Billy Zane
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person
William George Zane Jr. (born February 24, 1966) is an American actor. His breakthrough role was in the Australian film Dead Calm (1989), a performance that earned him a nomination for the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor. He has since appeared in numerous films and television series, and starred as the main antagonist Caledon Hockley in the epic film Titanic (1997), for which he and the rest of the ensemble cast was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Zane's other film roles include Kit Walker / The Phantom in the superhero film The Phantom (1996), "Match" in the Back to the Future franchise, Lieutenant Val Kozlowski in Memphis Belle (1990), The Collector in Demon Knight (1995), Curtis Zampf in The Believer (2001), and Richard Miller in the Sniper film series. He also played the recurring role of John Justice Wheeler in the second season of the television series Twin Peaks, and provided the voice of Ansem in the video game Kingdom Hearts (2002).
Early lifeEdit
Zane was born in Chicago to Thalia and William George Zane Sr.; both were professional actors and founders of a school for medical technicians.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Billy Zane. Filmreference.com. Retrieved on November 15, 2011.</ref> His parents are of Greek descent (from Chios through his mother and Mani through his father); and his family's original surname, "Zanetakos", was anglicized to "Zane" by his parents. He grew up in the Greek Orthodox faith.<ref name=euo>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He has an older sister, Lisa Zane, who is an actress and singer.<ref>Billy Zane Template:Webarchive</ref>
After completing a year of school at The American School in Switzerland (TASIS), Zane graduated from Francis W. Parker School and attended Harand Camp of the Theater Arts in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.Template:Citation needed
CareerEdit
1980sEdit
Zane's first two screen roles were in the science fiction films Back to the Future in 1985 and Critters in 1986, around the same time he appeared in the music videos for Sheena Easton's songs "Do It For Love" and "Magic of Love". In 1988, he played Tony Gambini alongside Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote: A Very Good Year for Murder. Zane also appeared in an episode of Matlock entitled "The Nurse". In 1989, he reprised his henchman role in Back to the Future Part II. Earlier that same year, Zane gained international recognition with the role of villain Hughie Warriner in the thriller Dead Calm, alongside Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill. He also starred in the NBC film The Case of the Hillside Stranglers (1989), and Adam Sandler's "no budget" debut Going Overboard (1989) which was not released to a wider audience until 1996.
1990sEdit
Zane's first starring role was in a 1990 independent film, the low-budget science fiction thriller Megaville. In 1990, he also co-starred in the film Memphis Belle, a film version of a 1944 film about a World War II Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, as the bombardier. Zane also forayed into television work, and in 1991 he appeared as John Justice Wheeler in several episodes of David Lynch's hit TV-series Twin Peaks. In 1992, Zane co-starred alongside Tilda Swinton in the film adaptation of Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando. In 1993, he played the Shakespearean actor "Mr. Fabian" in Tombstone, took a starring role in Sniper he also starred alongside Mario Van Peebles as a cold-blooded and corrupt Colonel Graham in Posse and also in Lake Consequence and played a playboy named Harry, posing as the elusive, albeit fake Damon Bradley alongside Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr. in Only You.
He also starred in a couple of Tales from the Crypt productions, including Tales From the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight, where he played a henchman of Satan called The Collector, and the episode "Well-Cooked Hams", where he played a poorly skilled magician who killed to steal good tricks from other magicians. In 1996, Zane played the eponymous classic comic book hero in the big budget action film The Phantom, based on Lee Falk's comic.
Zane played the snobbish millionaire misanthrope Caledon Hockley in James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster Titanic. This role as Rose's (played by Kate Winslet) fiancé earned him an MTV Movie Award nomination for "Best Villain" and a Blockbuster Entertainment Award. Along with the rest of the ensemble cast, he was nominated for a SAG award.
In 1998, he starred in and produced I Woke Up Early the Day I Died, a silent film based on Ed Wood's last script, intended as a parody on bad filmmaking. He won several awards at the B-Movie Film Festival, including Best Movie and Best Actor, for this work. The year after, he starred opposite Timothy Dalton, Bruce Payne, Sean Pertwee and Leonor Varela (who became his fiancé after shooting ended) in a miniseries about Cleopatra. Zane played the role of Mark Antony.
The same year, he voiced John Rolfe in Disney's Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World and Etrigan the Demon in an episode of The New Batman Adventures.
2000sEdit
Zane appeared as neo-fascist Curtis Zampf in The Believer, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival in 2001. The same year, he also had a cameo as himself in the comedy Zoolander.
Zane appeared on Broadway in the musical Chicago, where he played lawyer Billy Flynn.
Zane also had a recurring role in the television series Charmed in which he played poetry-loving ex-demon Drake. He also provided the voice of Ansem, the main antagonist of the 2002 video game Kingdom Hearts, opposite Haley Joel Osment as Sora. Though archive audio of Zane was later used for Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, he was replaced by Richard Epcar for the rest of the series from Kingdom Hearts II onwards. However, Zane's performance was kept for the Kingdom Hearts Final Mix remaster in Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix.
In 2006, Zane starred in Arthur Allan Seidelman's West End production of Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks as an acerbic gay dance instructor opposite Claire Bloom.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the same year, he appeared in the Turkish film Valley of the Wolves: Iraq (Kurtlar Vadisi: Irak in Turkish), part of the Kurtlar Vadisi franchise. The film tells the story of the U.S. Army run amok in Iraq, eventually brought into check by a Turkish soldier. Zane plays Sam William Marshall, a cruel U.S. soldier who is the film's main antagonist.
He took over Timothy Olyphant's role as Christina Applegate's ex-boyfriend on Samantha Who?. However, the sitcom was not renewed for the 2009–2010 season.<ref name=EW>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Zane is a principal at RadioactiveGiant, a film and television production and distribution company.<ref>Template:Usurped. Ecofabulous (September 23, 2010). Retrieved on November 15, 2011. </ref>
2010sEdit
Zane starred in the action/thriller film The Kill Hole (2012),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and in January 2017 he appeared in a commercial for KFC as a gold-colored Colonel Sanders to pitch the restaurant chain's newest limited-time flavor, Georgia Gold Honey Mustard BBQ chicken.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Zane also appeared in an episode of Community, season 6's "Advanced Safety Features".
2020sEdit
Zane was also featured in two episodes of The Boys portraying a fictional version of himself who made a movie with Popclaw and also attended a comic convention with Tara Reid. In season 3, Zane appeared as himself portraying Alastair Adana in the Vought film Not Without My Dolphin.
In 2024, Zane portrayed Larry Ray in the Lifetime film Devil on Campus: The Larry Ray Story as part of its "Ripped from the Headlines" feature films.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Personal lifeEdit
Zane was married to actress Lisa Collins from 1989 to 1995. He was also engaged for a time to Chilean actress Leonor Varela who was his co-star in the miniseries Cleopatra (1999).<ref name=contact>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Later Zane was engaged to British model-turned-actress Kelly Brook; he met her when they co-starred in the movie Survival Island (2005), also known as Three. They split in April 2008, got back together again shortly after that, and ended the relationship in August 2008.Template:Citation needed Zane dated Croatian model Jasmina Hdagha in 2010; they broke up later that year.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Through a friend, he met American model Candice Neil with whom he has two daughters; they became engaged.<ref name=contact/><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Their first daughter, Ava Catherine, was born in 2011, and their second daughter, Gia, was born in 2014.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1999, Zane participated in the first Gumball 3000 rally, driving a 1964 Aston Martin DB5.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is an abstract expressionist painter and he has had many solo and group exhibitions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Other media projectsEdit
Zane executive-produced an album by bluesman Tim O'Connor that includes three songs from Dead Calm, in which Zane had one of the lead roles.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
FilmographyEdit
FilmEdit
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Back to the Future | "Match" | |
| 1986 | Critters | Steve Elliot | |
| 1989 | Going Overboard | King Neptune | |
| Dead Calm | Hughie Warriner | Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor | |
| Back to the Future Part II | "Match" | ||
| 1990 | Megaville | CKS Agent Raymond Palinov / Jensen | |
| Memphis Belle | Lieutenant Val Kozlowski | Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor | |
| 1991 | Femme Fatale | Elijah | |
| Blood and Concrete | Joey Turks | ||
| Millions | Maurizio Ferretti | ||
| 1992 | Orlando | Shelmerdine | |
| 1993 | Sniper | NSC Agent Richard Miller | |
| Posse | Colonel Graham | ||
| Poetic Justice | Brad | ||
| Tombstone | Mr. Fabian | ||
| Betrayal of the Dove | Jesse Peter | ||
| 1994 | Reflections on a Crime | Colin | |
| The Silence of the Hams | Jo Dee Fostar | ||
| Flashfire | Jack Flinder | ||
| Only You | Harry / Fake Damon Bradley | ||
| 1995 | The Set-Up | Charles Thorpe | |
| Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight | The Collector | ||
| 1996 | The Phantom | Kit Walker / The Phantom | |
| Head Above Water | Kent | ||
| Danger Zone | Rick Morgan | Also co-producer | |
| 1997 | This World, Then the Fireworks | Marty Lakewood | Also executive producer |
| Titanic | Caledon Hockley | Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor – Drama Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Villain | |
| 1998 | I Woke Up Early the Day I Died | The Thief | Also producer |
| Susan's Plan | Sam Myers | ||
| Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World | John Rolfe (voice) | citation | CitationClass=web
}} A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref> |
| 1999 | Promise Her Anything | George Putter | |
| 2001 | Zoolander | Himself | Uncredited cameo |
| The Believer | Curtis Zampf | ||
| CQ | Mr. E. | ||
| Morgan's Ferry | Sam | Direct-to-video | |
| 2002 | Claim | Roberto Bealing | |
| Landspeed | Michael Sanger | ||
| 2003 | Silent Warnings | Sheriff Bill Willingham | Direct-to-video |
| Vlad | Adrian | ||
| The Kiss | Alan Roberts / Young Philip Naudet | Direct-to-video | |
| Starving Hysterical Naked | Jack | ||
| Imaginary Grace | Nero | ||
| 2004 | Silver City | Chandler Tyson | |
| Big Kiss | Billy | Also director and executive producer | |
| 2005 | Dead Fish | Virgil | |
| The Pleasure Drivers | Marvin | ||
| BloodRayne | Elrich | ||
| 2006 | The Last Drop | Lieutenant Robert Oates | Direct-to-video |
| Survival Island | Jack | ||
| Valley of the Wolves: Iraq | Sam William Marshall | ||
| Memory | Taylor Briggs | ||
| 2007 | The Mad | Jason Hunt | |
| Fishtales | Professor Thomas Bradley | Also co-producer | |
| Alien Agent | Tom Hanson / Saylon | Direct-to-video | |
| 2008 | Perfect Hideout | Victor | |
| The Man Who Came Back | Ezra | ||
| Love N' Dancing | Kent Krandel | ||
| 2009 | Surviving Evil | Sebastian "Seb" Beazley | |
| Blue Seduction | Mikey Taylor | ||
| Evil: In the Time of Heroes | Prophitis Messenger | ||
| Darfur | Bob Jones | ||
| The Hessen Affair | Jack Durant | ||
| 2010 | Magic Man | Darius | |
| The Confidant | Monty | ||
| Enemies Among Us | Graham | ||
| 2011 | The Roommate | Professor Roberts | |
| Boop | Max Fleischer | Short film | |
| Sniper: Reloaded | NSC Agent Richard Miller | Direct-to-video | |
| Mercenaries | Colonel Torida | ||
| Flutter | Edwin "The Dentist" | ||
| Mysteria | The Producer | ||
| Lovemakers | Jake's Agent | ||
| Guido | Sid Shine | ||
| 2012 | The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption | King Talus | Direct-to-video |
| Electrick Children | Paul McKnight | ||
| Mama, I Want to Sing! | Dillan | ||
| A Green Story | Greg Hutchins | ||
| Two Jacks | Max Faraday | ||
| Border Run | Aaron Talbert | ||
| Dark Star Hollow | The Devil | ||
| 2013 | The Employer | Alan | |
| The Kill Hole | Marshall | ||
| Blood of Redemption | Quinn Forte | Direct-to-video | |
| Come Find Me | Uncle | Short film | |
| 2014 | Scorned | Kevin | |
| The Ganzfeld Haunting | Father | ||
| HUVr | Himself | Short film | |
| Ghost of Goodnight Lane | Alan | ||
| Mining for Ruby | Professor Sam Goodwell | ||
| 2015 | Zombie Killers: Elephant's Graveyard | Seiler | |
| Billy Zane Thinks Zayn Tweets Are About Him | Himself | Short film | |
| West of Redemption | Hank Keller | ||
| Trouble Sleeping | Charles | ||
| 2016 | A Winter Rose | Preston Holdsworth | |
| Zoolander 2 | Himself | ||
| Swing State | Governor Richard Sollow | ||
| Dead Rising: Endgame | Leo Rand | ||
| White Island | Leo | <ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> | |
| Sniper: Ghost Shooter | NSC Agent Richard Miller | Direct-to-video | |
| The Adventure Club | Langley | ||
| 2017 | Sniper: Ultimate Kill | NSC Agent Richard Miller | Direct-to-video |
| 2018 | Samson | King Balek | |
| Holmes & Watson | Himself | Cameo | |
| Blue World Order | Master Crane | ||
| 2019 | Cliffs of Freedom | Christos | |
| The Great War | Colonel Jack Morrison | ||
| 2020 | Ghosts of War | Dr. Engel | Also executive producer |
| Final Kill | Carl Riser | ||
| Guest House | Douglas Masters | ||
| Battle of the Bulge: Winter War | General Omar Bradley | Direct-to-video | |
| Centurion: The Dancing Stallion | Jeffrey Hall | ||
| 2021 | The Believer | Dr. Benedict | |
| Iké Boys | Newt Grafstrom | Also co-executive producer | |
| Rupture | Victor | ||
| 2022 | Hellblazers | Joshua | |
| 2023 | Legend of Destruction | Simon bar Giora | English dub |
| Centurion: The Dancing Stallion | Jeffrey Hall | ||
| The Oath | King Aaron | ||
| 2024 | Waltzing with Brando | Marlon Brando | |
| 2025 | Day of Reckoning | Butch Hayden | |
| TBA | Takeover | Gamal Akopyan | |
| Tapawingo | TBA |
TelevisionEdit
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Brotherhood of Justice | Les | Television film |
| Heart of the City | Tobin | Episode: "Don't Sell Yourself to the Cannibals" | |
| 1987 | Matlock | Eric Dawson | Episode: "The Nurse" |
| Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8 | Police Officer | Television film | |
| 1988 | Crime Story | Frankie "The Duke" Farantino | Episode: "Protected Witness" |
| Murder, She Wrote | Tony Gambini | Episode: "A Very Good Year for Murder" | |
| Police Story: Monster Manor | Officer Don Varney | Television film | |
| 1989 | The Case of the Hillside Strangler | Kenneth Bianchi | Television film |
| 1991 | Twin Peaks | John Justice Wheeler | 5 episodes |
| 1993 | Lake Consequence | Billy | Television film |
| Running Delilah | Paul | Television film | |
| Tales From the Crypt | Miles | Episode: "Well-Cooked Ham" | |
| 1998 | The New Batman Adventures | Jason Blood / Etrigan the Demon (voice) | Episode: "The Demon Within"<ref name="btva" /> |
| 1999 | Cleopatra | Marc Antony | 2 episodes |
| 2000 | Sole Survivor | Joe Carpenter | Television film |
| Hendrix | Michael Jeffrey | Television film | |
| 2001 | The Diamond of Jeru | Mike Kardec | TV movie |
| Invincible | Os | Television film | |
| Boston Public | Matthew Baskin | 4 episodes | |
| 2004 | Bet Your Life | Joseph | Television film |
| 2005 | Charmed | Drake | 3 episodes |
| 2008 | Finnegan | Brian Clark | Pilot |
| 2009 | Blue Seduction | Mikey Taylor | Television film |
| Samantha Who? | Winston Funk | 5 episodes<ref name="EW" /> | |
| 2010 | Journey to Promethea | King Laypach | Television film |
| The Deep End | Cliff Huddle | 6 episodes | |
| 2012 | Red Clover | Sheriff Connor O'Hara | Television film |
| Hannah's Law | Lockwood | Television film | |
| Robot Chicken | Commander Edwards, King Ding Dong (voice) | Episode: "Poisoned by Relatives" | |
| Barabbas | Barabbas | Television film | |
| 2014 | Checked Out | Uncle Dennis | Pilot |
| Psych | Ian Collins | Episode: "The Break-Up"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2015 | The Wheel of Time: The Winter Dragon | Elan Morin Tedronai / Ishamael | Television film; also executive producer |
| Community | Honda Boss | Episode: "Advanced Safety Features" | |
| 2015–2016 | Mad Dogs | Milo | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Guilt | Stan Guthrie | 10 episodes |
| 2017 | Legends of Tomorrow | P. T. Barnum | Episode: "Freakshow" |
| 2018 | Deception | "Switch" | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | Curfew | "Joker" Jones | 8 episodes |
| 2019, 2022 | The Boys | Himself | 3 episodes |
| 2021 | True Story | Ari | 2 episodes |
| MacGruber | Brigadier Commander Enos Queeth | 5 episodes | |
| 2024 | Devil On Campus: The Larry Ray Story | Larry Ray | Television film |
Video gamesEdit
| Year | Film | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | SSX Tricky | Broderick "Brodi" Ford | <ref name="btva" /> |
| 2002 | Kingdom Hearts | Ansem | <ref name="btva" /> |
| 2013 | Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix | Archival audio; Kingdom Hearts Final Mix only | |
| 2017 | Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix |
Music videosEdit
| Year | Song | Artist | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | "Do It For Love & Magic of Love" | Sheena Easton | Unknown |
| 1998 | "The Dope Show" | Marilyn Manson | Recording Industry Executive |
| 2001 | "Epiphany" | Staind | Unknown |
| 2013 | "Rock n Roll"<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> | Avril Lavigne | Protagonist / Antagonist / BearShark |
| 2023 | “I’m My Only Friend” | Dillon Francis, Arden Jones | Actor |
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
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