Beau Billingslea | |
---|---|
![]() Billingslea in 2016 | |
Born | John Billingslea 1944 (age 79–80) |
Education | University of Connecticut (BA, JD) |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1977–present |
Spouse | Cecelia Billingslea |
Children | 2 |
John "Beau" Billingslea [1] (born 1944) [2] is an American actor, known as the voice of Jet Black in the critically acclaimed anime Cowboy Bebop , Ogremon in Digimon and Homura and Ay, the Fourth Raikage in Naruto Shippuden . In addition to voice acting, he appeared in many television shows and some films including North and South Book II: Love and War , Just Jordan , The Hannah Montana Movie and Star Trek Into Darkness .
Billingslea was born in Charleston, South Carolina. [3] His mother was from Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, near Charleston, and his father was from Macon, Georgia. [3] His family moved to Meriden, Connecticut, where he grew up. [2] [1] At Maloney High School, he lettered in football, basketball and baseball and was offered a contract with the Kansas City Athletics, [1] but at the advice of his father, went to University of Connecticut, where he played football and co-captained in his senior year. [3] [1] [4] He graduated with a Bachelor's in Political Science in 1966. [2] He was involved in ROTC and had to turn down entering the NFL in order to fulfill his military service, however, his commitment was deferred so that he could attend UConn Law School, where he graduated and passed the Connecticut bar in 1969. [3] [1] He became an officer in the Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps and had tours in Germany and Europe, working on a number of cases. In Germany, he also taught criminal law for the University of Maryland's extension program. [3] [1]
While in college, Billingslea was encouraged by his fraternity brother to perform the lead role in a production of The Emperor Jones . This inspired him to go into acting, and he started getting involved professionally while he was in law school. [3] [1] After moving to Los Angeles, he was involved in a number of action shows, including TJ Hooker , Hunter , The Fall Guy and The A-Team . Billingslea mentioned in an interview that it was probably because of his military background that he was often cast as an officer. [3] [5] He portrayed Ezra in the TV miniseries North and South and was involved in a number of shows including Who's the Boss? , Murphy Brown and Married... with Children . On the Nick series Just Jordan he played Jordan's maternal grandfather Grant. [6] In the TV sitcom Franklin & Bash he portrayed Judge Douglas. He also acted in films such as Night Shift , The American President , Hannah Montana: The Movie , Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and a remake of The Blob. [1] In 2013, he portrayed Captain Abbot of the Starship Bradbury in the feature film Star Trek Into Darkness . [5] He continues to act in stage plays such as Driving Miss Daisy where he was nominated for a Los Angeles Ovation Award in 2005. [7]
Billingslea's voice-over work started with radio spots for various businesses and organizations, including Honda, Hood and California Highway Patrol. [3] He worked on several cartoons and anime, his most notable being Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop , which was broadcast on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block. [3] [1] He also voiced starring characters Captain Michael Heartland in Argento Soma ; Oji Tanaka in The Legend of Black Heaven , which was broadcast on International Channel and was the voice of Ogremon and various "mons" in Digimon . In Naruto , he voices Homura and Ay, the Fourth Raikage. He attended several anime conventions, including the 2016 Anime Expo, which united the Cowboy Bebop English voice cast. [8] He has also been involved in narrating shows on The History Channel including Hero Ships, Modern Marvels , and Suicide Missions. [5] [9]
Billingslea lives in the Los Angeles area. He is married to Cecelia Billingslea; [10] they have a son and a daughter together. [3] [1] In 1987, Billingslea was inducted into the Meriden Hall of Fame. [2] In 2014, he gave the keynote address at a UConn Law School reunion. [10]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Source [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|
1984–87 | Hunter | Officer Bolin | 3 episodes: "The Hot Grounder", "Flashpoint", "The Shooter" | [11] [12] [13] |
1984–85 | Santa Barbara | Police Officer | Unknown episodes | [14] |
1985 | The Atlanta Child Murders | Commissioner Lee Brown | TV miniseries | [15] |
1985 | Dallas | Dr. Miller | [ citation needed ] | |
1985–86 | Hotel | Cop #2, Officer | Episode: "Recriminations" | [16] |
1985–86 | The A-Team | Armored car guard, Owens | 2 episodes: "Incident at Crystal Lake K Love", "Family Reunion" | [16] [17] [18] |
1986 | North and South | Ezra | TV miniseries, Book II: Love and War | [19] |
1986 | Trapper John, M.D. | Ambers | Episode: "Self-Diagnosis" | [20] |
1987 | MacGyver | Meridan | Episode: "Family Matter" [21] | |
1989 | Murder, She Wrote | Kei Murray | Episode: "Three Strikes, You're Out" | [22] |
1991 | Line of Fire: The Morris Dees Story | Hal | Television film | [23] |
1993 | NYPD Blue | Det. Hankin | Episode: "Oscar, Meyer, Weiner" | [24] |
1993 | Married... with Children | Moderator | Episode: "Banking on Marcy" | [25] |
1994 | Melrose Place | George | Episode: "Michael's Game" | [16] |
1994 | L.A. Law | Detective Don Cuva | Episode: "Whistle Stop" | Uconn profile |
1995 | The Young and the Restless | Trenton Jordan | Uconn profile | |
1996 | Terror in the Family | Judge Roubal | Television film | |
1996 | Married... with Children | Reverend Hightower | Episode: "A Bundy Thanksgiving" | [26] |
1997 | Murphy Brown | Agent Scanlon | Episode: "Hero Today, Gone Tomorrow" | [27] |
1997 | Mad About You | Security Chief | Episode: "The Birth: Part 2" | [28] |
1998 | Profiler | Prison Director | Episode: "Coronation" | [16] |
1999 | Baywatch | Ben Frazier | Episode: "The Big Blue" | [16] |
2001 | Walker, Texas Ranger | Tom Jakes | Episode: "Justice for All" | [16] |
2001 | NYPD Blue | Deputy Warden Jim Cullen | Episode: "Hit the Road, Clark" | [29] |
2001 | JAG | Col. Klesko | Episode: "Ambush" | [16] |
2001 | 7th Heaven | Gene Carter | ||
2001–02 | Family Law | Judge Lawrence Harrington | Unknown episodes | |
2003 | Modern Marvels | Narrator | 2 episodes | [9] |
2004 | The West Wing | Agent Caswell | ||
2006 | Gone, but Not Forgotten | Chester Shortridge | Television film (Lifetime) | [30] |
2007–08 | Just Jordan | Grant Cunningham | Unknown episodes | [6] [31] |
2008 | Hero Ships | Narrator | History Channel series | [32] |
2010 | Wizards of Waverly Place | Burt Parker | ||
2011 | General Hospital | Prof. Russell Stern | ||
2011–14 | Franklin & Bash | Judge James Douglas | Unknown episodes | [9] |
2014 | Castle | Dr. Walter Parish | Episode: "Bad Santa" | [33] |
2016 | Star Trek Continues | Vulcan Vice Admiral Stomm | Episode: "Embracing the Winds" | [34] |
2017 | NCIS | Denny Rydell | Episode: "Burden of Proof" | |
2020 | Cherish the Day | Pastor Gordon | 2 episodes |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Source [2] [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|
1977 | Alex Joseph and His Wives | FBI Agent Vernon Wood | [35] | |
1982 | Night Shift | Donny | [36] | |
1983 | 10 to Midnight | Desk Sergeant | [37] | |
1985 | Real Genius | George | [38] | |
1988 | The Blob | Moss Woodley | [9] [39] | |
1994 | In the Army Now | Sgt. Daniels | [40] | |
1995 | The American President | Agent Cooper | [41] | |
1997 | Final Justice | Charles | Made in 1994, released to video in 1997 | [42] |
1998 | Halloween H20: 20 Years Later | Detective Fitzsimmons | [9] [43] | |
2003 | Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood | Thompson | [9] | |
2005 | Rebound | NCBA Board Member | [44] | |
2009 | Hannah Montana: The Movie | Mayor | [45] [46] | |
2013 | Star Trek Into Darkness | Captain Abbott | [34] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | Macross Plus | Col. Millard Johnson | [47] | |
1998 | Outlaw Star | Narrator | [48] | |
1998 | Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory | Admiral Kowen | [49] | |
1999 | Digimon | Ogremon, Sagittarimon, Parrotmon | [34] | |
1999 | Cowboy Bebop | Jet Black | as John Billingslea | [50] [51] [52] |
2000 | Rurouni Kenshin | Gohei | [34] | |
2000 | The Legend of Black Heaven | Oji Tanaka | as John Billingslea, grouped under English Voice Talent | [53] [54] |
2001 | Rave Master | Bear / Dearhound | [55] | |
2001–02 | Cyborg 009 | Geromino Jr. / Cyborg 005 | [56] | |
2003 | Argento Soma | Captain Michael Heartland | [9] | |
2003 | Wolf's Rain | Sea Walrus | [34] | |
2004 | Gungrave | Bear Walken | [57] | |
2008 | Digimon Data Squad | Leopardmon | [58] | |
2009 | Monster | Milan Kolasch | [47] | |
2009–15 | Naruto: Shippuden | Homura, Ay (Fourth Raikage) | [34] | |
2012 | Tiger & Bunny | Ben Jackson | [59] | |
2017 | Hunter × Hunter | Light Nostrade | 2011 series | [60] |
2017 | Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower | Orphe, Bull, Julio Sawasdee | [49] | |
2018 | Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World | Valga "Rom" Cromwell | [61] | |
2018 | Last Hope (TV Series) | Cain Ibrahim Hasan | Also named Unit Pandora | [62] [ circular reference ] |
2021 | Godzilla Singular Point | Additional Voice | Netflix dub | |
2021 | Super Crooks | Eric | Netflix dub | [49] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | Megas XLR | Grrkek The Planet Killer & Orange Scaley Thing 1 | [49] | |
2015 | Stakes | The Moon | Mini-series special for Adventure Time | [63] [64] |
2019 | The Forge | Booger | TIE special for Toonami | [65] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Source [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie | Dee Jay | As John Hammond | [34] |
2002 | Cowboy Bebop: The Movie | Jet Black | [66] [67] | |
2006 | Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children | Barret Wallace | [49] [68] | |
2013 | Tiger & Bunny: The Rising | Ben Jackson | [69] | |
2015 | The Last: Naruto the Movie | Fourth Raikage / Ay | Nominated for Best Male Supporting Vocal Performance in an Anime Movie/Special, 4th Annual BTVA Anime Dub Awards 2015 | [49] [70] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | War of the Worlds: Goliath | Abraham Douglas | Premiered in Malaysia in English; U.S. release in 2014 | [71] [72] [73] |
2015 | The Laws of the Universe Part 0 | Goat-type Alien | Limited theatrical release | [49] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | Outlaws | "Buckshot" Bill Morgan | [49] | |
2003–14 | Dynasty Warriors games | [34] [74] | ||
2006 | Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII | Barret Wallace | [49] | |
2011–16 | Naruto games | Ay (Fourth Raikage) | [49] | |
2014 | WildStar | Judge Kain, Osun Male | [75] | |
2020 | Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise | Tyrone Sanders | [49] | |
2020 | Fallout 76: Wastelanders | Paige, Chase Terrier, Deathklaus | [76] | |
2022 | Horizon Forbidden West | Garokkah, Emboh | [49] | |
2023 | Starfield | Percival Walker | [77] | |
2024 | Tekken 8 | Leroy Smith | [78] |
Cowboy Bebop is a Japanese neo-noir space Western anime television series which aired on TV Tokyo and Wowow from 1998 to 1999. It was created and animated by Sunrise, led by a production team of director Shinichirō Watanabe, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane, and composer Yoko Kanno, who are collectively billed as Hajime Yatate.
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, known in Japan as Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door, is a 2001 Japanese anime science fiction action film based on the 1998 anime series Cowboy Bebop created by Hajime Yatate. Several staff from the original series worked on the film, including director Shinichirō Watanabe, writer Keiko Nobumoto, character designer/animation director Toshihiro Kawamoto and composer Yoko Kanno. The Japanese and English voice casts also reprised their roles from the series.
Akira Kamiya is a Japanese voice actor. He played several notable roles in Japanese manga and anime television series, including Kenshiro in Fist of the North Star, Ryo Saeba in City Hunter, Shutaro Mendo in Urusei Yatsura and Kogoro Mori in Detective Conan. In mecha anime, he voiced Ryoma Nagare in Getter Robo, Akira Hibiki in Brave Raideen, Sanshirō Tsuwabuki in Gaiking, Roy Focker in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, and Sincline in Beast King GoLion.
Steven Jay Blum is an American voice actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, his roles include Spike Spiegel from the anime series Cowboy Bebop, Amon from the animated series The Legend of Korra, Garazeb Orrelios from the animated series Star Wars Rebels, Sub-Zero from the video game franchise Mortal Kombat, Tank Dempsey from the Call of Duty Zombies franchise, Ares in God of War, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, and God of War: Ascension, and Wolverine from Marvel's Wolverine and the X-Men, Marvel Anime: X-Men, and various other projects featuring the character.
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn is an American voice actress, ADR director, and singer best known for her involvement in music production in multiple games from the Silent Hill series, and her extensive English-language dubbing of various anime, animated films, and video games, including the English adaptation of the television series Cowboy Bebop.
Christopher Robin Sabat is an American film, television and voice actor and voice director. Some of his prominent roles in animations and anime include Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, Shenron, and various characters in Dragon Ball, Roronoa Zoro in One Piece, All Might in My Hero Academia, Daisuke Jigen in Lupin the Third, and Dr. Arthur Watts in RWBY.
Mona Marshall is an American television and voice actress, known for her work in a number of cartoons, anime shows, films and video games. Her major credits include South Park, where she voices many of the female characters on the show, .hack//Sign, Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series, CBS Storybreak, and Digimon. She has also appeared on-stage for television shows such as Cheers and Who's the Boss?
Michelle Ruff is an American voice actress known for her work in anime and video games. In her early voice acting career, she used her mother's name, Georgette Rose, as a pseudonym. Some of her roles include Fujiko Mine in Lupin the Third, Chi in Chobits, Rukia Kuchiki in Bleach, Aoi Sakuraba in Ai Yori Aoshi, Elie in Rave Master, Nat in The Promised Neverland, Yuki Nagato in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Yoko Littner in Gurren Lagann, and Sinon in Sword Art Online. In video games, she is the voice of Jill Valentine in the Resident Evil series, Yukari Takeba and Sadayo Kawakami in the Persona series, Cream the Rabbit in the Sonic the Hedgehog series and Crimson Viper in the Street Fighter series.
Benjamin Diskin, also professionally credited as Ben Diskin, is an American actor.
Tony Oliver is a Puerto Rican voice actor and voice director based in the United States. He is best known for voicing Rick Hunter from Robotech, Lancer from Fate/stay night, and Arsène Lupin III from Lupin the Third. He helped produce the live action shows Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and VR Troopers.
Paul St. Peter is an American voice actor, who works on English-language productions of Japanese anime shows. He voiced Punch in Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Mondego in Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, Kurama in Naruto, Razor in Hunter × Hunter, Yammy in Bleach, Jorgun in Gurren Lagann, and Higa in Durarara!!, and can be heard as various Digimon. Some of his notable roles in video games include: Xemnas in the Kingdom Hearts series and Yuan Shao in Dynasty Warriors.
John Burgmeier is an American voice actor who works for English dubbed anime. As a voice actor, he is best known as the voice of Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho, Tien from the Dragon Ball series, Shigure Sohma from Fruits Basket, Eyes Rutherford from Spiral, and Switzerland from Hetalia: Axis Powers. Burgmeier is also the son of voice actress Linda Young.
Michael McFarland is an American voice actor, ADR director, script writer and line producer who works on English dubs of Japanese anime. He is known as the original English voice of Master Roshi and Yajirobe in Funimation's dubs of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. McFarland's other notable roles include Jean Havoc in Fullmetal Alchemist, Buggy the Clown in the Funimation dub of One Piece, and Jean Kirstein in Attack on Titan. He has voice directed on multiple Funimation titles including Dragon Ball, Fullmetal Alchemist, Case Closed, and Attack on Titan, the Rebuild of Evangelion films, and Summer Wars.
Spike Spiegel is a fictional character introduced as the protagonist of the 1998 anime series Cowboy Bebop. Spike is a former member of the criminal Red Dragon Syndicate, who left by faking his death after falling in love with a woman named Julia. He is first introduced as the partner of Jet Black, captain of the spaceship Bebop: the two are legalized bounty hunters pursuing criminals across the populated planets and moons of the Solar System. During his adventures on board the Bebop, he is drawn back into a bitter feud with Vicious, a rival from the Syndicate who seeks to kill him.
The Cowboy Bebop anime series was accompanied by a number of soundtrack albums composed by Yoko Kanno and Seatbelts, a diverse band Kanno formed to create the music for the series, with a principal focus in jazz. The soundtrack was released in the American market by Victor Entertainment, a subsidiary of JVC Kenwood.
Michael B. Pollock is an American voice actor and former radio personality, best known for being the voice of Doctor Eggman in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise since 2003. He has voiced numerous characters in various anime English dubs, video games, and other animated works as a freelancer.
Ray Chase is an American voice actor who has voiced in anime, animations, video games and audiobooks. His most notable roles include Charlotte as Yuu Otosaka, Final Fantasy XV as Noctis Lucis Caelum, the Fire Emblem franchise as Roy, the Kingdom Hearts series as the Master of Masters, Persona 5 as the Subway Announcer, Genshin Impact as Neuvillette, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind as Bruno Bucciarati, Jujutsu Kaisen as Ryomen Sukuna & Choso, and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba as Tengen Uzui.
Cowboy Bebop is an American space Western television series. It is a live action series based on the 1998 Japanese anime television series Cowboy Bebop and the 2001 Japanese anime Cowboy Bebop: The Movie. Set in the year 2071, it focuses on the adventures of a ragtag group of bounty hunters chasing down criminals across the Solar System on the Bebop spaceship.
To complicate matters, there's a tabloid reporter, ably played by Peter Gunn, who follows Miley to Tennessee, trying to figure out her secret. And there are comedic turns by Barry Bostwick as the bad guy who wants to change the town by adding a mall, and the mayor, played by Beau Billingslea, who wants things to stay the same.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link)