Connecticut-born actor Bill Smitrovich started his acting career rather late. A Masters degree holder from Smith College and a former acting teacher at the University of Massachusetts, the hefty actor earned his big break in an understudy role in the world premiere of Arthur Miller's "The American Clock" at the Spoleto Festival, then starred in the production when it went to Broadway. Other stage parts have included "Food from Trash," "Requiem for a Heavyweight," "Far East" and "Frankie & Johnny at the Claire de Lune." Bill was a founding member of the No Theatre Company, now in association with the Wooster Group whose members included Willem Dafoe and the late Spalding Gray. Bill made his 1978 New York debut in the company's production of "The Elephant Man." In the early 1980s, he started tackling film and TV roles, often playing cops and assorted villainous types. He made his film debut in a small role in A Little Sex and went on to play a prime role in the TV-movie pilot of Miami Vice. A co-starring detective part on the series Crime Story led to more visibility. He became a household face (if not name) as former construction worker-turned-restauranteur Drew Thatcher, the father of three on the critically-acclaimed dramatic series _"Life Goes On" (1989/I)_ . Co-starring with Patti LuPone (of "Evita" fame), they played parents to a son born with Down Syndrome (played by Christopher Burke). The much-admired family-oriented show, which went on to deal with other topical themes such as AIDS, lasted four seasons and since then Bill has involved himself in raising the public consciousness and sensitivity of Down syndrome. He has hosted the annual "Life Goes On Celebrity Golf Classic" for the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles. Following this TV success, Bill co-starred on the A Nero Wolfe Mystery with Timothy Hutton and Maury Chaykin, had a recurring chief prosecutor role on The Practice and played a lieutenant in the Fox hit series Millennium. His many film roles include Key Exchange, Renegades, The Trigger Effect, with Dermot Mulroney, Independence Day with Will Smith, a strong role as a public defender in Rob Reiner's Ghosts of Mississippi, Air Force One, and, more recently, as a general in Kevin Costner's Cuban Missile Crisis drama Thirteen Days. He also played Alexander Haig in the recent TV-movie biopic on Ronald Reagan starring James Brolin and Judy Davis. Bill is married with two children.
In 1993 he received the Michael Landon Humanitarian Award for his work with the Down Syndrome Congress, then in 1996 he served on the executive board of the International Special Olympics committee in his home state of Connecticut. He and wife Shaw Purnell have two children, A.J. and Maya. Before he played the Down syndrome parent on "Life Goes On," Bill actually taught Down's syndrome children in high school. Frequently collaborates with Michael Mann.