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Billy Zane
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 were 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).
Zane was born in Chicago to Thalia and William George Zane Sr.; both were professional actors and founders of a school for medical technicians. 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. He has an older sister, Lisa Zane, who is an actress and singer.
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.[citation needed]
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.
Zane's first starring role was in a 1990 independent film, the low-budget science fiction thriller Megaville. In 1990, he also co-starred as the bombardier in the film Memphis Belle, a film version of a 1944 film about a World War II Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. 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 and took a starring role in Sniper. Zane 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.
Zane 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.
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Billy Zane
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 were 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).
Zane was born in Chicago to Thalia and William George Zane Sr.; both were professional actors and founders of a school for medical technicians. 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. He has an older sister, Lisa Zane, who is an actress and singer.
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.[citation needed]
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.
Zane's first starring role was in a 1990 independent film, the low-budget science fiction thriller Megaville. In 1990, he also co-starred as the bombardier in the film Memphis Belle, a film version of a 1944 film about a World War II Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. 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 and took a starring role in Sniper. Zane 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.
Zane 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.