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Beau Billingslea (born 18 December 1944; age 79) is an American actor and voice artist who portrayed Frank Abbott in Star Trek Into Darkness. The 2013 virtual collectible card battle game Star Trek: Rivals is using his picture for card #77 "Captain F. Abbott". Privately, he appeared as a Vulcan Admiral in the fanmade series Star Trek Continues.

He is best known for his role as the voice of Jet Black in the popular anime series Cowboy Bebop (1998-1999) and for his supporting roles in films such as Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998, with Matt Winston and Chris Durand) and My Favorite Martian (1999, with Christopher Lloyd, Ray Walston, Wallace Shawn, Ken Thorley, Michael Bailey Smith, and Jean-Luc Martin).

Personal information[]

Billingslea was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1953. He attended the F.T. Maloney High School in Meriden and the University of Connecticut School of Law in Hartford. He was offered a contract from the Kansas City Athletics to play baseball professionally out of high school but he went to college with a football scholarship. During his time at the military he worked as a JAG captain. It was during his time at law school that he started an acting career. Early in his career, he used aliases such as Jack Daniels and John Daniels.

Career[]

Television[]

Billingslea made his television debut in the television drama Freeze (1976) followed by the short drama Child Abuse (1976, with Joseph Campanella). Throughout the 1970s and 1980s he had guest roles in Barnaby Jones (1977, with Lee Meriwether), Mrs. Columbo (1979, with Kate Mulgrew, Joseph Hindy, and Andrew Robinson), Knots Landing (1983, with John Hancock), Cutter to Houston (1983, with Jim Metzler, K Callan, Noble Willingham, and Georgann Johnson), Call to Glory (1984, with Gabriel Damon, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Matthew Faison, and Ellen Geer), Street Hawk (1985, with Charles Napier), I Had Three Wives (1985, with Victor Garber, Carolyn Seymour, and Armin Shimerman), Hotel (1985-1986, with Michael Spound, Leigh Taylor-Young, Pamela Kosh, Duncan Regehr, and Robert Lansing), Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1986, with Michael Cavanaugh and Kat Sawyer-Young), The Fall Guy (1986, with Joshua Gallegos, Leslie Jordan, and Dennis Ott), T. J. Hooker (1982 and 1986, with William Shatner, James Darren, Richard Herd, Gary Graham, and Richard McGonagle), Trapper John, M.D. (1984 and 1986, with Madge Sinclair), The A-Team (1985 and 1986, with Dwight Schultz, Judson Scott, Lance LeGault, and Jeff Corey), What's Happening Now! (1987), Who's the Boss?(1987, with Scott Grimes, James B. Sikking, and Gabriel Damon), MacGyver (1987, with Stephen Liska), The Bold and the Beautiful (1987), Hunter (1984, 1985, and 1987, with William Windom, Rick Fitts, Paul Willson, Marc Alaimo, James Whitmore, Jr., Charles Hallahan, and Michael Canavan), Dynasty (1988, with Joan Collins), Matlock (1988, with David Ruprecht), and Murder, She Wrote (1989, with Todd Bryant, Bernie Casey, Robert Mandan, and Paul Sorvino).

In addition, Billingslea had recurring roles on the daytime soap Santa Barbara (1984-1985, with Nicolas Coster and Louise Sorel) and Dallas (1985, with Susan Howard, James Cromwell, and Clyde Kusatsu). He appeared in The Atlanta Child Murders (1985, with Andrew Robinson, Gary Graham, and Noble Willingham), in the television comedy Brothers-in-law (1985, with Daphne Ashbrook and Geno Silva), and had a memorable part as Ezra in the first chapter of North and South, North and South, Book II (1986), on which he worked with fellow Trek alumni Kirstie Alley, Mary Crosby, Jonathan Frakes, Jim Metzler, Kate McNeil, James Read, Lloyd Bridges, Jean Simmons, David Ogden Stiers, Anthony Zerbe, William Schallert, Kurtwood Smith, Michael Champion, Bumper Robinson, George De La Pena, Leon Rippy, and Maurice Roëves.

In the 1990s, Billingslea had guest parts in episodes of MacGyver (1990, with Deborah Van Valkenburgh and Betty McGuire), They Came from Outer Space (1990, with Allan G. Royal and Victor Brandt), Melrose Place (1994, with Famke Janssen and Stanley Kamel), Step by Step (1994), L.A. Law (1994, with Corbin Bernsen, Larry Drake, Dion Anderson, Joanna Cassidy, Martin Goslins, Jordan Lund, Carolyn Seymour, Kate Vernon, and Tracey Walter), Coach (1994, with Zak Knutson), NewsRadio (1995, with Stephen Root, Andy Dick, and Wallace Langham), Arliss (1996, with Eugenie Bondurant and Shannon O'Hurley), Pacific Blue (1996, with Ken Olandt and Nicolas Surovy), Married... with Children (1993 and 1996), Murphy Brown (1997, with John Hostetter and Wallace Shawn and written by Ron Fassler), Cracker (1997-1998, with Carolyn McCormick, Cristine Rose, Don McManus, Cliff DeYoung, Katy Boyer, Noelle Hannibal, Sterling Macer, Jr., and Scott Klace), Profiler (1998, with Mark Rolston, Thomas Knickerbocker, and Julianna McCarthy), Baywatch (1990 and 1999, with Monte Markham and Greg Barnett), L.A. Heat (1999, with C.J. Bau and Kenneth Tigar), and Diagnosis: Murder (1999, with Leon Russom, Joanna Cassidy, Scarlett Pomers, John Cirigliano, Ann Gillespie, and Richard Riehle).

Beside his episodic appearances, Billingslea worked on a number of television movies including the science fiction film Project: Tinman (1990, with Leon Russom and Joseph Culp), Line of Fire: The Morris Dees Story (1991, with Corbin Bernsen, Casey Biggs, and Shaun Duke), the thriller Armed and Innocent (1994, with Christine Healy, Darwyn Carson, and Scott Lincoln), Green Dolphin Beat (1994, with Melanie Smith, Allan Royal, Beth Toussaint, and John Vargas), the bio-pic Roseanne: An Unauthorized Biography (1994, with David Graf, Joycelyn O'Brien, Ian Patrick Williams, Jandi Swanson, J. Patrick McCormack, and Lee Spencer), the thriller Sharon's Secret (1995, with Gregg Henry), Terror in the Family (1996, with Andrew Kavovit), George Wallace (1997, with Clarence Williams III, Mark Rolston, Terrence Beasor, Francis Guinan, and Cliff DeYoung), The Pentagon Wars (1998, with Kelsey Grammer, Tom Wright, Sam Anderson, Randy Oglesby, Richard Riehle, and Bruce French), the drama To Live Again (1998, with Timothy Carhart), and Silent Predators (1999, with David Spielberg).

Further episodic television work include Touched by an Angel (2000, with David Andrews), Walker, Texas Ranger (2001, with Brett Cullen), The District (2001, with Roger Aaron Brown, Richard Fancy, Vinny Argiro, David L. Crowley, and Donald Sage Mackay), JAG (2001, with Scott Lawrence and Kitty Swink), NYPD Blue (2001, with Gordon Clapp), The Division (2003, with Lisa Vidal and Boris Krutonog), Boomtown (2003, with Neal McDonough, Vanessa Williams, Daniel Zacapa, Anthony Montgomery, and Annie O'Donnell), The West Wing (2004, with Jamison Yang, Andrew Borba, Timothy Davis-Reed, Gregory Wagrowski, and Ron Ostrow), Cold Case (2005, with Elinor Donahue, Thomas Kopache, and David Ruprecht), In Justice (2006, with Richard Gilbert-Hill and Danny Downey), Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008, with Thomas Dekker, Patrick Kilpatrick, and Bobbi Sue Luther), Wizards of Waverly Place (2010), and Weeds (2010).

Billingslea had recurring roles as Detective Frank Adelson in the drama series City of Angels (2000, with Gabrielle Union), as Judge Lawrence Harrington in the drama series Family Law (2001-2002, starring Julie Warner, Christopher McDonald, and Salli Richardson), as Grant Cunningham in Just Jordan(2007-2008), and as Judge Cole in General Hospital (2011, with Michelle Krusiec) and appeared in the television movies McBride: Murder Past Midnight (2005, with John Larroquette, Marta Dubois, and J. Michael Flynn), Gone But Not Forgotten (2005, with Leigh J. McCloskey, Concetta Tomei, David Lee Smith, and Robin Bonaccorsi), and Dad's Home (2010, with Stephanie Erb and Patti Yasutake).

More recently, he had recurring roles as Judge James Douglas in Franklin & Bash (2011-2012, with Malcolm McDowell, Mark L. Taylor, J. Patrick McCormack, David Gautreaux, Philip Boyd, John de Lancie, Ivar Brogger, Bruce Beatty, and Jack Kehler) and as Coach Wayne in the comedy series Suit Up (2013).

Film[]

His first feature film credit was for 'Alex Joseph and His Wives (1976) followed by Night Shift (1982, with Gina Hecht, Clint Howard, Jeanne Mori, Kevin Sullivan, Julius LeFlore, Vincent Schiavelli, and Michael Pataki). He also appeared in 10 to Midnight (1983, with Iva Lane, Patti Tippo, and Shay Duffin), Real Genius (1985, with Louis Giambalvo, Ed Lauter, Randy Lowell, Peter Parros, and Jeanne Mori), Walk Like a Man (1987, with Christopher Lloyd, Earl Boen, Ellen Albertini Dow, and Megan Parlen), and The Blob (1988, with Frank Collison, Clayton Landey, Richard Anthony Crenna, Peter Crombie, and Rick Avery).

In the 1990s, Billingslea had supporting roles in the action film Out for Blood (1992, with Robert Miano, Melinda Clarke, and Michael J. Sarna), In the Army Now (1994, with Lori Petty, Andy Dick, Glenn Morshower, Tom Villard, and Tony Donno), the crime thriller We the People (1994), the comedy The American President (1995, with Anne Haney, Gail Strickland, Clement von Franckenstein, Jordan Lund, Richard McGonagle, George Murdock, Googy Gress, Ron Canada, David Drew Gallagher, Greg Poland, and Ray Uhler), the thriller Indecent Behavior III (1995, with Sam Hennings and Charles Lucia), the drama The Setting Son (1997, with Darin Cooper), the action film Surface to Air (1998, with Melanie Shatner, Ron Balicki, and James Black), Rusty: A Dog's Tale (1998, with Vincent Schiavelli, Damara Reilly, and Frank Welker), and the action drama Final Voyage (1999, with Stephen Macht, Michael Bailey Smith, and Scott L. Schwartz).

Further film work include Gale Force (2002, with Cliff DeYoung, Nikita Ager, and James Cromwell), Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood (2003), Rebound (2005, with Dennis Cockrum, Robert Rusler, Scott L. Treger, Matt McCoy, and Justin Rodgers Hall), the comedies Meet the Family (2005) and Meet the Family: Dinner with the Rumps (2005), Vacancy 2: The First Cut (2008), and Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009, with Vanessa Williams, Jane Carr, and Cole McKay).

Voice work[]

Billingslea used the alias Jack Daniels for his first voice work as narrator in the short documentary The Magnificent Rebel in 1973. The following years he lent his voice to the animated projects Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro (1979, with Michael Forest), Hokuto no Ken (1984-1987, with James Avery), Tatakae! Iczer-1 (1985), Burakku Majikku M-66 (1987, with Dan Woren), Akira (1988, with Cam Clarke, Bruce Winant, Michael Forest, Skip Stellrecht, and Dan Woren), and Kidô senshi Gandamu 0080 pocketto no naka no sensô (1989, with Michael Forest and Dan Woren) as well as to episodic television such as the Moonlighting episode "Brother, Can You Spare a Blonde?" (1985, with Charles Rocket and Ed O'Ross).

In the 1990s, he lent his voice to the English versions of the television series Kidô senshi Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (1991-1992), Rurouni Kenshin (1996-1998), Reign: The Conqueror (1997-1999, with Carlos Ferro and Matt McKenzie), Outlaw Star (1998), Black Heaven (1999, with Richard Cansino), Wild ARMs: Twilight Venom (1999-2000), and Arc the Lad (1999), to the animated film projects Îsu II: Tenkû no shinden (1992), Street Fighter II - The Animated Movie (1994, with Skip Stellrecht and Richard Cansino), Macross Plus (1994), Terminatrix (1995), and Sumo Vixens (1996), and to the video games Outlaws (1997, along with John de Lancie and W. Morgan Sheppard), Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire (1998), and Bushido Blade 2 (1998, with Skip Stellrecht and Richard Cansino).

Doing even more voice work since 2000, Billingslea voiced characters in the animated television series DinoZaurs (2000), Vandread (2000), Argentosoma (2000), Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School (2001), Rave Master (2001), The Twelve Kingdoms (2002), Shinzo (2000-2002), Cyborg 009 (2001-2002), Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex (2002), Heat Guy J (2002-2003), .hack//Legend of the Twilight (2003), Last Exile (2003), Digimon (1999-2003), Geneshaft (2003), Gungrave (2003-2004), Megas XLR (2004), Naruto (2003-2006), Digimon Data Squad (2008), Bleach (2007-2009), Naruto: Shippûden (2007-2010), and Last Man Standing (2013). He also narrated episodes of the documentaries Dangerous Missions (1999-2000) and Hero Ships (2008).

Animated film work include Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001), Space Pirate Captain Harlock: The Endless Odyssey (2002), The Night B4 Christmas (2003), the Angel Wars movies (2004-2006), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005, with Fred Tatasciore and Greg Ellis), War of the Worlds: Goliath (2012), and Gekijô-ban Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning (2012). Billingslea also voiced several characters in a number of video games such as Phase Paradox (2001), Might and Magic IX (2002), Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (2003), several editions of the Dynasty Warriors games (2003-2007), Lords of EverQuest (2003, with Robin Atkin Downes, Kate Mulgrew, Ron Perlman, John Rhys-Davies, Dwight Schultz, and Dan Woren), Front Mission 4 (2004), Biohazard Outbreak: File 2 (2004), Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (2004), Grandia III (2005), Beat Down (2005), Urban Reign (2005), Kingdom Hearts II (2005), Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (2006, with Greg Ellis), Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War (2006), MagnaCarta 2 (2009), Saints Row: The Third (2011, with Daniel Dae Kim, Robin Atkin Downes, John Eric Bentley, and Phil Morris), and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 (2013).

External links[]

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