister, Michelle. A creative and artistic child, he was an athlete (football and swimming) in high school and voted Best Personality at Acalanes High School. After graduating from UCLA with a degree in History, Forte had a brief career at a brokerage house before deciding to try comedy. Although he rarely performed stand-up, he joined the world-famous "Groundlings" and was hired as a writer for the series The Jenny McCarthy Show (1997), The Army Show, and The David Letterman Show. He eventually caught the attention of Carsey-Werner executive Tom Werner when he wrote a pilot about two childlike idiot brothers (eventually turned into the film, The Brothers Solomon (2007)) and was hired for the shows 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996) and That '70s Show (1998). In 2002, Forte moved from his home state of California to New York City to join Saturday Night Live (1975) as a writer and cast member. Although known as shy and reserved in his personal life, Forte was one of the individuals responsible for the shows move to absurd, surrealist comedy. Along with voice-over acting, guest appearances on television and small roles in films, Forte had his biggest opportunities to be a movie star with films he wrote. Forte wrote the screenplay for The Brothers Solomon (2007) (and had the leading role of childlike "Dean Solomon") and played the title role and co-wrote the SNL film MacGruber (2010). Both films were given small budgets ($10,000,000 each) and they were both considered box-office and critical failures, although they do have a cult following.
After MacGruber's theatrical release, Forte left SNL for personal and professional reasons, although he has returned as a guest performer. Forte has had a recurring role on the series 30 Rock and made numerous other guest appearances on other TV comedies. After leaving SNL, he increased his work as a voice artist and appeared in many films, including A Good Old Fashioned Orgy (2011), Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012), Rock of Ages (2012), That's My Boy (2012), and The Watch (2012).
Since 2012, he has moved into dramatic and straight roles on a television pilot titled Rebounding by the producers of Modern Family and Irish film Run and Jump. In August 2012, he was cast in the Alexander Payne film Nebraska (2013), beating out higher-profile actors such as Casey Affleck and Paul Rudd.
From 2015 to 2018, he starred on, and as The Last Man on Earth (2015), a television sitcom. In 2018, he headlined as National Lampoon co-creator Douglas Kenney in the biographical film A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018). The next year, he co-starred in more comedies, Booksmart (2019) and Good Boys (2019)- Actor
- Producer
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William Zabka was born on 20 October 1965 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Karate Kid (1984), Back to School (1986) and Hot Tub Time Machine (2010). He has been married to Stacie Lynn Doss since 2008. They have two children.- Actor
- Music Department
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William Fagerbakke is an American actor known for voicing Patrick Star in the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise, Broadway from Gargoyles and playing Dauber in Coach. He is also known for his roles in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Legend of Frosty the Snowman, Jennifer's Body, Lloyd in Space, Sym-Bionic Titan and How I Met Your Mother.Coach, the TV series. Those pants were never tight enough.- Actor
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Billy Wilder proclaimed William Holden to be "the ideal motion picture actor". For almost four decades, the handsome, affable 'Golden Holden' was among Hollywood's most durable and engaging stars. He was born William Franklin Beedle Jr., one of three sons to a high school English teacher, Mary Blanche (Ball), and a chemical and fertilizer analyst, William Franklin Beedle, head of the George W. Gooch Laboratories in Pasadena. His father, a keen physical fitness enthusiast, taught young Bill the art of tumbling and boxing. During his days as a student at South Pasadena High, he also became adept at team sports (football and baseball), learned to ride and shoot and to be proficient on piano, clarinet and drums.
To his father's chagrin, Bill had no inclination of following in dad's footsteps, though he did major in chemistry at Pasadena Junior College. A trip to New York and Broadway had set Bill's path firmly on an acting career. He had already performed in school plays and lent his voice to several radio plays in Los Angeles by the time he was spotted by a Paramount talent scout (playing the part of octogenarian Eugene Curie) at the Pasadena Workshop Theatre. In early 1938, he was offered a six-month studio contract for a weekly salary of $50. Naturally, the name Beedle had to go. Several alternatives were bandied around -- including Randolph Carey and Taylor Randolph - until the head of Paramount's publicity department settled on the name Holden (based on a personal friend who was an associate editor at the L.A. Times, also named Bill).
Having joined Paramount's Golden Circle Club of promising young actors, Bill was now groomed for stardom. However, it was a loan-out to Columbia that secured him his breakthrough role. He was the sixty-sixth actor to audition for the part of an Italian violinist forced to become a boxer in Golden Boy (1939). His earlier training as a junior pugilist proved somewhat beneficial but it was self-effacing co-star Barbara Stanwyck who turned out to be most instrumental in helping him rehearse and overcoming his nerves to act alongside her and thespians Lee J. Cobb and Adolphe Menjou. The picture was a minor hit and Columbia consequently acquired half his contract. For the next few years, Bill continued playing wholesome, guy-next-door types and rookie servicemen in pictures like Our Town (1940), I Wanted Wings (1941) (which was the making of 'peek-a-boo' star Veronica Lake) and The Fleet's In (1942). His salary had been enhanced and he now earned $150 a week. In July 1941, he married 25-year old actress Brenda Marshall, who commanded five times his income.
In 1942, he enlisted in the Officers Candidate School in Florida, graduating as an Air Force second lieutenant. He spent the next three years on P.R. duties and making training films for the Office of Public Information. One of his brothers, a naval pilot, was shot down and killed over the Pacific in 1943. After war's end, he was demobbed and returned to Hollywood to resume playing similar characters in similar movies. He later commented that he found "no interest or enjoyment" in portraying the same type of "nice-guy meaningless roles in meaningless movies". That was to change - along with his image - when he was invited to play the part of caddish, down-on-his-luck scriptwriter Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard (1950). The brilliantly acidulous screenplay was by Charles Brackett and director Billy Wilder (from their story A Can of Beans) and the story was narrated in flashback by Bill's character, opening with Gillis floating face-down in the swimming pool of a decrepit mansion "of the kind crazy people bought in the 20s".
With Sunset Boulevard (1950), Holden had effectively graduated from leading man to leading actor. No longer typecast, he was now allowed more hard-edged or even morally ambiguous roles: a self-serving, cynical prisoner-of-war in Stalag 17 (1953) (for which he won an Academy Award); an unemployed drifter who disrupts and changes the lives (particularly of womenfolk) in a small Kansas town, in Picnic (1955); a happy-go-lucky gigolo (who, as Billy Wilder explained the part to Bill, gets the sports car while Bogey -- Humphrey Bogart -- gets the girl), in the delightful Sabrina (1954); and an ill-fated U.S. Navy pilot in The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), set during the Korean War. Clever dialogue and the Holden likability factor also improved what potentially could have turned out dull or maudlin in pictures like Forever Female (1953) and Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955).
Already one of the highest paid stars of the 1950s, Holden received 10% of the gross for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), making him an instant multi-millionaire. He invested much of his earnings in various enterprises, even a radio station in Hong Kong. At the end of the decade, he relocated his family to Geneva, Switzerland, but spent more and more of his own time globetrotting. In the 1960s, Holden founded the exclusive Mount Kenya Safari Club with oil billionaire Ray Ryan and Swiss financier Carl Hirschmann. His fervent advocacy of wildlife conservation now consumed more of his time than his acting. His films, consequently, dropped in quality.
Drinking ever more heavily, he also started to show his age. By the time he appeared as the leader of an outlaw gang on their last roundup in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969), his face was so heavily lined that someone likened it to 'a map of the United States.' He still had a couple more good performances in him, in The Towering Inferno (1974) and Network (1976), until his shock death from blood loss due to a fall at his apartment while intoxicated. In 1982, actress Stefanie Powers, with whom he had been in a relationship since 1972, helped set up the William Holden Wildlife Foundation and the William Holden Wildlife Education Center in Kenya. Bill also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His wanderlust has left traces of him all over the world.Shirtless in Sunset Boulevard. He should rank higher.- Actor
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William James Pullman was born in Hornell, New York, one of seven children of Johanna (Blaas), a nurse, and James Pullman, a doctor. He is of Dutch (mother) and English, Northern Irish, and Scottish (father) descent. After high school, Bill went into a building construction program at SUNY Delhi in New York. He transferred to State University of New York College at Oneonta where he received his BA in Theater. He received both his MFA in Theater/Directing and an honorary PHD from University of Massachusetts at Amherst. While teaching Directing at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, one of Bill's students was the soon-to-be film director John Dahl, who later cast Mr. Pullman in "The Last Seduction".
Moving to New York City, he worked with Kathy Bates in the acclaimed stage production of "Curse of the Starving Class". However, it was his first work in three strikingly diverse films that brought him to the attention of his audience: "Ruthless People" with Danny DeVito and Bette Milder, the Mel Brooks hit "Spaceballs" and the Oscar-nominated (and winner for Best Supporting Actress Geena Davis) "The Accidental Tourist". Still attracted to the art and study of building construction, Bill has designed and/or restored three "barns": In Montana, he converted a 1933 barn at his ranch into his family home. In Los Angeles, he built a Truss barn in the style of LA's 1910 fruit storage barns. In western New York State, he restored a '3-bay' barn that sometimes serves as a community center near his hometown of Hornell, New York. Focused more on neighborhoods than show business-based charities and societies, Pullman has defined himself by his work with his local communities. He works to bridge communities of Los Angeles through his board work with Cornerstone Theater. Pullman continues to work with his neighbors who formed "Concerned Citizens Montana" to secure a place at the table regarding the national need for a smart grid for energy transmission. He also works with the local university (Alfred University, New York) as well as supports local health services ("The Pullman Women's Health and Birthing Center" at St James Hospital, Hornell, NY).
Pullman is also an MS Society Ambassador. Based in Los Angeles, New York City and Western Montana, Pullman is married to dancer Tamara Hurwitz Pullman, and they have three children, daughter singer/songwriter Maesa Rae and multi-talented sons Jack and Lewis Pullman, who is now also an actor.Pantless in The Serpent and the Rainbow. Hurts so good!- Actor
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1 brother (deceased) - per TV series "UnSung Hollywood - Bill Bellamy" (S3 Ep7)
Recently aired on TVOne as a repeat on 11/16/2016, It's a Documentary show which details archival film footage and personal, revealing interviews, about the lives and careers of some of the world's most highly talented but sometimes forgotten celebrities from the industry. Credits: Gary Anthony Williams (Narrator).- Music Department
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Billy Corgan was born on 17 March 1967 in Elk Grove, Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for Batman & Robin (1997), Stigmata (1999) and Ransom (1996). He has been married to Chloe Mendel since 16 September 2023. They have two children. He was previously married to Christine Fabian.- Actor
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Bill Paxton was born on May 17, 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas. He was the son of Mary Lou (Gray) and John Lane Paxton, a businessman and actor (as John Paxton). Bill moved to Los Angeles, California at age eighteen, where he found work in the film industry as a set dresser for Roger Corman's New World Pictures. He made his film debut in the Corman film Crazy Mama (1975), directed by Jonathan Demme. Moving to New York, Paxton studied acting under Stella Adler at New York University. After landing a small role in Stripes (1981), he found steady work in low-budget films and television. He also directed, wrote and produced award-winning short films including Barnes & Barnes: Fish Heads (1980), which aired on Saturday Night Live (1975). His first appearance in a James Cameron film was a small role in The Terminator (1984), followed by his very memorable performance as Private Hudson in Aliens (1986) and as the nomadic vampire Severen in Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark (1987). Bill also appeared in John Hughes' Weird Science (1985), as Wyatt Donnelly's sadistic older brother Chet. Although he continued to work steadily in film and television, his big break did not come until his lead role in the critically acclaimed film-noir One False Move (1991). This quickly led to strong supporting roles as Wyatt Earp's naive younger brother Morgan in Tombstone (1993) and as Fred Haise, one of the three astronauts, in Apollo 13 (1995), as well as in James Cameron's offering True Lies (1994).
Bill died on February 25, 2017, in Los Angeles, from complications following heart surgery. He was 61.Bare ass in Weird Science is epic. I still dream about it.- Actor
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William McChord Hurt was born in Washington, D.C., to Claire Isabel (McGill) and Alfred McChord Hurt, who worked at the State Department. He was trained at Tufts University and The Juilliard School and has been nominated for four Academy Awards, including the most recent nomination for his supporting role in David Cronenberg's A History of Violence (2005). Hurt received Best Supporting Actor accolades for the role from the Los Angeles Film Critics circle and the New York Film Critics Circle.
Hurt spent the early years of his career on the stage between drama school, summer stock, regional repertory and off-Broadway, appearing in more than fifty productions including "Henry V", "5th of July", "Hamlet", "Uncle Vanya", "Richard II", "Hurlyburly" (for which he was nominated for a Tony Award), "My Life" (winning an Obie Award for Best Actor), "A Midsummer's Night's Dream" and "Good". For radio, Hurt read Paul Theroux's "The Grand Railway Bazaar", for the BBC Radio Four and "The Shipping News" by Annie Proulx. He has recorded "The Polar Express", "The Boy Who Drew Cats", "The Sun Also Rises" and narrated the documentaries, "Searching for America: The Odyssey of John Dos Passos", "Einstein-How I See the World" and the English narration of Elie Wiesel's "To Speak the Unspeakable", a documentary directed and produced by Pierre Marmiesse. In 1988, Hurt was awarded the first Spencer Tracy Award from UCLA.- Actor
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Bill Hader is an American comedian and actor who is known for playing in Saturday Night Live from 2005 to 2013. He created and starred in the HBO show Barry. He also played Flint Lockwood from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Colonel Custer from Night at the Museum 2, Fear from Inside Out and Richie Tozier from It Chapter Two. He was married to Maggie Carey and has three children.- Producer
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Bill Maher was born William Maher in New York City, New York, and grew up in River Vale, New Jersey. His father, William Aloysius Maher Jr., who was of Irish Catholic descent, was a radio announcer and news editor. His mother, Julie (Berman), was a nurse, who was of Jewish descent. Maher was raised in his father's Catholic faith. While attending Cornell University, he decided to try stand-up comedy. His first stand-up routine was in a Chinese restaurant on Route 17 in Paramus, New Jersey. He soon landed a regular gig at Catch a Rising Star in New York City. After a few years, he became a regular host at the club and was spotted by a scout for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962). Maher made numerous appearances on the show, and Carson had been a hero of his since childhood, but he always felt constrained by the rules of network television. During this time, he appeared in films and made guest appearances on numerous sitcoms.
In 1993, Maher was offered his own talk show by Comedy Central. Maher developed the show as a round table discussion on current events. Politically Incorrect (1993) premiered to critical acclaim and attracted major celebrities as well as politicians and pundits. In 1997, the show moved to ABC where it aired to continued success. On September 17, 2001, Maher made controversial comments regarding the terrorists who orchestrated the September 11 attack on the US. Sponsors pulled their ads and affiliates refused to air the show. ABC canceled the show in 2002, citing "low ratings". Maher had been nominated for 11 Emmys for his work on the show. In 2003, he was able to continue his television work with a similar program on HBO titled Real Time with Bill Maher (2003). He remains single and lives in Los Angeles.- Actor
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Bill Nye was born on 27 November 1955 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993), Flubber (1997) and Stargate: Atlantis (2004). He has been married to Liza Mundy since 22 June 2022. He was previously married to Blair Tindall.- Actor
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William Russ was born on 20 October 1950 in Portsmouth, Virginia, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Boy Meets World (1993), Wiseguy (1987) and Cruising (1980). He is married to Clare Wren. They have two children.- Actor
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Bill Cosby is one of the world's most well-known entertainers and comedians. William Henry Cosby, Jr. was born on July 12, 1937, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Anna Pearl (Hite), a maid and William Henry Cosby, Sr., a U.S. Navy sailor. After 10th grade, Cosby joined the Navy and completed high school through a correspondence course. He later took up an athletics scholarship at Temple University, supporting himself during his studies by tending bar, where his easy going style and witty joking with the clientèle prompted suggestions that he try stand-up comedy. This he did and was soon to be discovered by the legendary Carl Reiner.
In his early twenties, he appeared on many well-known variety programs including The Ed Sullivan Show (1948). His big break came in 1965 when he appeared as "Alexander Scott" in I Spy (1965), winning numerous Emmys for his performance. He later appeared in The Bill Cosby Show (1969), playing a teacher, although originally the show only lasted for two years. He then created a Filmation cartoon based on many of his high school buddies including Weird Harold, Dumb Donald, Mushmouth, and others: the show was, of course, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972). The theme was humorous but also focused on Cosby's more educational side. He studied for many years during his career in the 1960s and 1970s, and he received a doctorate in Education from the University of Massachusetts. Cosby also starred in some highly successful movies such as Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Let's Do It Again (1975), A Piece of the Action (1977), Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976), and California Suite (1978). During his early years he also made some comedy albums that sold very well; his most notable comedy song being "Little Old Man." He was one of the original cast members of The Electric Company (1971), and he was featured in the series Pinwheel (1976) during the late 1970s and then appeared in the mediocre The Devil and Max Devlin (1981).
In 1984, 'Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids' stopped production, and The Cosby Show (1984) commenced. The show was originally intended to follow a blue-collar family, but finally ended up portraying a white-collar family. It was originally rejected by ABC, accepted by a then-floundering NBC, and was an almost instant success. From 1985 to 1987 the show broke viewing records, with Cosby becoming perhaps the strongest driving force in television during the eighties. Despite this great success, he arguably created his own downfall. The Cosby Show led what was considered by many at that time to be the best night of television: the line-up included Night Court (1984), Hill Street Blues (1981), and Family Ties (1982), which all followed The Cosby Show.
Cosby was dissatisfied with the way minorities were portrayed on television. He produced the TV series A Different World (1987) and insisted that this program should follow the Cosby Show, rather than Family Ties. A Different World was set in an historically Black college and concentrated on young people and education. Impact was felt on the show immediately; at its peak, the Cosby Show logged an estimated 70 million viewers. However, after the scheduling reshuffle, the show lost roughly 20% of its massive audience. However, Cosby was still riding high in the early nineties until massive competition from The Simpsons (1989).
The Cosby Show finally ended in 1992, conceding to The Simpsons (1989), with the final production considered to be one of the highest-rated shows of the season and featured a pleading Cosby asking for peace in riot-torn Los Angeles during the height of the Rodney King riots. Cosby never seemed able to top the success of the Cosby Show; his film Leonard Part 6 (1987) was considered to be one of the worst American films in history and may have contributed in part to his downfall as a film actor, along with his performance in Ghost Dad (1990). He did attempt a minor comeback in 1996 starring in the Robin Williams film Jack (1996), which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola; and in another show, Cosby (1996), (starring Phylicia Rashad, who appeared as his wife in the previous Cosby Show). Since then he has produced films such as Men of Honor (2000), and shows including Little Bill (1999).
Sadly, his son Ennis was murdered in 1997. Throughout the years, Bill Cosby has taken a socially conscious tone, often associated with family values, coupled with a distinctly urban spin on his style.- Actor
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William Shatner has notched up an impressive 70-plus years in front of the camera, displaying heady comedic talent and being instantly recognizable to several generations of cult television fans as the square-jawed Captain James T. Kirk, commander of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise.
Shatner was born in Côte Saint-Luc, Montréal, Québec, Canada, to Anne (Garmaise) and Joseph Shatner, a clothing manufacturer. His father was a Jewish emigrant from Bukovina in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while his maternal grandparents were Lithuanian Jews. After graduating from university, he joined a local Summer theatre group as an assistant manager. He then performed with the National Repertory Theatre of Ottawa and at the Stratford, Ontario, Shakespeare Festival as an understudy working with such as Alec Guinness, James Mason, and Anthony Quayle. He came to the attention of New York critics and was soon playing important roles in major shows on live television.
Shatner spent many years honing his craft before debuting alongside Yul Brynner in The Brothers Karamazov (1958). He was kept busy during the 1960s in films such as Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) and The Intruder (1962) and on television guest-starring in dozens of series such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), The Defenders (1961), The Outer Limits (1963) and The Twilight Zone (1959). In 1966, Shatner boarded the USS Enterprise for three seasons of Star Trek (1966), co-starring alongside Leonard Nimoy, with the series eventually becoming a bona-fide cult classic with a worldwide legion of fans known variously as "Trekkies" or "Trekkers".
After "Star Trek" folded, Shatner spent the rest of the decade and the 1970s making the rounds, guest-starring on many prime-time television series, including Hawaii Five-O (1968), Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969) and Ironside (1967). He has also appeared in several feature films, but they were mainly B-grade (or lower) fare, such as the embarrassingly bad Euro western White Comanche (1968) and the campy Kingdom of the Spiders (1977). However, the 1980s saw a major resurgence in Shatner's career with the renewed interest in the original Star Trek (1966) series culminating in a series of big-budget "Star Trek" feature films, including Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). In addition, he starred in the lightweight police series T.J. Hooker (1982) from 1982 to 1986, alongside spunky Heather Locklear, and surprised many fans with his droll comedic talents in Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) and Miss Congeniality (2000).
He has most recently been starring in the David E. Kelley television series The Practice (1997) and its spin-off Boston Legal (2004).
Outside of work, he jogs and follows other athletic pursuits. His interest in health and nutrition led to him becoming spokesman for the American Health Institute's 'Know Your Body' program to promote nutritional and physical health.- Actor
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William George Zane, better known as Billy Zane, was born on February 24, 1966 in Chicago, Illinois, to Thalia (Colovos) and William Zane, both of Greek ancestry. His parents were amateur actors and managed a medical technical school. Billy has an older sister, actress and singer Lisa Zane. Billy was bitten by the acting bug early on. In his early teens, he attended Harand Camp of the Theater Arts in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. In 1982, he attended the American School in Switzerland. His high school days were spent at Francis Parker High School in Chicago, Illinois. Daryl Hannah and Jennifer Beals also attended Parker, prior to Billy's attendance.
Soon after graduating from high school, Billy decided to venture out to California to attempt acting for the first time. Within three weeks, he won his very first big screen role in Back to the Future (1985), playing the role of Match, one of Biff Tannen's thugs. He would later reprise that role for the sequel Back to the Future Part II (1989). Then after a small role in the science fiction horror film Critters (1986), he landed starring roles in several television films. Billy played villain Hughie Warriner in the Australian thriller film Dead Calm (1989), where he met his future wife, Lisa Collins.
He also co-starred in Memphis Belle (1990), a film version of a 1944 documentary about a World War II bomber. In 1991, he appeared as John Justice Wheeler on several episodes of David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks (1990). Billy starred as the eponymous superhero in The Phantom (1996) and as Caledon Hockley in the billion dollar grossing Titanic (1997). Then, he starred in the television movie Cleopatra (1999) where he met his soon-to-be fiance, actress Leonor Varela from whom he subsequently separated. In 2005, he had a recurring role as the poetry loving ex-demon Drake on the television series Charmed (1998).- Actor
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William Baldwin has distinguished himself as an actor/producer/writer who continues to showcase his multitude of talents in the world of film and television.
Baldwin has a busy year ahead starring in several high-profile upcoming projects. He is currently travelling the world shooting back-to-back productions - most recently wrapping his recurring role opposite Miles Teller in Nicolas Winding Refn's highly-anticipated upcoming Amazon series "Too Old to Die Young."
He is about to begin production in Canada starring in & executive producing the new Netflix / CBC family drama "Northern Rescue" opposite Kathleen Robertson. After the death of his wife, John West (Baldwin) packs up his three children and moves from their hectic urban life to his small northern hometown to take command of the local search-and-rescue service. Once there, the family struggles with their new surroundings, new friends and accepting Sarah's death.
Additionally, Baldwin will reprise his role as Brian McCaffrey from the 1991 blockbuster "Backdraft" in the Universal / Netflix sequel "Backdraft 2," along with Donald Sutherland. The action drama is now shooting in Eastern Europe. He then will return to the United States to begin his recurring role in the USA Network/SyFy series "The Purge" (Fall 2018). Based on the popular Blumhouse film franchise about one day each year when murder and mayhem is legalized - the series will be an entirely new chapter in America's 12 hours of annual lawlessness. Baldwin will play David Ryker, the handsome & powerful Managing Partner at an investment firm, who leads his team with confidence & intelligence, but also harbors a Purge night secret. He will also appear in the upcoming Netflix series "Insatiable."
Baldwin made his television series debut starring in the hit ABC series, "Dirty Sexy Money," opposite Jill Clayburgh, Donald Sutherland and Peter Krause. The tongue-in-cheek drama focused on the wealth, power & privilege of the fictional Darling family of New York City. He won rave reviews portraying Patrick Darling, the state Attorney General - who harbored a multitude of scandalous secrets - including an affair with his transgendered mistress. Since then, he has appeared on several acclaimed series including BBC's "Copper," TV Land's "Hot in Cleveland," NBC's "Parenthood" & "30 Rock," CW's "Gossip Girl" and FX's "Wilfred." He has also guested/recurred on such series as "MacGyver," "Hawaii 5-0," "Hit the Floor," "Forever," and starred in the popular Lifetime telefilm "The Craig's List Killer."
Baldwin has starred in over 30 films of varied genres. In 2005, he memorably starred with Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels in the critical award-winning hit film "The Squid & The Whale." The drama, directed by Noah Baumbach and produced by Wes Anderson, was recognized on over 200 Top 10 Lists that year. He also appeared in the hit comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," with Kristen Bell & Russell Brand, co-starred with William Hurt & Tim Robbins in the independent comedy "Noise," as well as the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival & HBO Comedy Arts Festival entry "Humble Pie." His other film credits include the screen adaptation of Noel Coward's "Relative Values," "One Eyed King," "The Brotherhood of Murder," "Curdled," "Virus," "Pyromaniacs: A Love Story," "Shattered Image," "Double Bang," "Fair Game," "Sliver," "Three of Hearts," "Flatliners," "Internal Affairs," and the "The Preppy Murder." He made his feature film debut in Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July."
As a producer, Baldwin co-produced the independent film "Lymelife" starring Cynthia Nixon & his brother Alec. He produced & starred in "Lead with the Heart" and "Second Time Around" for the Hallmark Network.
A native of Massapequa, New York, Baldwin graduated Binghamton University with a degree in Political Science, and politics remains a passion. Baldwin serves on the boards of KCLU radio, The Massapequa Community Fund, The Committee to Preserve Olympic Wrestling, The Los Angelitos Orphanage and The Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund.
Baldwin lives in California with his wife, singer/songwriter Chynna Phillips and their three children Jameson, Vance and Brooke. He was also the Executive Producer for Phillips' record "One Reason" for her band "Chynna & Vaughan."- Actor
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Billy Burke was born and raised in Bellingham, Washington, USA. He began singing at age nine, and joined a band at age fifteen. He continued to work with bands and study/performing drama at Western Washington University. He performed in Seattle at the Annex Theater, New City Festival, and the A.H.A. Theater, though it was as a musician, not an actor, that Burke first moved to Los Angeles. A demo deal with a major record label that "didn't quite pan out", left him to explore the only other thing he "knew he was good at". With two independent films shot in his native Seattle under his belt, he began auditioning and very soon working as an actor.
He made his feature film debut in the independent film Daredreamer (1989). After a string of mostly "bad guy with facial hair" TV guest appearances, he landed his first studio picture role in the Zucker brothers' genre spoof Mafia! (1998). Capitalizing on his deadpan comedic sensibilities, he then won the title role in Dill Scallion (1999), the cult classic "mockumentary" about the rise and fall of a slightly touched country music singer. Co-starring in "Dill", was then fledgling writer/director Peter Berg. It was Berg who brought Billy back to television to play "Dr. Abe Matthews" in the acclaimed ABC drama Wonderland (2000). Although its life on the air was short-lived, Wonderland (2000) won the hearts of critics and fans, alike, and was recently re-released in its entirety on DirecTV.
Paramount's Along Came a Spider (2001) marked Billy's first revisit to studio films. He then returned yet again to television for the second season of Fox's mega hit series 24 (2001). His disturbing portrayal of abusive father and husband "Gary Matheson" still resonates as a fan favorite. In 2004, Billy teamed up with John Travolta and Joaquin Phoenix in the firefighter drama Ladder 49 (2004). It was here that the studios once again began to recognize his on-screen magnetism. So, after another steady stream of notable television performances, he was cast alongside Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling in New Line's hit thriller Fracture (2007), directed by NYPD Blue (1993) creator Gregory Hoblit. This multi-layered turn as a flawed cop snared by his own aberrations caught the eye of Academy Award winning director Robert Benton. Benton swiftly invited Billy to join the cast of his and Lakeshore Entertainment's Feast of Love (2007), which included Morgan Freeman and Greg Kinnear. As fate would have it, neither Gregory Hoblit nor Lakeshore had seen enough of Burke's dry wit and unshakable persona, so when it came time to find a match for Diane Lane in Untraceable (2008), he got the call to play the rock solid "Detective Eric Box". Since arriving in Hollywood in the early 90s, Billy Burke has never stopped working. There are countless credits that come in between the aforementioned that of course, also serve as a testament to his gift and longevity. However, it was a chance viewing of Dill Scallion (1999) that struck an indelible head turn for director Catherine Hardwicke. The impression Billy's performance left, lasted until they met in 2007 while Hardwicke and Summit Entertainment were looking for someone to play "Charlie Swan" in their film adaptations of the bestselling book series The "Twilight" Saga. After a brief meeting and read-through of a few scenes, Billy and Catherine agreed... it was "meant to be". Summit followed suit and welcomed him into the franchise. Millions of fans around the world have concurred with the choice and the overwhelming response to his theatrical work has given him solace in the fact that he never got that record deal.- Actor
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Billy Dee Williams was born William December Williams on April 6, 1937 in New York City. Billy Dee has notched up an impressive array of film and television appearances over the past 50+ years. He is easily best known to international film audiences as the roguish Lando Calrissian in the last two episodes of the original Star Wars trilogy: Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). Williams can also be seen on screen in Lady Sings the Blues (1972), Nighthawks (1981), Batman (1989), Moving Target (1996) and Undercover Brother (2002). A regular performer also in many fine quality television movies and television series.- Actor
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Billy Crystal was born on March 14, 1948 in Manhattan, New York, and was raised on Long Island. He is the youngest of three sons born to Helen (Gabler) and Jack Crystal. His father was a well-known concert promoter who co-founded Commodore Records and his mother was a homemaker. His family were Jewish emigrants from Russia, Austria, and Lithuania. With his father in the music business, Billy was no stranger to some of the top performers of the time. Legends such as Billie Holiday, Pee Wee Russell, and Eddie Condon regularly stopped by the Crystal household. At age 15, Billy faced a personal tragedy when his father died of a heart attack at the relatively young age of 54. This gave Billy a real appreciation of what his dad was able to accomplish while alive and what his mother did to keep the family together. Despite this tragedy, Billy was very upbeat and likable as a kid. He had a unique talent for making people laugh.
With television becoming a new medium, Billy got his influence from shows like The Honeymooners (1955), and "The Ed Sullivan Show" and performers like Alan King, Ernie Kovacs and Jonathan Winters. He started doing stand-up comedy at the age of 16. However, his real dream was to be a professional baseball player. His idol growing up was Yankees outfielder Mickey Mantle. He spent long hours in the summers playing softball in the middle of Park Avenue with his brothers and his father, a former pitcher at St. John's University . At Long Beach High, Billy played second base and was varsity captain in his senior year. This earned him a baseball scholarship from Marshall University in West Virginia which he accepted. However, he would never end up playing a game as the baseball program was suspended during his freshman year. This would lead him to leave the university and move back to New York. He then enrolled at nearby Nassau Community College, majoring in theater. It was there that he met and fell in love with a dancer named Janice Goldfinger. They would get married in 1970 and have two daughters. Shortly after, Billy got accepted in New York University, where he majored in Film and TV Direction. While at NYU, he studied under legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese. He also worked as house manager and usher on a production of "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown."
After receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts from NYU in 1970, Billy temporarily worked as a substitute teacher until he was able to get gigs as a stand-up comic. He formed his own improv group, 3's Company, and opened for musicians like Barry Manilow. His impression of Howard Cosell interviewing Muhammad Ali became a huge hit with the audience. He left Long Beach for Hollywood in August of 1976 in the hopes of trying to land a role on a television series. It only took a year before he got his big break when he was chosen for the role of gay character Jodie Dallas on the controversial ABC sitcom Soap (1977). This would be the first time that an American TV show would feature an openly gay character as a regular. The show ran successfully for four seasons and helped to jump-start Billy's previously stagnant career. After Soap (1977) ended in 1981, Billy continued to do his stand-up routine, which was now attracting a larger audience with his growing celebrity status. During this time, he made many TV guest appearances and even hosted his own short-lived variety show, The Billy Crystal Comedy Hour (1982).
He became a regular on Saturday Night Live (1975) in 1984 where his Fernando Lamas impression with the catchphrase "You Look Mahvellous" was a huge hit with viewers. This would lead to appearances in feature-length films such as Running Scared (1986) and Throw Momma from the Train (1987). In 1986, along with Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams, he started Comic Relief, an annual stand-up comedy show which helped to raise money for housing and medical care for the homeless. The show has since grown substantially with the continued support of all three comics. Billy's career would peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His roles in the blockbuster movies When Harry Met Sally... (1989) and City Slickers (1991) helped to establish himself as one of Hollwood's top movie stars. This star status was further validated when he was chosen to host the annual Oscars in 1990, an honor in which he would repeat seven more times. He made his big screen directorial debut in the 1992 film Mr. Saturday Night (1992), which was about a washed-up stand-up comic who refuses to retire. He also wrote, produced and starred in the film. Although the film was not a huge hit, it proved that Billy was much more than an actor and comedian. In the following years, Billy continued to act in, produce, and direct several films.
He had his share of hits (Analyze This (1999), America's Sweethearts (2001)) and some flops (Fathers' Day (1997), My Giant (1998)). His role in as a therapist to mobster Robert De Niro in Analyze This (1999) earned him critical praise. In 2001, Billy parlayed his childhood love of baseball and Mickey Mantle into a feature film. The movie, 61* (2001), which premiered on HBO, centered on the relationship between Mantle and Roger Maris and their 1961 pursuit of Babe Ruth's home run record. The film for which Billy served as director and executive producer, garnered 12 Emmy nominations in all.
Offscreen, Billy remains married to Janice Crystal and they have homes in California and New York. Both of his daughters are involved in the film business. Jennifer Crystal Foley is an aspiring actress, appearing in 61* (2001), while Lindsay Crystal is an aspiring filmmaker, creating and directing the documentary My Uncle Berns (2003).- Producer
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John William Ferrell was born in Irvine, California, to Betty Kay (Overman), a teacher, and Roy Lee Ferrell, Jr., a musician. His parents were originally from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.
A graduate of the University of Southern California, Ferrell became interested in performing while a student at University High School in Irvine, where he made his school's daily morning announcements over the public address system in disguised voices. He started as a member of the Los Angeles comedy/improvisation group The Groundlings, where fellow cast members Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph and former Saturday Night Live (1975) repertory players such as Laraine Newman, Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman began their careers. It was there he met Chris Kattan and the two became good friends and both went on to Saturday Night Live (1975) later. He has also appeared on several television programs, including Strangers with Candy (1999), Grace Under Fire (1993) and Living Single (1993) during his time at The Groundlings. Will also lent his voice to the armless and legless dad of cartoon family "The Oblongs".
In 1995 he became a feature cast member at Saturday Night Live (1975) during the show's rapid re-casting. He was declared quite possibly the worst cast member ever during his first season. However, his talents of impersonations and range of characters shot him forward to making him arguably the greatest Saturday Night Live (1975) cast member ever. During his seven year run he is one of the few cast members to ever be nominated for an Emmy for a performance and played George W. Bush during the 2000 elections. He has appeared in every Saturday Night Live (1975) movie since his premiere on the show in 1995. In 2002 he left Saturday Night Live (1975) and was the only cast member to ever receive a farewell from all the current cast members at the end of the season finale show. Since leaving the show Will has pursued a career in films. In 2000, he married Viveca Paulin, and lives in L.A.- Actor
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Billy Bob Thornton was born on August 4, 1955 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to Virginia Roberta (Faulkner), a psychic, and William Raymond (Billy Ray) Thornton, an educator, high school history teacher, and basketball coach (now deceased). He is the older brother of James Donald (Jimmy Don) (born in 1958 and now deceased) and John David (born in 1969). He has been married six times and has four children: daughter Amanda Brumfield, with Melissa Lee Gatlin (now Parish); sons William and Harry, both with Pietra Dawn Cherniak; and daughter Bella with Connie Angland.
Billy Bob began his artistic career as a musician, playing drums and singing in a band called Tres Hombres, which once opened for Hank Williams Jr.. In 1981, he moved to Los Angeles with childhood friend Tom Epperson to pursue an acting and writing career. On the side, Billy Bob also sought work as a singer and drummer. He and Epperson tried for years to sell their scripts but no one was buying. During those rough times, Billy Bob neglected his health and subsequently landed in the hospital with heart problems due to malnutrition. In 1992, Billy Bob starred in One False Move (1991), a movie he co-wrote with Epperson. The team finally received attention because of this work, which was very well received in Hollywood. His popularity increased steadily, especially after Sling Blade (1996) which he wrote, directed and in which he starred.- Actor
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Bill Murray is an American actor, comedian, and writer. The fifth of nine children, he was born William James Murray in Wilmette, Illinois, to Lucille (Collins), a mailroom clerk, and Edward Joseph Murray II, who sold lumber. He is of Irish descent. Among his siblings are actors Brian Doyle-Murray, Joel Murray, and John Murray. He and most of his siblings worked as caddies, which paid his tuition to Loyola Academy, a Jesuit school. He played sports and did some acting while in that school, but in his words, mostly "screwed off." He enrolled at Regis College in Denver to study pre-med but dropped out after being arrested for marijuana possession. He then joined the National Lampoon Radio Hour with fellow members Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, and John Belushi. However, while those three became the original members of Saturday Night Live (1975), he joined Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell (1975), which premiered that same year. After that show failed, he later got the opportunity to join Saturday Night Live (1975), for which he earned his first Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series. He later went on to star in comedy films, including Meatballs (1979), Caddyshack (1980), Stripes (1981), Tootsie (1982), Ghostbusters (1984), Ghostbusters II (1989), Scrooged (1988), What About Bob? (1991), and Groundhog Day (1993). He also co-directed Quick Change (1990). Murray garnered additional critical acclaim later in his career, starring in Lost in Translation (2003), which earned him a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He also received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in Ghostbusters, Rushmore (1998), Hyde Park on Hudson (2012), St. Vincent (2014), and the HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge (2014), for which he later won his second Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie.- Podcaster
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- Producer
Bill Burr is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, and podcaster. He is best known for playing Patrick Kuby in the crime drama series Breaking Bad (2008), and creating and starring in the Netflix animated sitcom F Is for Family (2015).
In 2008, Burr's voice was featured in the game Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) as Jason Michaels of the biker gang The Lost MC in the mission "No Love Lost." In 2009, he reprised his role in the game's expansion pack Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned (2009).Think about what comes out of your mouth next time, big shot.