Billy Crudup

February 26, 2:02 PMCelebrity Profile ExaminerAndy Williamson

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BILLY CRUDUP

American actor Billy Crudup has been flirting with super stardom for years -- but his (admirable) knack for eschewing high profile films to do more introspective character parts (Sleepers, Almost Famous, Big Fish) has kept him largely unknown.  Watchmen is about to change all that.

William Gaither “Billy” Crudup was born in Manhasset, New York on July 8th, 1968.  When he was eight-years-old, his family (including two brothers) moved to Texas and then Florida.  In 1986, Billy graduated from Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale.  Billy soon went on to earn multiple degrees (including Master of Fine Arts) at multiple colleges, before moving to New York and making his Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard’s play Arcadia at the Lincoln Center Theater .

By the late 1990s, Billy was appearing in such films as Sleepers, Woody Allen’s Everyone Says I Love You, and Inventing the Abbots.  He first garnered high praise for his portrayal of a gentle-yet-troubled soul struggling with heroin addiction in the indie film, Jesus’ Son.

Yet it was in 2000 that Billy first came to prominence with his role as musician Russell Hammond in director Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous.  The wonderfully heartfelt film (seek it out if you’ve never seen it) was considered a financial flop in its day, but has since become a cult hit.

After roles in nontraditional films like Charlotte Gray, Big Fish, J.J. Abrams’ way underrated Mission Impossible III, and The Good Shepherd, Billy returned to Broadway where he received a Tony nominations for his roles in The Elephant Man, as well as The Pillowman.  Going back to The Lincoln Center, Billy would be nominated for a third Tony, this time winning, for his role in The Coast of Utopia.

In 2008, director Zack Snyder gave Billy the role of Scientist Jon Osterman (aka Dr. Manhattan) in his long-awaited film adaptation of Watchmen.

Billy has dated Mary Louise Parker (their six year relationship produced one son, William Atticus Parker ... the boy’s last name speaks volumes about how that ended) and Claire Danes.

Up next: playing J. Edgar Hoover in Public Enemies with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale