Beau Billingslea

John "Beau" Billingslea[1] (born December 18, 1944)[2] is an American actor and voice actor, known as the voice of Jet Black in the critically acclaimed anime Cowboy Bebop, Ogremon in Digimon and Homura and Ay, the Fourth Raikage in Naruto Shippuden. In addition to voice acting, he appeared in many television shows and some films including North and South Book II: Love and War, Just Jordan, The Hannah Montana Movie and Star Trek Into Darkness.

Beau Billingslea
Billingslea in 2016
Born	John Billingslea (1944-12-18) December 18, 1944 Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.
Education	University of Connecticut (B.A., J.D.)
Occupation	Actor, voice actor
Years active	1977–present
Home town	Meriden, Connecticut, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Cecelia Billingslea
Children	2

Biography

Early life and career

Billingslea was born in Charleston, South Carolina.[3] His mother was from Malensis, South Carolina, near Charleston, and his father was from Macon, Georgia.[3] His family moved to Meriden, Connecticut, where he grew up.[2][1] At Maloney High School, he lettered in football, basketball and baseball and was offered a contract with the Kansas City Athletics,[1] but at the advice of his father, went to University of Connecticut, where he played football and co-captained in his senior year.[3][1][4] He graduated with a Bachelor's in Political Science in 1966.[2] He was involved in ROTC and had to turn down entering the NFL in order to fulfill his military service, however, his commitment was deferred so that he could attend UConn Law School, where he graduated and passed the Connecticut bar in 1969.[3][1] He became an officer in the Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps and had tours in Germany and Europe, working on a number of cases. In Germany, he also taught criminal law for the University of Maryland's extension program.[3][1]

Acting career

While in college, Billingslea was encouraged by his fraternity brother to perform the lead role in a production of The Emperor Jones. This inspired him to go into acting, and he started getting involved professionally while he was in law school.[3][1] After moving to Los Angeles, he was involved in a number of action shows, including TJ Hooker, Hunter, The Fall Guy and The A-Team. Billingslea mentioned in an interview that it was probably because of his military background that he was often cast as an officer.[3][5] He portrayed Ezra in the TV miniseries North and South and was involved in a number of shows including Who's the Boss?, Murphy Brown and Married... with Children. On the Nick series Just Jordan he played Jordan's maternal grandfather Grant.[6] In the TV sitcom Franklin & Bash he portrayed Judge Douglas. He also acted in films such as Night Shift, The American President, Hannah Montana: The Movie, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and a remake of The Blob.[1] In 2013, he portrayed Captain Abbot of the Starship Bradbury in the feature film Star Trek Into Darkness.[5] He continues to act in stage plays such as Driving Miss Daisy where he was nominated for a Los Angeles Ovation Award in 2005.[7]

Voice-over career

Billingslea's voice-over work started with radio spots for various businesses and organizations, including Honda, Hood and California Highway Patrol.[3] He worked on several cartoons and anime, his most notable being Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop, which was broadcast on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block.[3][1] He also voiced starring characters Captain Michael Heartland in Argento Soma; Oji Tanaka in The Legend of Black Heaven, which was broadcast on International Channel and was the voice of Ogremon and various "mons" in Digimon. In Naruto, he voices Homura and Ay, the Fourth Raikage. He attended several anime conventions, including the 2016 Anime Expo, which united the Cowboy Bebop English voice cast.[8] He has also been involved in narrating shows on The History Channel including Hero Ships, Modern Marvels, and Suicide Missions.[5][9]

Personal life

Billingslea lives in the Los Angeles area. He is married to Cecelia Billingslea;[10] they have a son and a daughter together.[3][1] In 1987, Billingslea was inducted into the Meriden Hall of Fame.[2] In 2014, he gave the keynote address at a UConn Law School reunion.[10]

Filmography

Live-action filmography

Television

List of acting performances in television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Source[1]
1984–87	Hunter	Officer Bolin	Eps. "The Hot Grounder", "Flashpoint", "The Shooter"	[11][12][13]
1984–85	Santa Barbara	Police Officer	Unknown episodes	[14]
1985	The Atlanta Child Murders	Commissioner Lee Brown	TV miniseries	[15]
1985	Dallas	Dr. Miller
1985–86	Hotel	Cop #2, Officer	Ep. "Recriminations"	[16]
1985–86	The A-Team	Armored car guard, Owens	Ep. "Incident at Crystal Lake", "Family Reunion"	[16][17][18]
1986	North and South	Ezra	TV miniseries, Book II: Love and War	[19]
1986	Trapper John, M.D.	Ambers	Ep. "Self-Diagnosis"	[20]
1987	MacGyver	Moss	Ep. "Family Matter"	[21]
1989	Murder, She Wrote	Kei Murray	Ep. "Three Strikes, You're Out"	[22]
1991	Line of Fire: The Morris Dees Story	Hal	TV movie	[23]
1993	NYPD Blue	Det. Hankin	Ep. "Oscar, Meyer, Weiner"	[24]
1993	Married... with Children	Moderator	Ep. "Banking on Marcy"	[25][26]
1994	Melrose Place	George	Ep. "Michael's Game"	[16]
1995	The Young and the Restless	Trenton Jordan		Uconn profile
1996	Married... with Children	Reverend Hightower	Ep. "A Bundy Thanksgiving"	[27]
1997	Murphy Brown	Agent Scanlon	Ep. "Hero Today, Gone Tomorrow"	[28]
1997	Mad About You	Security Chief	Ep. "The Birth: Part 2"	[29]
1998	Profiler	Prison DIrector	Ep. "Coronation"	[16]
1999	Baywatch	Ben Frazier	Ep. "The Big Blue"	[16][30]
2001	NYPD Blue	Deputy Warden Jim Cullen	Ep. "Hit the Road, Clark"	[31][32]
2001	JAG	Col. Klesko	Ep. "Ambush"	[16]
2001	7th Heaven	Gene Carter		[33]
2001–02	Family Law	Judge Lawrence Harrington	Unknown episodes	[34]
2003	Modern Marvels	Narrator	Various episodes	[9]
2004	The West Wing	Agent Caswell		[35]
2006	Gone, but Not Forgotten	Chester Shortridge	Lifetime TV movie	[36]
2007–08	Just Jordan	Grant Cunningham	Unknown episodes	[6][37]
2008	Hero Ships	Narrator	History Channel series	[38]
2010	Wizards of Waverly Place	Burt Parker		[39]
2011	General Hospital	Prof. Russell Stern		[40]
2011–14	Franklin & Bash	Judge James Douglas	Unknown episodes	[9]
2016	Star Trek Continues	Vulcan Vice Admiral Stomm	Ep. "Embracing the Winds"	[41]

Feature films

List of acting performances in film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Source[2][1]
1977	Alex Joseph and His Wives	FBI Agent Vernon Wood		[42]
1982	Night Shift	Donny		[43]
1983	10 to Midnight	Desk Sergeant		[44]
1985	Real Genius	George		[45]
1988	The Blob	Moss Woodley		[9][46]
1994	In the Army Now	Sgt. Daniels		[47]
1995	The American President	Agent Cooper		[48]
1997	Final Justice	Charles	Made in 1994, released to video in 1997	[49]
1998	Halloween H20: 20 Years Later	Detective Fitzsimmons		[9][50]
2003	Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood	Thompson		[9]
2005	Rebound	NCBA Board Member		[51]
2009	Hannah Montana: The Movie	Mayor		[52][53]
2013	Star Trek Into Darkness	Captain Abbott		[41]

Voice-over filmography

Anime

List of voice performances in anime

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Source
1998	Outlaw Star	Narrator		[54]
1998	Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory	Admiral Kowen		[55]
1999	Digimon	Ogremon, Sagittarimon, Parrotmon		[41]
1999	Cowboy Bebop	Jet Black	as John Billingslea	[56][57][58]
2000	Rurouni Kenshin	Gohei		[41]
2000	The Legend of Black Heaven	Oji Tanaka	as John Billingslea, grouped under English Voice Talent	[59][60]
2001	Rave Master	Bear / Dearhound		[61]
2001–02	Cyborg 009	Geromino Jr. / Cyborg 005		[62]
2003	Argento Soma	Captain Michael Heartland		[9]
2003	Wolf's Rain	Sea Walrus		[41]
2004	Gungrave	Bear Walken		[63]
2008	Digimon Data Squad	Leopardmon		[64]
2009	Monster	Milan Kolasch		[65]
2009–15	Naruto: Shippuden	Homura, Ay (Fourth Raikage)		[41]
2012	Tiger & Bunny	Ben Jackson		[66]
2017	Hunter × Hunter	Light Nostrade	2011 series	[67]
2017	Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower	Orphe, Bull, Julio Sawasdee		[55]
2018	Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World	Valga "Rom" Cromwell		[68]
2018	Last Hope (TV Series)	Cain Ibrahim Hasan	Also named Unit Pandora	[69]

Animation

List of voice performances in animation

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Source
2004	Megas XLR	Grrkek		[55]
2015	Stakes	The Moon	Mini-series special for Adventure Time	[70][71]
2019	The Forge	Booger	TIE special for Toonami	[72]

Direct-to-video and television films

List of voice performances in direct-to-video and television films

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Source[1]
1995	Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie	Dee Jay	As John Hammond	[41]
2002	Cowboy Bebop: The Movie	Jet Black		[73][74]
2006	Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children	Barret Wallace		[55][75]
2013	Tiger & Bunny: The Rising	Ben Jackson		[76]
2015	The Last: Naruto the Movie	Fourth Raikage / Ay	Nominated for Best Male Supporting Vocal Performance in an Anime Movie/Special, 4th Annual BTVA Anime Dub Awards 2015	[55][77]

Feature films

List of voice performances in feature films

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Source
2012	War of the Worlds: Goliath	Abraham Douglas	Premiered in Malaysia in English; U.S. release in 2014	[78][79][80]
2015	The Laws of the Universe Part 0	Goat-type Alien	Limited theatrical release	[55]

Video games

List of voice performances in video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Source
2003–14	Dynasty Warriors games	Cao Ren		[41][81]
2006	Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII	Barret Wallace		[55]
2011–16	Naruto games	Ay (Fourth Raikage)		[55]
2014	WildStar	Judge Kain, Osun Male		[82]
2020	Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise	Tyrone Sanders		[55]

References

Citations

1. "Beau Billingslea biography" (PDF). UConn Law School Reunion. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
2. "Inductees". meridenhalloffame.org. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
3. "Beau Billingslea Interview at DVD Vision Japan". DVD Vision. October 11, 2004. Archived from the original on October 11, 2004. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
4. "UConn Football Captains Named". The Day. New London, Connecticut. February 9, 1965. p. 21. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
5. "Voice Actor and Film Star, Beau Billingslea, "elated to join the Star Trek family" - Voice Over Times - Voice Over Times". voiceovertimes.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
6. Lee, Felicia R. (January 5, 2007). "Travails of Adolescence? He's Been There". The New York Times. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
7. "Los Angeles Ovation Awards Presented at Nov. 14 Ceremony; Ann Magnuson Hosts - Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
8. LLC, DesignFluxx (June 10, 2016). "Introducing The Cowboy Bebop Jazz Cat Experience! - Anime Expo®". anime-expo.org. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
9. "Dragoncon". dragoncon.org. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
10. "Actor Beau Billingslea '69 Delivers the Keynote Address During Reunion 2014 - UConn School of Law". uconn.edu. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
11. "Hunter: The Hot Grounder (1984) - Bill Duke - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
12. "Hunter: The Shooter (1985) - Michael Lange - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
13. "Hunter: Flashpoint (1987) - Michael Preece - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
14. EVERETT, TODD (May 14, 1992). "THEATER REVIEWS : 'DRIVING MISS DAISY' : Awake at the Wheel : The Santa Susana Repertory Company offers a fine production in the former Simi Valley Courthouse". Retrieved September 8, 2016 – via LA Times.
15. "The Atlanta Child Murders (1985) - John Erman - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
16. Riggs 2007, p. 41
17. "The A-Team: Incident at Crystal Lake (1985) - Tony Mordente - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
18. "The A-Team: Family Reunion (1986) - James Darren - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
19. "Television". Jet. May 12, 1986. p. 66.
20. "Television". Jet. August 18, 1986. p. 66 – via Google Books.
21. "MacGyver". tvguide.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
22. "Murder, She Wrote: Three Strikes, You're Out (1989) - Seymour Robbie - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
23. "Line of Fire: The Morris Dees Story (1991) - John Korty - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
24. "NYPD Blue: Oscar, Meyer, Weiner (1993) - Brad Silberling - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
25. "Married...With Children". tvguide.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
26. Chance 2010b, p. 365 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFChance2010b (help)
27. Carl, Andreas. "Bundyology - Episode "A Bundy Thanksgiving"". bundyology.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
28. "Murphy Brown: Hero Today, Gone Tomorrow (1997) - Peter Bonerz - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
29. "Mad About You: The Birth, Part 2 (1997) - Gordon Hunt - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
30. Chance 2010, p. 138 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFChance2010 (help)
31. Chance 2010b, p. 495 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFChance2010b (help)
32. "NYPD Blue: Hit the Road, Clark (2001) - Jake Paltrow - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
33. Chance 2010, p. 18 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFChance2010 (help)
34. Chance 2010, p. 487 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFChance2010 (help)
35. Chance 2011, p. 451 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFChance2011 (help)
36. Marill, Alvin H. (2010). Movies Made for Television: 2005–09. Scarecrow Press. p. 38. ISBN 9780810876590.
37. Terrace 2008, p. 551
38. "History Channel: Hero Ships". April 29, 2008. Retrieved September 8, 2016 – via Amazon.
39. Chance 2010, p. 538 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFChance2010 (help)
40. Chance 2010, p. 538 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFChance2010 (help)
41. Iacovino, Kayla (April 8, 2016). "EXCLUSIVE: Into Darkness Actor Beau Billingslea Co-Starring in Star Trek Continues Episode VII "Embracing the Winds"". trekmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
42. Curry, Christopher Wayne (2007). Film Alchemy: The Independent Cinema of Ted V. Mikels. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786432370.
43. "Night Shift (1982) - Ron Howard - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
44. "10 to Midnight (1983) - J. Lee Thompson - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
45. "Real Genius (1985) - Martha Coolidge - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
46. "The Blob (1988) - Chuck Russell - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
47. "In the Army Now (1994) - Daniel Petrie, Jr.,Cyrus Yavneh - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
48. "The American President (1995) - Rob Reiner - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
49. "Final Justice". TVGuide.com. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
50. Capua, Michaelangelo (2013). Janet Leigh: A Biography. McFarland. p. 205. ISBN 9780786470228.
51. "Rebound (2005) - Steve Carr - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
52. "Hannah Montana: The Movie". popmatters.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
53. Clifford, Jane (April 17, 2009). "Movie Review: 'Hannah Montana, The Movie' - Miley delivers feel-good message". Bend Weekly News. Endeavours. To complicate matters, there's a tabloid reporter, ably played by Peter Gunn, who follows Miley to Tennessee, trying to figure out her secret. And there are comedic turns by Barry Bostwick as the bad guy who wants to change the town by adding a mall, and the mayor, played by Beau Billingslea, who wants things to stay the same.
54. "Beau Billingslea - IMDB".
55. "Beau Billingslea". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
56. Aficionados Chris (December 15, 2014). "Aficionados Internet Radio - Beau Billingslea (Voice of Jet Black)". Retrieved September 8, 2016 – via YouTube.
57. "Review: "Cowboy Bebop" Blu-ray Yields Big Bang for Your Buck - ToonZone News". toonzone.net. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
58. "Anime Expo Hosts Studio Trigger's Sushio, Mai Yoneyama". animenewsnetwork.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
59. "Legend of Black Heaven - Space Trucking". December 26, 2000. Retrieved September 8, 2016 – via Amazon.
60. The Legend of Black Heaven. Episode 1. Event occurs at Closing credits, English Voice Talent.
61. "Rave Master [Anime Series] (2001) - - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". allmovie.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
62. Terrace 2008, p. 227
63. "Gungrave: Fully Loaded Collector's Set". December 26, 2005. Retrieved September 8, 2016 – via Amazon.
64. "Beau Billingslea on Facebook". Beau Billingslea. March 25, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
65. "Beau BILLINGSLEA - Anime News Network". www.animenewsnetwork.com. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
66. "Tiger & Bunny English Dub Main Cast List". Facebook. August 15, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
67. "Gathering × Of × Heroes". Hunter × Hunter. Episode 41. Viz Media. March 4, 2017. Event occurs at Closing credits. Adult Swim.
68. "Meet the English Dub cast for Re:Zero!". Funimation.com. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
69. Last Hope (TV series)#Characters)
70. "'Stakes' The 'Adventure Time' Spin-Off New Updates On Eight-Part Series". movienewsguide.com. October 27, 2015. Archived from the original on September 17, 2016. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
71. "'Adventure Time' Marceline Gets Eight-Part Special". animationmagazine.net. October 26, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
72. https://www.bubbleblabber.com/review-toonami-the-forge-episode-2/
73. "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie English Cast Announced". animenewsnetwork.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
74. Solomon, Charles (April 4, 2003). "A space cowboy who doesn't pull his punches". Retrieved September 8, 2016 – via LA Times.
75. "Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Dub Cast". animenewsnetwork.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
76. "Tiger & Bunny The Movie: The Rising 'New Driver' English Dub Clip Streamed". February 22, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
77. "2015 BTVA Anime Dub Awards". behindthevoiceactors.com. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
78. "War Of The Worlds : Goliath". wotw-goliath.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
79. Harvey, Dennis (March 7, 2014). "Film Review: 'War of the Worlds: Goliath'". variety.com. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
80. Tripod Entertainment (March 7, 2014). "Hello from Beau Billingslea (War of the Worlds: Goliath)". Retrieved September 8, 2016 – via YouTube.
81. LLC, DesignFluxx (June 24, 2016). "Cowboy Bebop English Voice Cast coming to AX 2016!". Anime Expo. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
82. Carbine Studios. WildStar. NCSOFT. Scene: Credits, 2:45 in, Cast.

Book sources

• Beck, Jerry (2005). The Animated Movie Guide. Chicago Review Press. 386pp. ISBN 9781569762226.
• Terrace, Vincent (2008). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2d ed.). McFarland. ISBN 9780786486410.
• Riggs, Thomas (2007). Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television, Volume 74. Gale. ISBN 9780787690472.

External links

• Beau Billingslea convention appearances on AnimeCons.com
• Beau Billingslea at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Beau Billingslea at Crystal Acids Voice Actor Database
• Beau Billingslea on IMDb