Bill Paterson (June 3, 1945 in Glasgow) is a Scottish actor who has appeared in many films, plays and television series.

As a young man, Paterson spent three years as a quantity surveyor's apprentice, before attending the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He made his professional acting debut in 1967, appearing alongside Leonard Rossiter in Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre.

In 1970, Paterson joined the Citizen's Theatre for Youth. He remained there as an actor and assistant director until 1972, when he left to appear with Billy Connolly in The Great Northern Welly Boot Show at the Edinburgh Festival. (Paterson would work with Connolly again, some years later, when he performed in Connolly's play An Me Wi' a Bad Leg Tae.)

Paterson spent much of the 1970s in John McGrath's 7:84 (Scotland) Theatre Company, of which he was a founding member, touring the UK and Europe with plays such as The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black Black Oil. He made his London debut in 1976 with the company.

After this, Paterson's career began to centre more on television than the theatre. His first appearances included the 1978 BAFTA award winning drama Licking Hitler, and playing King James in the UK television serial Life of Shakespeare the same year.

Paterson did not, however, entirely neglect the theatre, and in 1982 he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier award for his performance as Schweyk in another Brecht play, Schweyk in the Second World War at the National Theatre. He has continued to perform in many plays over the years.

The early 1980s also saw Paterson starting to appear in films, including The Killing Fields, Comfort and Joy and A Private Function (all 1984). Other film credits include The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1987), Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), Chaplin (1992), Sir Ian McKellen's Richard III (1995), Bright Young Things (2003) and Miss Potter (2006).

Bill Paterson made his name in 1985 as the devious gangster Ally Fraser in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet alongside Gary Holton and Jimmy Nail. His other television credits include Smiley's People (1982) The Singing Detective (1986), Traffik (1988), The Crow Road (1996) and The Whistleblower (2001). He has also provided voice-over narration for many documentaries.

A lot of his most recent work has been for the BBC, starring as Dr. Douglas Monaghan in the supernatural drama series Sea of Souls, and providing the voice of the Storyteller in the children's serial Shoebox Zoo. He also played the role of Dr. Gibson in the 1999 production of Wives and Daughters.

In 2008, Paterson will star in the movie adaptation of Irvine Welsh's best-selling novel Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance.

He is married to Hildegard Bechtler, a theatre and opera designer. He has two children (a son and daughter) and lives in London.

Bill Paterson (born March 5, 1898 in Hill O’Beath, Scotland; died 1980 in Cowdenbeath, Scotland) was a Scottish football center forward. He began his career in Scotland before moving to England in 1925. In 1926, he joined the American Soccer League where he led the league in scoring in the fall 1929 season.

Paterson spent time with Cowdenbeath F.C. before moving to Derby County of the Football League in 1921. He spent two seasons with Derby before rejoining Cowdenbeath. He also spent time with Armadale F.C. He then played with Coventry City during the 1925-1926 season. In the fall of 1926, he moved to the United States were he signed with the Springfield Babes of the American Soccer League. Paterson played only thirteen games of the 1925-1926 season with Springfield before jumping to the Fall River Marksmen for twenty games. He did not finish the season with Fall River, but moved to the New Bedford Whalers for seven games. He spent the full 1927-1928 season in New Bedford, but was transferred to the Providence Gold Bugs seven games into the 1928-1929 season. He finished the 1929 fall season as the league’s leading scorer with twenty-seven goals in twenty-two games. In 1930, Patterson began the season with the New Bedford Whalers only to jump to the Brooklyn Wanderers. He then played the fall 1931 season with Fall River F.C..

His photograph appears in the background of the documentary Lost in La Mancha (2002) on a pinboard: apparently he was cast in Terry Gilliam 's "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" but did not film any scenes before production was called off.

Trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Other graduates include David Tennant (I), Dawn Steele.

He was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award in 1982, for his performance as Schwekyk in Bertolt Brecht's 'Schwekyk in the Second World War' at the National Theatre.

Has worked on many voice-overs for documentaries such as Equinox, Horizon and Reputation. He has also worked extensively in radio, and has written and read his own stories for BBC Radio.

He played King James I in "Life of Shakespeare" (1978) (mini) and his son, King Charles I, in Return of the Musketeers, The (1989).