# Beau Billingslea

John "Beau" Billingslea (born 1944) is an American 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.

## Biography
### Early life and career

Billingslea was born in Charleston, South Carolina. His mother was from Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, near Charleston, and his father was from Macon, Georgia. His family moved to Meriden, Connecticut, where he grew up. At Maloney High School, he lettered in football, basketball and baseball and was offered a contract with the Kansas City Athletics, but at the advice of his father, went to University of Connecticut, where he played football and co-captained in his senior year. He graduated with a Bachelor's in Political Science in 1966. 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. 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.

### 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. 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. 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. 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. In 2013, he portrayed Captain Abbot of the Starship Bradbury in the feature film Star Trek Into Darkness. He continues to act in stage plays such as Driving Miss Daisy where he was nominated for a Los Angeles Ovation Award in 2005.

### Voice-over career

Billingslea's voice-over work started with radio spots for various businesses and organizations, including Honda, Hood and California Highway Patrol. 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. 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. He has also been involved in narrating shows on The History Channel including Hero Ships, Modern Marvels, and Suicide Missions.

## Personal life

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

## Filmography
### Live-action filmography
#### Television

List of acting performances in television :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Source |
| 1984–87 | Hunter | Officer Bolin | 3 episodes: "The Hot Grounder", "Flashpoint", "The Shooter" | |
| 1984–85 | Santa Barbara | Police Officer | Unknown episodes | |
| 1985 | The Atlanta Child Murders | Commissioner Lee Brown | TV miniseries | |
| 1985 | Dallas | Dr. Miller | | |
| 1985–86 | Hotel | Cop #2, Officer | Episode: "Recriminations" | |
| 1985–86 | The A-Team | Armored car guard, Owens | 2 episodes: "Incident at Crystal Lake K Love", "Family Reunion" | |
| 1986 | North and South | Ezra | TV miniseries, Book II: Love and War | |
| 1985 | Moonlighting | Announcer | Episode: "Brother, Can You Spare a Blonde?" | |
| 1986 | Trapper John, M.D. | Ambers | Episode: "Self-Diagnosis" | |
| 1987 | MacGyver | Meridan | Episode: "Family Matter" |
| 1989 | Murder, She Wrote | Kei Murray | Episode: "Three Strikes, You're Out" | |
| 1991 | Line of Fire: The Morris Dees Story | Hal | Television film | |
| 1993 | NYPD Blue | Det. Hankin | Episode: "Oscar, Meyer, Weiner" | |
| 1993 | Married... with Children | Moderator | Episode: "Banking on Marcy" | |
| 1994 | Melrose Place | George | Episode: "Michael's Game" | |
| 1994 | L.A. Law | Detective Don Cuva | Episode: "Whistle Stop" | Uconn profile |
| 1995 | The Young and the Restless | Trenton Jordan | | Uconn profile |
| 1996 | Terror in the Family | Judge Roubal | Television film | |
| 1996 | Married... with Children | Reverend Hightower | Episode: "A Bundy Thanksgiving" | |
| 1997 | Murphy Brown | Agent Scanlon | Episode: "Hero Today, Gone Tomorrow" | |
| 1997 | Mad About You | Security Chief | Episode: "The Birth: Part 2" | |
| 1998 | Profiler | Prison Director | Episode: "Coronation" | |
| 1999 | Baywatch | Ben Frazier | Episode: "The Big Blue" | |
| 2001 | Walker, Texas Ranger | Tom Jakes | Episode: "Justice for All" | |
| 2001 | NYPD Blue | Deputy Warden Jim Cullen | Episode: "Hit the Road, Clark" | |
| 2001 | JAG | Col. Klesko | Episode: "Ambush" | |
| 2001 | 7th Heaven | Gene Carter | | |
| 2001–02 | Family Law | Judge Lawrence Harrington | Unknown episodes | |
| 2003 | Modern Marvels | Narrator | 2 episodes | |
| 2004 | The West Wing | Agent Caswell | | |
| 2006 | Gone, but Not Forgotten | Chester Shortridge | Television film (Lifetime) | |
| 2007–08 | Just Jordan | Grant Cunningham | Unknown episodes | |
| 2008 | Hero Ships | Narrator | History Channel series | |
| 2010 | Wizards of Waverly Place | Burt Parker | | |
| 2011 | General Hospital | Prof. Russell Stern | | |
| 2011–14 | Franklin & Bash | Judge James Douglas | Unknown episodes | |
| 2014 | Castle | Dr. Walter Parish | Episode: "Bad Santa" | |
| 2016 | Star Trek Continues | Vulcan Vice Admiral Stomm | Episode: "Embracing the Winds" | |
| 2017 | NCIS | Denny Rydell | Episode: "Burden of Proof" | |
| 2020 | Cherish the Day | Pastor Gordon | 2 episodes | |

#### Feature films

List of acting performances in film :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1977 | Alex Joseph and His Wives | FBI Agent Vernon Wood | |
| 1982 | Night Shift | Donny | |
| 1983 | 10 to Midnight | Desk Sergeant | |
| 1985 | Real Genius | George | |
| 1988 | The Blob | Moss Woodley | |
| 1994 | In the Army Now | Sgt. Daniels | |
| 1995 | The American President | Agent Cooper | |
| 1997 | Final Justice | Charles | Made in 1994, released to video in 1997 |
| 1998 | Halloween H20: 20 Years Later | Detective Fitzsimmons | |
| 2003 | Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood | Thompson | |
| 2005 | Rebound | NCBA Board Member | |
| 2009 | Hannah Montana: The Movie | Mayor | |
| 2013 | Star Trek Into Darkness | Captain Abbott | |

### Voice-over filmography
#### Anime

List of voice performances in anime :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | Macross Plus | Col. Millard Johnson | |
| 1998 | Outlaw Star | Narrator | |
| 1998 | Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory | Admiral Kowen | |
| 1999 | Digimon | Ogremon, Sagittarimon, Parrotmon | |
| 1999 | Cowboy Bebop | Jet Black | as John Billingslea |
| 2000 | Rurouni Kenshin | Gohei | |
| 2000 | The Legend of Black Heaven | Oji Tanaka | as John Billingslea, grouped under English Voice Talent |
| 2001 | Rave Master | Bear / Dearhound | |
| 2001–02 | Cyborg 009 | Geromino Jr. / Cyborg 005 | |
| 2003 | Argento Soma | Captain Michael Heartland | |
| 2003 | Wolf's Rain | Sea Walrus | |
| 2004 | Gungrave | Bear Walken | |
| 2008 | Digimon Data Squad | Leopardmon | |
| 2009 | Monster | Milan Kolasch | |
| 2009–15 | Naruto: Shippuden | Homura, Ay (Fourth Raikage) | |
| 2012 | Tiger & Bunny | Ben Jackson | |
| 2017 | Hunter × Hunter | Light Nostrade | 2011 series |
| 2017 | Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower | Orphe, Bull, Julio Sawasdee | |
| 2018 | Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World | Valga "Rom" Cromwell | |
| 2018 | Last Hope (TV Series) | Cain Ibrahim Hasan | Also named Unit Pandora |
| 2021 | Godzilla Singular Point | Additional Voice | Netflix dub |
| 2021 | Super Crooks | Eric | Netflix dub |

#### Animation

List of voice performances in animation :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2004 | Megas XLR | Grrkek The Planet Killer & Orange Scaley Thing 1 | |
| 2015 | Stakes | The Moon | Mini-series special for Adventure Time |
| 2019 | The Forge | Booger | TIE special for Toonami |

#### Direct-to-video and television films

List of voice performances in direct-to-video and television films :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie | Dee Jay | As John Hammond |
| 2002 | Cowboy Bebop: The Movie | Jet Black | |
| 2006 | Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children | Barret Wallace | |
| 2013 | Tiger & Bunny: The Rising | Ben Jackson | |
| 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 |

#### 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 | |
| 2015 | The Laws of the Universe Part 0 | Goat-type Alien | Limited theatrical release | |

#### Video games

List of voice performances in video games :
| Year | Title | Role |
| 1997 | Outlaws | "Buckshot" Bill Morgan |
| 2003–14 | Dynasty Warriors games | |
| 2004 | Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War | "Swordsman" Marcus Snow |
| 2006 | Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII | Barret Wallace |
| 2011–16 | Naruto games | Ay (Fourth Raikage) |
| 2014 | WildStar | Judge Kain, Osun Male |
| 2020 | Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise | Tyrone Sanders |
| 2020 | Fallout 76: Wastelanders | Paige, Chase Terrier, Deathklaus |
| 2022 | Horizon Forbidden West | Garokkah, Emboh |
| 2023 | Starfield | Percival Walker |
| 2024 | Tekken 8 | Leroy Smith |