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Tony Bill

 
Director: Tony Bill
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Aug 23, 1940 in San Diego, California
  • Occupation: Director, Actor, Writer
  • Active: '60s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: The Sting, My Bodyguard, Going in Style
  • First Major Screen Credit: Soldier in the Rain (1963)

Biography

A former English and Art major at Notre Dame University, Tony Bill was fortunate enough to work with Frank Sinatra in his first film, Come Blow Your Horn. "Old Blue Eyes" took a liking to Bill, securing him parts in the subsequent Sinatra vehicles None but the Brave (1965) and Marriage on the Rocks (1968), and helping to open several professional doors for the young actor. After this promising start, Bill settled into a string of colorless juvenile roles. Feeling that his acting career wasn't going anyplace in particular, he formed a production company with Michael and Julia Phillips, turning out two "trendy" feature films, Deadhead Miles (1972) and Steelyard Blues (1973). Scoring a significant success with the Oscar-winning The Sting (1973), Bill parted company with the Phillipses, soloing as producer of Hearts of the West (1975), Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976), and Boulevard Nights (1979). In 1980, he decided to give directing a try, and the result was the engaging teen-angst drama My Bodyguard (1980). Additional directorial credits include the theatrical features Five Corners (1988), Crazy People (1990), and A Home of Our Own (1993), and the made-for-TV movies Love Thy Neighbor (1984), One Christmas (1988), and Next Door (1994). Despite his executive responsibilities, Tony Bill has kept a hand in acting, most amusingly in the semi-autobiographical role of Warner Bros. executive Terry Hawthorne in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985). Increasingly active behind the camera as the 1980s gave way to the 1990s, Bill would stick almost exclusively to television following Next Door as he alternated between series work (Chicago Hope and Felicity) and made for television features (Beyond the Call, Iliver Twist, and A Chance of Snow). Of course once an actor always an actor, and when given the opportunity to appear before the camera in such efforts as Barb Wire, The Fixer, and Lying in Wait, Bill was always keen to perform. Subsequent directorial work on such television series' as UC: Undercover, Monk, and Keen Eddy found Bill's career receiving something of a second wind as the new millennium blew in, and in the wake of his success with the Emmy-nominated made for television feature Harlan County War the longtime filmmaker would take to the skies to call the shots for some of the hottest young stars of the day in the 2006 World War I adventure Flyboys. A historical war film documenting the cloud-cutting adventures of America's very first fighter pilots, Flyboys featured hot young actors James Franco, Martin Henderson, and David Ellison performing alongside such experienced screen veterans as Jean Reno and Tchéky Karyo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Tony Bill
Born 23 August 1940
San Diego, California, USA

Gerard Anthony "Tony" Bill (born 23 August 1940) is an American actor, producer, and director. He produced the 1973 movie The Sting, for which he shared the Academy Award for Best Picture with Michael Phillips and Julia Phillips. The Sting became one of the highest grossing films in history.

He majored in English and art at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, from which he graduated in 1962. Bill began his career as an actor in the 60s, first appearing on screen as Frank Sinatra's ingenuous younger brother in "Come Blow Your Horn" (1963). Bill specialized in likeable but none-too-bright juveniles and young leads. His acting credits include "None But the Brave" (1965), "You're A Big Boy Now" (1966), "Never a Dull Moment" (1968), "Ice Station Zebra" (1968), "Shampoo" (1975), and "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" (1985). Bill continued to act in TV-movies, miniseries, and guest spots though with decreasing frequency as he segued into directing. He appeared in the 1967 episode "The Predators" of NBC's western series The Road West starring Barry Sullivan.

In 1980, Bill directed his first film, My Bodyguard. From there he went on to direct "Six Weeks" (1982), "Five Corners" (1987), "Crazy People" (1990) "A Home of Our Own (1993)", and "Flyboys" (2006) which Bill claims was one of the first features shot entirely with digital cameras. In television Bill directed Truman Capote's "One Christmas," Harlan County War, Pictures of Hollis Woods among others.

In 2009 Bill published the book "Movie Speak: How to Talk Like You Belong on a Film Set" Workman Publishing Company. The book traces the etymology of the language of the movie set and is filled out with stories from the Bill's career in film.

From 1984-2000, he co-owned with Dudley Moore the celebrated 72 Market Street, a restaurant in Venice, California.

He is married to his second wife, the former Helen Buck Bartlett, his producer/partner in Barnstorm Films in Venice. The couple has two daughters, Madeline and Daphne.

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