Billy Zane

William George "Billy" Zane, Jr. (born February 24, 1966) is an American actor, producer and director. He is probably best known for his roles as Caledon Hockley in Titanic, The Phantom from The Phantom, John Wheeler in Twin Peaks and Mr. E in CQ.

Early life

Zane was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Thalia and William George Zane, Sr., both of whom were amateur actors and founders of a school for medical technicians.

Both of his parents are of Greek descent, and his family's original surname, "Zanikopolous", was anglicized to "Zane" by his parents.

 He has an older sister, Lisa Zane, who is an actress.
After completing a year abroad at the independent American School in Switzerland, Zane graduated from the progressive, private Francis W. Parker School and attended Harand Camp of the Theater Arts, located in Wisconsin.

Personal life

Zane married actress Lisa Collins in 1989. The couple divorced in 1995. He was also engaged for a time to Chilean actress Leonor Varela, his costar in the 1999 television film Cleopatra.

Zane was engaged to marry British model turned actress Kelly Brook, whom he met when starring with her in the movie Survival Island, also known as Three. They split in April 2008, got back together again shortly thereafter, then ended the relationship in August 2008. He has been dating Croatian model Jasmina Hdagha since July 2009. Their daughter was born in early 2011.

Zane's leisure interests include riding, painting, swimming, photography, frisbees, taking nature walks, cycling, and collecting cars.^{[citation needed]} He has named Sean Connery, Gene Kelly, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin as his movie heroes.^{[citation needed]}

In 1999, Zane participated in the first Gumball 3000 rally, driving a 1964 Aston Martin DB5. He was featured in the music video of Staind's "Epiphany". Zane executive-produced a CD by bluesman Tim O'Connor that includes three songs from Dead Calm, in which Zane had one of the lead roles.

On March 23, 2010, the IRS filed a $116,578 lien against Zane with the Los Angeles County Recorder of Deeds. He has not publicly commented on his tax situation.
In November 2010, he was awarded an honorary degree honoris causa from Lium University Bellinzona, Switzerland, for his contribution to cinematography. He is the chairman of the Francesco Fucilla Film production company 21st Century Filmworks.