Bill was born in San Diego, California, and attended St. Augustine High School. He majored in English and art at the University of Notre Dame, from which he graduated in 1962.
Career
Bill began his career as an actor in the 1960s, first appearing on screen as Frank Sinatra's ingenuous younger brother in Come Blow Your Horn (1963). The same year, he appeared in Soldier in the Rain starring Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen. Thereafter, he was cast as Chris Herrod in the 1965 episode "An Elephant Is Like a Tree" of the drama series Mr. Novak.
Bill specialized in juveniles and young leads. In the mid-1960s, he made two appearances in the BBC's Play of the Month anthology series, he took the lead in Lee Oswald Assassin and played Biff to Rod Steiger's Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman (both 1966).
Bill continued to act in television movies, miniseries, and guest spots, though with decreasing frequency as he segued into directing. In 1965, Bill guest-starred in "An Echo of Bugles," the opening episode of Rod Serling's Western series The Loner, playing a hot-headed bully who taunts a Confederate veteran and challenges series star Lloyd Bridges to a duel. He appeared in the 1966 episode "Chaff in the Wind" of the western The Virginian and the 1966 episode "The Oath" of the western Bonanza. He was cast in the 1967 episode "The Predators" of The Road West]. He also starred in a 1968 episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. titled "The Seven Wonders of the World Affair, Parts 1 and 2." He was featured on an ABC movie titled Haunts of the Very Rich (1972), appeared in the 1977 miniseries Washington: Behind Closed Doors, and the drama anthology series as the narrator What Really Happened to the Class of '65?.
In 2009, Bill published the book Movie Speak: How to Talk Like You Belong on a Film Set. The book traces the etymology of the language of the movie set and is filled out with stories from Bill's career in film.[1]
Bill married Toni Gray in December 1962.[2] They had a son, Peter Bill, born 1964 and a daughter, Francesca. Currently, he is married to his second wife, the former Helen Buck Bartlett, his producer/partner in Barnstorm Films in Venice. The couple have two daughters, Madeline and Daphne.
Gilbert, Roland; Lia, Robert (1998). 72 Market Street Dishes It Out!: A Collection of Recipes and Portraits from a Classic Venice Restaurant. Venice, California: Wave Publishing. ISBN978-0-9642359-2-2.