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, 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, Illinois. A couple of his classmates were Daryl Hannah and Jennifer Beals. 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, 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, he landed starring roles in several television movies. In 1989, Billy filmed Dead Calm. It was on the set of this movie that he met his future wife, Lisa Collins. They were married from 1988-1995. In 1996, Billy starred in The Phantom and in 1997 as Cal Hockley in the billion dollar grossing Titanic. Then in 1999, he starred in the television movie Cleopatra where he met his soon-to-be fiance, actress Leonor Varela from whom he subsequently split.
Cleopatra (1999): $2,000,000
Billy attended Parker School in Chicago. Billy attended Harand Camp of the Theater Arts, located in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, along with Jeremy Piven. Was engaged to Leonor Varela. He attended The American School in Switzerland for his sophmore year of high school. Brother of actress Lisa Zane. Was originally cast as Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing. During a dance rehearsal, Emile Ardolino realized that Zane could not dance, so they gave the part to Patrick Swayze. Is an avid swimmer and started shaving his head in 1997 for aerodynamics. Is the voice of Broderick 'Brodi' Ford in the EA Sports Big game SSX Tricky (for Playstation2, Nintendo Gamecube, Xbox). Is of Greek descent. Added more muscle to his already buff physique in order to effectively play Marc Antony in the 1999 movie Cleopatra. He has played complete opposite sides of the typical "marooned love triangle." In Dead Calm, he played the handsome and mysterious stranger who gets marooned with Sam Neill (the husband) and Nicole Kidman (wife). In Survival Island, he plays the jealous husband, in opposition to Kelly Brook (wife) and Juan Pablo Di Pace (handsome outsider). Engaged to English actress Kelly Brook. He pumped iron for over a year to play his title role in The Phantom. He has filmed movies in over 19 countries, including Australia 5 times.