William John Miller II
["GH HUGE SPOILER ALERTS!" ''Soap Opera Digest'' June 10, 2013 (Vol. 38, No. 23). p. 39.] (born September 17, 1979) is an American actor. He is best known for his
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
roles as
Billy Abbott
Billy Abbott is a fictional character from ''The Young and the Restless'', an American soap opera on the CBS network. Created by William J. Bell as the son of John Abbott (Jerry Douglas) and Jill Abbott ( Jess Walton), the character is curre ...
on
CBS' ''
The Young and the Restless
''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City ...
'', and
Jason Morgan and
Drew Cain
'' General Hospital'' is the longest running American television serial drama, airing on ABC since April 1, 1963. Created by Frank and Doris Hursley, who originally set it in a general hospital (hence the title), in an unnamed fictional city. ...
on
ABC's ''
General Hospital''.
Early life and education
Miller was born in
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
, and grew up in
Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties of Texas, in the United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It had a population of 175,396 according to the 2010 census, making it th ...
.
As a child, Miller spent five years as a patient of
Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, an organization he now supports.
[AST: Let's Talk Lane]
"AST: Let's Talk Lane"
''BlogTalk Radio''. April 11, 2009. Retrieved April 11, 2009.[CBS Entertainment]
"Billy Miller: The Young and the Restless on CBS"
''CBS''
He attended
Lamar High School in
Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...
, and the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
, where he received a communications degree and was one of only twenty students in the film department's intensive Production Sequence.
Career
After graduating from college, Miller moved out to Los Angeles where he began working in the mail room of Industry Entertainment.
[BuzzWorthy Radi]
"BuzzWorthy Radio – Daniel Goddard & Billy Miller"
''BlogTalk Radio''. May 7, 2008. Retrieved May 7, 2008.[Soap Opera Digest]
"Billy Miller (Billy, Y&R) Soap Star Stats"
''Soap Opera Digest'' His first break into acting came after he signed on with the
Wilhelmina modeling agency.
He appeared in six commercials, including two for
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted th ...
'
The Sims
''The Sims'' is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and it is one of the best-selling video game series of all time.
The games ...
. He also did commercials for
JCPenney
Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Girl ...
,
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert at d ...
and pokerparty.com.
At the age of 24, Miller screen-tested for the
CBS Daytime
CBS Daytime is a division within CBS that is responsible for the daytime television block programming on the CBS' late morning and early afternoon schedule. The block has historically encompassed soap operas and game shows.
Schedule
NOTE: All ti ...
soap opera ''
As the World Turns
''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other soa ...
'', but due to bad management, he lost the audition, and subsequently the management and agency.
He took a two-year hiatus from acting after that experience.
In 2006, Miller returned to acting, starring in an episode of ''
CSI: NY''. A year later, he landed the role of Richie Novak, the murdering and blackmailing brother of
Annie Lavery on the
ABC Daytime
ABC Daytime (sometimes shortened to ABC-D or ABCD) is a division responsible for the daytime programming block on the ABC Network and syndicated programming. The block has historically encompassed soap operas, game shows and talk shows.
Histor ...
soap opera ''
All My Children
''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and ...
''. His first appearance was August 30, 2007. When news of the character's demise broke in August 2008, Miller began the audition process again.
Barbara Bloom (
Senior Vice President, Daytime, CBS Entertainment),
Julie Hanan Carruthers (Executive Producer, ''
All My Children
''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and ...
''),
Marla Kanelos (former Script Writer, ''
All My Children
''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and ...
'', now Associate Head Writer, ''
The Young and the Restless
''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City ...
''), and screen-test partners
Peter Bergman
Peter Michael Bergman (born June 11, 1953) is an American actor best known for his portrayals on soap operas, such as Cliff Warner on ''All My Children'' (1979–89) on ABC as well as Jack Abbott on ''The Young and the Restless'' (1989–pres ...
and
Elizabeth Hendrickson
Elizabeth Hendrickson (born July 3, 1979) is an American actress. Her big break came when she was cast as character Frankie Stone on the daytime drama ''All My Children''. Her equally popular role of Maggie Stone, the character's identical twi ...
were instrumental in helping him get the job at ''
The Young and the Restless
''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City ...
''.
Miller's last appearance as Richie Novak on ''
All My Children
''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and ...
'' coincided with his first appearance as
Billy Abbott
Billy Abbott is a fictional character from ''The Young and the Restless'', an American soap opera on the CBS network. Created by William J. Bell as the son of John Abbott (Jerry Douglas) and Jill Abbott ( Jess Walton), the character is curre ...
on ''
The Young and the Restless
''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City ...
'' on September 19, 2008. He became the fourth contract actor to fill the role, a role that had been met with varying degrees of success in its three previous attempts to recast the part. Miller, who submitted the longest
Emmy reel among all nominated performers (over 32 minutes long—an entire episode), was awarded for his work in an ''It's A Wonderful Life''-styled episode of''
The Young and the Restless
''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City ...
'' with his first nomination and win as
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series on June 27, 2010 as well as June 14, 2013.
In 2011, he was nominated a second time in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category for the same role. Miller also appears, as himself, in an independent film titled ''Remembering Nigel'', which premiered at the
Paso Robles
Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish language, Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River (California), Sal ...
Digital Film Festival on November 25, 2009.
In August 2012, it was confirmed that Miller would be appearing in primetime as a recurring cast member on the
CW Network’s thriller ''
Ringer''. Miller was also cast as Gabe Watson in the Lifetime made-for-TV movie ''
Fatal Honeymoon''.
On September 2, 2014, ''
General Hospital''
executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...
Frank Valentini
Frank Valentini is the executive producer for the ABC soap opera '' General Hospital''. He previously held the position of executive producer, director, and composer for the ABC soap opera '' One Life to Live''. From 1986 to 1992 he worked a ...
announced on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that Miller would join the cast as
Jason Morgan.
In March 2018, for his portrayal of Jason, Miller earned a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor. In 2017, with the return of
Steve Burton to the role of Jason, Miller's casting was
retconned
Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subs ...
to that of his twin,
Drew Cain
'' General Hospital'' is the longest running American television serial drama, airing on ABC since April 1, 1963. Created by Frank and Doris Hursley, who originally set it in a general hospital (hence the title), in an unnamed fictional city. ...
. In July 2019, Miller announced his exit from the soap.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
Lamar High School (Arlington, Texas) Notable Alumni
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Billy
1979 births
Living people
American male soap opera actors
Daytime Emmy Award winners
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series winners
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series winners
Male actors from Texas
Lamar High School (Arlington, Texas) alumni
People from Arlington, Texas
People from Grand Prairie, Texas
Male actors from Tulsa, Oklahoma