Biography
William George Zane Jr., better known as Billy Zane, was born on
February 24, 1966, in Chicago, Illinois, USA to parents William
George Zane Sr. and Thalia Zane. Both of his parents ran a medical
technical school. Billy also has a sister named 'Lisa Zane' (qv),
an actress born in 1961. 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, IL. A couple of his classmates were
'Darryl Hannah' (qv) and 'Jennifer Beals' (qv). Soon after
graduating high school, Billy decided to venture out to California
to try his hand at acting. Within three weeks, he won his very
first big screen role in _Back to the Future (1985)_ (qv), playing
the part of Match, one of Biff's thugs. He would later reprise that
role for the sequel. Then after a small role in the film _Critters
(1986)_ (qv), he landed starring roles in several television
movies. In 1989, Billy filmed _Dead Calm (1989)_ (qv). It was on
the set of this movie that he met his future wife, 'Lisa Collins'
(qv). They were married from 1988-1995. In 1996, Billy starred in
_Phantom, The (1996)_ (qv) and in 1997 as Cal Hockley in the
billion dollar grossing _Titanic (1997)_ (qv). Then in 1999, he
starred in the television movie _Cleopatra (1999) (TV)_ (qv) where
he met his soon-to-be fiance, actress 'Leonor Varela' (qv) from
whom he subsequently split.
Biography courtesy of the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).
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