Changes: Billy Van Zandt

Revision as of 23:11, 24 March 2008

Template:Realworld Billy Van Zandt (born 13 December 1957; age 66) is a writer, producer, and occasional actor. He played the part of a Rhaandarite ensign in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Van Zandt had made his film debut in Jaws 2 one year before the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). Between scenes, he was often watching Robert Wise direct, or he was writing plays. In 1981, he had a supporting role as Bug (a military cadet who, coincidentally, loves Star Trek) in the drama Taps with Ronny Cox, and the telemovie Skag, after which he began to turn his attention to writing for television. He began by becoming a story editor and writer on the hit series Newhart from 1988 through 1989.

He briefly returned to television acting in 1989 to play the role of Howard on the sitcom Anything But Love, opposite his longtime writing partner, Jane Milmore. Having co-written numerous episodes for this series, they left the show abruptly during its second season, both on- and off-screen. (In one episode, Howard ran amok in the office with a toy phaser from Star Trek.) Throughout the 80s and 90s, Van Zandt & Milmore continued to write stage plays, at least one comedy annually, for a dinner theater season in Van Zandt's hometown of Monmouth, New Jersey. Van Zandt was lead actor and director of his troupe of regulars, and each play was sold to Samuel French.

In 1991, Van Zandt became a writer and supervising producer on the series Nurses. The following year he became a writer and co-executive producer for the hit series Martin, and in 1993, he created the short-lived Daddy Dearest. He went on to write and executive produce for the shows The Wayans Bros. and Bless This House and to become writer and consulting producer for Yes, Dear (2000-01), The Hughleys (1998-2002), and Center of the Universe (2004-05). A longtime fan of Lucille Ball, Van Zandt had a cameo in an episode of Life With Lucy and later produced the TV special, I Love Lucy: The First Episode.

Van Zandt is currently married to actress Adrienne Barbeau, herself a Star Trek alum, having appeared on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The two married in 1994 after meeting on the set of Van Zandt's Daddy Dearest. The union would produce twin boys, Walker and William, born 11 March 1997. Van Zandt and Barbeau later co-starred together in the 1999 film A Wake in Providence (which Van Zandt co-wrote). In 2006, Barbeau starred as Judy Garland in an off-Broadway play written by Van Zandt called The Property Known as Garland.

He is the brother of actor/musician "Miami" Steve Van Zandt.

External link

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 {{realworld}}
-'''Billy Van Zandt''' {{born|13|December|1957}} is a writer, producer, and occasional actor. He played the part of a [[Unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel#Rhaandarite ensign|Rhaandarite ensign]] in ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]''.
+'''Billy Van Zandt''' {{born|13|December|1957}} is a writer, producer, and occasional actor. He played the part of a [[Unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel#Rhaandarite ensign|Rhaandarite ensign]] in {{film|1}}.
 Van Zandt had made his film debut in ''Jaws 2'' one year before the release of ''Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' ([[1979 productions|1979]]). Between scenes, he was often watching [[Robert Wise]] direct, or he was writing plays. In 1981, he had a supporting role as Bug (a military cadet who, coincidentally, loves ''Star Trek'') in the drama ''Taps'' with [[Ronny Cox]], and the telemovie ''Skag'', after which he began to turn his attention to writing for television. He began by becoming a story editor and writer on the hit series ''Newhart'' from 1988 through 1989.