Bill Blair

Actor

Kent, Ohio, USA

August 17, 1954

Biography

Bill is the Guinness World record holder in the category 'most special effect make-up characters portrayed in a career' the new record number set May 6, 2011 is 202. Born and raised in Kent Ohio, Bill graduated Kent State University, in 1977 with a degree in Telecommunications. But during college, Bill realized that he wanted something else. He embarked on a music career, and in the early 1980's he toured, as the leader of a band called Expression. In 1982, after recovering from a serious injury, he moved to Chicago and shifted to a career in entertainment. His first bit-part in a movie came in 1982 in an American Playhouse film titled "The Killing Floor". By the following summer, Bill was landing featured bit-parts and stand-in work on several films. He got his first speaking role, in 1984, in the TV movie "The Impostor". Later 1984, Dallas, TX. Over the next five years, he kept busy with print ads and industrial shows, and played his first alien character. He portrayed Mr. Spock in an industrial film at the Dallas Convention Center for the Oracle Software Company. January 1990 - Los Angeles, Florida - 1992 - job entertaining at the Busch Gardens water park called Adventure Land. January 1993 - Los Angeles. His first experience as an alien on television was in Alien Nation. It started when he met makeup designer Richard Snell, while filming Demolition Man. This led Bill to his first work on the TV movies of "Alien Nation". Since then, he has become one of those few elite actors that seem to specialize in playing aliens, monsters, and other various creatures from other worlds and of this world long ago. It was from there, that he found himself working on the hit series Babylon 5 and shortly thereafter on Star Trek:Deep Space Nine. 1998 - Bill worked on the season premiere episode of Sliders, and more in 1999. Since then, Bill has worked on many TV series, including Star Trek: Voyager, Enterprise, The X-Files, The Invisible Man, Drew Carey, The District, Crossing Jordan, King of Queens, Will and Grace, Yes, Dear!, Friends, Desperate Housewives, Criminal Minds, and as a regular on "The Division" and the HBO Series Carnivale, Saving Grace, Justified, Raising Hope, iCarly, The Defenders, How I Met Your Mother, NCIS, Mad Men, Modern Family, Mistresses, 2 Broke Girls, and many more. Bill has appeared in Blades of Glory, The Artist, The Muppets, Nightcrawler, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, ARGO and more. In print, Bill was a featured zombie in the book "The Brain Eater's Bible", released in 2011. As one of a special group of actors that has worked extensively on sci-fi, and fantasy/horror shows, Bill has many behind-the-scenes stories to share about what it took to become this extraordinary type of actor. Additionally, Bill has written a book titled "The Professionals Talent Handbook: The Guide to Getting Started" and he has appeared on the pages of TV Guide (July 5, 1997), and in the August 1998 issue of Galactic Alliance. Interviews with Bill can be found in such publications as the International Star Trek Magazine, Explorer, Pen & Quill, Autograph Times, TV Zone and the New York Post..