Biography

William George Zane, Jr., commonly known as Billy Zane, was born on February 24, 1966 in Chicago, Illinois. His parents are William George Zane and Thalia Zane, and also has one sister named Lisa. Both of his parents ran a medical technical school. Both sets of his grandparents were from villages near Sparta, Greece. Fortunately for Billy, his grandmother was alive while he was growing up, adding the necessary reminders of "old world traditions," including a good understanding of the Greek language. Billy credits his parents for his decision to go into acting. When growing up he'd watch them perform in various stage productions. This was accompanied by his exposure to the London theatre, where he would go and see a matinee and evening performance every day for a week and a half whenever his family made the trip to England.

In Billy's early teens, he attended Harand Camp of the Theater Arts in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. There, he performed musicals with other actors, like John Cusak and Jeremy Piven. Then, in 1982 (sophomore year of high school), he attended the American School in Switzerland studying acting and writing. Back in Chicago, Billy graduated from Francis Parker High School in 1984.

After he graduated, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. While he flew, he sent his 1964 Mustang via train. Within about three weeks, he got a part in Back to the Future as "Match." He also participated in "The Actors' Gang" with Tim Robbins.

In 1988, while on the set of Dead Calm, Billy met Lisa Collins. They were engaged within three weeks, and then got married 1988, but divorced seven years later. In July of 2000, while filming Cleopatra, Billy met Leonor Varela ("Cleopatra"). They were engaged to be married, but it was broken off before January 2001; they are still very good friends.

Stats:
Height: 6'2"
Weight: around 200 pounds
Eye color: brown/green
Hair color: dark brown
Shoe size: 12
Favorite colors: black, red, and purple
Right handed
Favorite book/author: Seranade by James M.Cain
Favorite movie/actor: "Poseidon Adventure", "Towering Inferno", Errol Flynn, Sean Connery, Buster Keaten, and Gene Kelly

Other tidbits about Billy:
-He hates tomatoes
-He is allergic to cats
-His favorite car is the Ford Mustang, especially the '64 convertible, and the '71 Mach One
-Hobbies include horseback riding, painting, swimming, photography, frisbees, taking nature walks, riding a bicycle, and collecting cars.
-He is into yoga and martial arts
-He shaves his head because it is more aerodynamic for swimming; he shaved it in 1997 due to premature balding.
-He is a member of Phi Gamma Delta. He can be seen wearing his fraternity ring in Titanic.
-He is of Greek descent
-His full family name is Tzanetakos/Zanetakos
-(according to E! Online 2-5-02) He's "recently became intrigued with Japanese sword play and flew to Australia to take a course in the ancient form of fighting."
-He serves as creative consultant of advertising for Sama Eyewear, which contributes 100% of its net profits to an alternative rehab for heroin addicts. (E! Online, 4-25-02)
-He is also the Ambassador of Elegance for Longines' Dolce Vita watch. (E! Online, 4-25-02)
-Billy was first choice to play Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing. But after the first dance rehearsal, producers learned Billy couldn't dance and gave Patrick Swayze a call.