bill young

Born and bred on a dairy farm in the Upper Hunter Valley, the lure of the Arts beckoned from between the teats of an udder. In 1977, he graduated from drama school and has since forged a career as an actor, director, producer, voice artist, scriptwriter, freelance short form writer, photographer, musician and occasional SpFX assistant. A highlight of his Special Effects career was the two exciting days spent blowing wind on Wookies for “Star Wars - The Return of the Sith”.

Bill is one of Australia’s most experienced character actors with over 20 feature films under his belt, a wealth of television experience, an impressive array of theatre credits, and is highly regarded as one of Australia’s premier voiceover artists - and a master of the ‘natural read’.

Recent feature film work has included Superman Returns, Japanese Story, You Can’t Stop The Murders, Chopper, The Nugget, The Matrix, and The Road to Nhill. On television of late he has appeared in Network 10’s A Model Daughter, ABC TV’s The Cut, The Hollowmen and The Prime Minister is Missing, the Spielberg/Hanks mini-series The Pacific, The Last Confession Of Alexander Pearce, as well as the Logie award winning dramatised documentary The Bridge in the role of the legendary Jack Lang. Theatre performances include The Nargun and the Stars, Don’s Party, Spinning Into Butter, C*nt Pi and Broadway Bound.

Bill has an impressive array of directing credits to his name which include the mediums of feature film, live theatre, television comedy, corporate videos, TVC’s, and workshopping new Australian works of drama. His feature film, “The Roly Poly Man” was voted Most Popular Film of the Festival at the XVth Fantafestival at Rome in 1995 winning the Vincent Price Award as well as being nominated at the 1994 AFI Awards. He was also the founder/producer/director of the hugely successful Kirribilli Pub Theatre pioneering original Australian comedy in the forms of running storyline, stand up and improvisational. He has directed live theatre at many venues including Belvoir Street and the Ensemble Theatre. He was also a series writer for the hugely successful sit-com Hey Dad.

Bill recently returned from Norway, Wales and London where he was shooting interviews for his documentary A Very Short War which debuted on the History Channel on Anzac Day 2010.

Bill has been a member of the MEAA (Actors Equity) since 1975 and is a director of the Actors Benevolent Fund of NSW.