This strapping, handsome leading man specializes in villains and oddballs, and has appeared in a number of big-budget hits and odd independent films since the late 1980s. Moving to Los Angeles right out of high school, Billy Zane appeared in local theater (he'd been inspired by teenaged theater-going trips to London), before getting bit parts in "Back to the Future" (1985, as a thug), "Critters" (1986) and the TV-movie "Brotherhood of Justice" (ABC, 1986). He enjoyed his first breakthrough with a chilling performance as the shipwrecked psycho in Philip Noyce's taut "Dead Calm" (1989), and played an equally creepy serial killer in "The Case of the Hillside Stranglers" (NBC, 1989). The next year, he was a welcome addition to the high-flying ensemble of "Memphis Belle".
With his sculpted body and sensuous features, combined with an intellectual bent, Zane has not lacked for work, though a number of his films ("Megaville," 1990; "Femme Fatale," 1991; the latter opposite his sister Lisa) garnered little attention. He did, however, make an indelible impression as the cool, enigmatic John Justice Wheeler, who swept Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) off her feet in the cult series "Twin Peaks" (ABC, 1990-1991) and as the long-haired lover of the androgynous "Orlando" (1993) in Sally Potter's adaptation of that Virginia Woolf novel.
In 1993, Zane also played a prominent role in the popular action thriller "Sniper" and was the cruel colonel hunting down black deserters in Mario Van Peebles' "Posse". The next few projects, however, consisted of small roles in big films ("Poetic Justice" and "Tombstone," 1993; the comedy "Only You," 1994); and larger roles in small films (as Jo Dee Foster in the embarrassing "Silence of the Hams," 1994; "Flashfire," 1994; and "Tales From the Crypt Presents Demon Knight," 1995).
Just when it seemed his prime time was passing, Zane landed the high profile leading role in Simon Wincer's adaptation of the comic strip "The Phantom" (1996). Though that film did not do well, it buoyed up Zane's stock enough to land him roles as a incestuous grifter in "This World, Then the Fireworks" and as Kate Winslet's wealthy, caddish fiance in James Cameron's blockbuster "Titanic" (both 1997).
Zane has also stayed busy on the small screen in the 90s, playing his distinctive assortment of noir creeps and tormented anti-heroes. He starred as a mysterious, sexy gardener in "Lake Consequence" (Showtime, 1993), in the "Tales from the Crypt" episode "Well-Cooked Hams" (HBO, 1993), as an avenging cop in "Flashfire" (HBO, 1994), as an ex-con in "The Set-Up" (Showtime, 1995), and as an heroic environmentalist in the eco-thriller "Danger Zone" (HBO, 1996).