Billy Zane, biography, news, photos

Billy Zane: biography

Billy Zane is a talented American actor who, from the very first frames, captivates viewers not only with his acting skills, but also with his attractive appearance. Billy's professional biography is an excellent example of how a dream helps to cope even with physical disabilities, and self-confidence works wonders. Billy Zane's most famous work was his role in the cult film Titanic.

"James Cameron, however, the actor's filmography is not limited to this picture and has almost a hundred items.

Childhood and youth

William George Zane - this is the actor's full name - was born on February 24, 1966 in Chicago. The actor's zodiac sign is Pisces. If little Billy's parents had been told that their son would become a world-famous actor, they would not have believed it: the fact is that Zane suffered from a serious speech impediment, which in no way contributes to a film career.

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Billy Zane in his youth

To help the boy get rid of this defect, he and his sister were sent every summer to a camp for gifted children, where experienced teachers worked with Billy’s diction. The result exceeded the expectations of his parents and teachers: Zane not only learned to speak clearly, but also showed acting talent by participating in skits and performances.

After graduating from school, Billy Zane did not think for a second about his future profession. The young man went to Switzerland to seriously study stage acting. A few years later, Billy, already a certified actor, returned to the United States and began attending numerous auditions, hoping to get his first role.

Actor Billy Zane: biography of a star. Family, childhood

The famous actor was born in Chicago, a joyful event occurred in February 1966. Actor Billy Zane was born into a family that had nothing to do with the world of cinema; his parents were doctors who moved to the States from Greece even before the birth of their son. After moving, his mother and father abandoned the Zanetakos surname, believing that the surname Zane was more common among Chicagoans. However, not only Billy chose a creative profession; his older sister also managed to become an American film star.

Family legend says that the boy decided to become an actor as a child. For the first time, his interest in this profession awoke in him thanks to a summer camp, where children were taught the basics of acting. It is known that Billy had a speech impediment, but the child successfully got rid of it. After graduating from school, he lived for some time in Switzerland, studying the art of drama at one of the local academies.

Movies

We didn’t have to wait long: soon Billy Zane already signed a contract for his debut filming. It was Robert Zemeckis's Back to the Future.

" The aspiring actor got a minor role here, but working with a professional film crew gave him the necessary experience.

Billy Zane (left) in the movie "Back to the Future"

Billy's co-stars were Michael J. Fox, Lea Thompson, and Christopher Lloyd. The film quickly became a hit, and Zayn continued his career, content for now with minor roles in films and TV series.

The situation soon changed, and the images that the directors gave to Billy Zane became brighter and more noticeable. Thus, the actor appeared in the film “Sniper” (with Tom Berenger and Aden Young), in the film “Volunteer Squad” (where Billy’s partners on the set were Stephen Baldwin and Tommy Lister), in the classic atmospheric western directed by George Pan Cosmatos “Tombstone” .

Billy Zane in Twin Peaks

However, the most striking work of that time was the role in David Lynch's cult series Twin Peaks.

", in which Billy Zane played the role of rich man John Wheeler. This image was remembered by fans of the actor for a long time - Zane really played very convincingly. After the triumph of Twin Peaks, there was a short lull in Billy Zane's career, but soon the actor's filmography began to be replenished with talented works again.

Billy Zane in the movie Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight

In a short period of time, Billy managed to star in the horror film Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight, play the main role in the fantasy film Phantom (along with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Kristy Swanson), as well as in Jim Wilson’s comedy thriller How stay afloat." The actor won more and more fans, however, as it turned out, real fame awaited Zane ahead.

Billy Zane in the movie Phantom

Billy's finest hour was his role in the cult film Titanic. Tragic story

The disaster of a huge liner, complemented by an equally tragic love story and impressive special effects, has topped various ratings of popular films for many years. The main roles went to actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Billy Zane played the fiancé of Kate's character.

Billy Zane in the movie Titanic

Immediately after the premiere of Titanic, Billy Zane and Leonardo DiCaprio were talked about as the sexiest men. Slender and fit, handsome Zane (the actor’s height is 184 cm) really made an unforgettable impression.

Billy Zane and Arnold Vosloo

Interestingly, Billy is often compared to another Hollywood heartthrob - Arnold Vosloo. Men are really similar in appearance. In addition, the image of Zane is compared with the image of the young Marlon Brando.

In the late 1990s, the actor mastered a new role and began producing films. In addition, Billy Zane did not refuse to voice cartoons. Thus, the character of the fairy tale story “Pocahontas 2” speaks in the voice of a Hollywood handsome man.

Billy Zane in the TV series Charmed

The following years also turned out to be rich in high-profile films with the participation of the actor: Billy Zane starred in several episodes of the popular TV series Charmed

", played in the films "Murder in Vegas", "Hannah's Law", "The Phantom of Goodnight Lane". The actor devoted 2020 and 2020 to working on the films “Sniper: Ghost Warrior” and “Sniper: Flawless Assassin.”

Biography

William George Zane Jr., better known as Billy Zane, was born on February 24, 1966 in Chicago, Illinois. The parents of the future knight of darkness - Sir William George Zane and Talia Zane - ran a medical technical school. Without even knowing it, they paved the way for their son into the world of cinema, five years before his birth, giving birth to Billy’s older sister, Lisa. The desire to play under the spotlight, which manifested itself first in Lisa and then in Billy, was not ignored by caring parents.

Billy Zane photography

However, on the path to fame there were two rather significant obstacles: speech impediments and lack of knowledge about acting.
Deciding to kill two birds with one stone, young Zane went to Wisconsin, where he successfully mastered the second and got rid of the first stumbling block. In this he was helped by art theater specialists who worked at a summer camp for talented teenagers. Having successfully taken the first step, Billy moved on, moving to an American school in Switzerland for further training in the ancient art of acting. Advertising:
As soon as he received the coveted matriculation certificate, Hollywood beckoned the young man with inexorable force. Billy did not resist this pull and peacefully floated with the flow, until the calm rhythm of his life was disrupted by the news of auditioning for a role in the film “Back to the Future” (1985). Zane decided to take a risk - and was soon cast in his first role - one of the thugs named Biff - a negative character.

The creators of the film liked the image of the hero Billy so much that he subsequently appeared again in the sequels of the film. New film roles were not long in coming. He starred in television films and, albeit in small roles, in big screen films. By the way, in 1989, while filming the film “Dead and Still,” Billy met his future wife, Lisa Collins. True, this marriage was short-lived and ended in divorce in 1995.

The crisis in Billy's personal life did not interfere with his screen life. The actor brilliantly splashed out his negative emotions on the set. He created a stunningly convincing image of the emissary of darkness in the horror film “Tales from the Crypt: Night Demon Knight” (1995). This time the director himself became the keeper of the crypt in the film. Billy Zane's hero, an evil and at the same time attractive collector, a demon of darkness, has been relentlessly pursuing the keeper of the seventh key to the gates of Hell for centuries. In the service of the collector are terrible and disgusting corpses that begin to terrorize the guests of a shabby hotel... Stunning special effects are used in this terrifying story about the battle between the forces of good and evil. The film was a stunning success, and the actor himself, in addition to fame and recognition, received a new role.

In 1996, Zane starred in the typical good guy movie Phantom. But he didn’t particularly like this role, since Zane became famous primarily for playing “bad guy” roles. The opportunity to return to his favorite role presented itself a year later, when the whole world saw Billy in the role of Cal Hockley in Titanic.

The would-be fiancé of Kate Winslet's heroine was nominated for an MTV Award in the category "Best Villain of the Year" for this most famous work. The film brought him not only good income and recognition in the world of cinema, but also third place among the fifty most handsome men. The awarding of this title, which was pleasant for the actor’s pride, was not prevented even by the fact that in the same year Billy shaved his head due to the onset of premature baldness.

Fans first saw his new image in the film “I Woke Up Early the Day I Died” (1998) as a charming thief. A year after the film was released, Zane won the Best Actor category at the Best Film Festival.

Best of the day

Billy's amazing biography and film successes were appreciated by Marilyn Manson, in one of whose video clips Zane starred for a generous reward.

Having soared on the waves of success and popularity, the actor plunged into the ancient times of mankind in the mini-series “Cleopatra” (1999), where he met a new love - actress Leonor Varela. The irresistible Zane played Mark Antony, and Varela played the Queen of Egypt Cleopatra. This novel developed rapidly, but fleetingly. The actress also used the charm of her heroine in her personal life. But, as it turned out, she could not boast of the loyalty that distinguished the legendary queen. She announced to her fiancé, who rushed to Paris to pick her up, that a certain film producer had now taken a place in her heart.

Reluctantly, Billy decided to seek solace, but not in the arms of another beautiful actress, but in bringing benefit to society. The inveterate movie villain devoted himself to charity. The actor founded a network of rehabilitation centers for drug addicts. Together with Billy, designer Sheila Vance began developing the clinics. The actor met her during a celebrity charity auction. Drugs deprived the creator of sunglasses collections of her child. Her only son died of a heroin overdose. “When I found out about this, I gave my heart to this woman,” Zane admitted.

Returning to Hollywood, he again yearned for the images of desperate scoundrels. This is exactly how viewers saw him in “Supporter” (2001), “Earthspeed” (2001), “Demand” (2002) and “Sea Devils” (2002). In real life, Billy Zane is not at all the villain he is on screen. On the contrary, he is a very kind guy. The actor imperceptibly transfers his inner kindness to the screen. Therefore, one gets a rather contradictory impression: he plays bad characters, but these heroes are fatal and attractive. Few stars of the dream factory have such a gift - to play most of the roles of the same repertoire, but at the same time not bore the viewer with the uniformity of the images created. Many viewers even consider the negative charm of Billy Zane's characters to be natural qualities of his character. The actor himself, once answering the question of who he is in life: a bad guy and a respectable gentleman, said: “I save my heroism and positivity for real life. In fact, there is a lot of opposite in me. I'm just a good guy who may be misunderstood."

“The hero I want to play,” said the actor when work began on an adaptation of Fellini’s film “The Road” for stage production in London, “is very tragic. On the one hand, he is bad, but at the same time he is beautiful. I love playing such characters. This is a bit of a challenge for me because I try to make them really complex. That is, these are not flat characters, they are very multifaceted. I like to bring as many layers to a role as possible, to create some sympathy for them, sometimes even pity, and I love when it resonates with the audience, when they ask you questions and when they see that everything is much more complicated. But what I dream about is to sing and dance like Jim Kelly. And, although this is an unattainable goal for now, it is so attractive to me that I will never give up trying to make my dream come true.”

Best weeks

Personal life

Billy Zane's personal life was no less bright than his career. Rumors about the actor’s novels constantly appeared in the press. The first wife of the Hollywood handsome man was actress Lisa Collins. This marriage lasted six years, then the couple separated.

Billy Zane and his wife Lisa Collins

For some time, Zane avoided official commitments, and in 1999 he announced a new engagement. Billy's next chosen one was also an actress - Leonor Varela. Billy Zane met her on the set of the series “Cleopatra” (Timothy Dalton, John Bowe, Rupert Graves also played in the film). Unfortunately, things never went beyond the engagement, and the actors' relationship fell apart.

In 2005, Billy Zane became engaged again. The actor's lover was model Kelly Brook, whom Zane "wrested" from Jason Statham. But this romance never turned into an official marriage: four years later, Brooke and Zane separated.

Billy Zane and Candice Nail

But another model, Candice Nail, managed to stay in Billy Zane’s heart much longer. The girl gave the actor two children - daughters Ava Katerina and Gia. However, according to The Daily Telegraph, even the girls did not help their parents maintain the relationship, and the couple broke up. There have been speculations in the press about the actor’s new novels, but there is no official confirmation of this yet.

Personal life of Billy Zane

During his life, Billy Zane more than once became a bone of contention for many women. In the mid-nineties, newspapers never tired of writing about his whirlwind romances and new love affairs. However, today we will not voice rumors and will focus only on reliable facts.

Billy Zane with model Kelly Brook

From 1989 to 1995, the American-Greek actor was married to the little-known actress Lisa Collins. After their divorce, a new lover appeared in Billy's life. So in 1999, the actor announced his engagement to the Chilean actress Leonor Varela, but it never came to an official marriage. Filming in the film “Three” (aka “Sex for Survival”) turned out to be a new romance for Billy Zane. This time the chosen one of the temperamental macho was model Kelly Brook.

This relationship lasted four years, but ultimately the love union also broke up. Billy Zane's last lover at the moment is the American model Candice Nail, who gave the actor a daughter, Katerina, in 2011.

Currently, there are no new novels known about Billy Zane.

Billy Zane now

Now Billy Zane periodically becomes the hero of gossip columns, and the actor’s photos are lively commented on Instagram and other social networks.

Billy Zane in 2018

However, increasingly, the subject of discussion is not the actor’s new roles, but his changed appearance. The fact is that Zane has noticeably gained weight. However, fans are looking forward to the next shots with their favorite actor.