William George "Billy" Zane, Jr. (born February 24, 1966) is an American actor and director. He is perhaps best recognized for his role as Caledon Hockley in the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic, as the deranged psychopath Hughie Warriner in Dead Calm, and as The Phantom in the 1996 eponymous film based upon the comic book superhero. As of 2008, Zane has appeared in over 50 films and numerous TV-series.

William George Zane Jr., better known as Billy Zane, was born on February 24, 1966, in Chicago, Illinois, USA to parents William George Zane Sr. and Thalia Zane. Both of his parents ran a medical technical school. Billy also has a sister named Lisa Zane, an actress born in 1961. Billy was bitten by the acting bug early on. In his early teens, he attended Harand Camp of the Theater Arts in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. In 1982, he attended the American School in Switzerland. His high school days were spent at Francis Parker High School in Chicago, Illinois. A couple of his classmates were Daryl Hannah and Jennifer Beals (I). Soon after graduating high school, Billy decided to venture out to California to try his hand at acting. Within three weeks, he won his very first big screen role in Back to the Future (1985), playing the part of Match, one of Biff's thugs. He would later reprise that role for the sequel. Then after a small role in the film Critters (1986), he landed starring roles in several television movies. In 1989, Billy filmed Dead Calm (1989). It was on the set of this movie that he met his future wife, Lisa Collins (I). They were married from 1988-1995. In 1996, Billy starred in Phantom, The (1996) and in 1997 as Cal Hockley in the billion dollar grossing Titanic (1997). Then in 1999, he starred in the television movie Cleopatra (1999) (TV) where he met his soon-to-be fiance, actress Leonor Varela (I) from whom he subsequently split.