Billy Crudup
Billy Crudup | |
|---|---|
 Crudup in 2025 | |
| Born | William Gaither Crudup July 8, 1968 Manhasset, New York, U.S. |
| Education | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BA) New York University (MFA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Spouse | |
| Partner(s) | Mary-Louise Parker (1996–2003) Claire Danes (2003–2006) |
| Children | William Atticus Parker |
William Gaither Crudup (/ˈkruːdəp/; born July 8, 1968)[1] is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, Crudup has received two Critics Choice Awards, two Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and an Olivier Award.
Crudup made his film debut in the legal crime drama Sleepers (1996). He was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Jesus' Son (1999). He has taken roles in Everyone Says I Love You (1996), Inventing the Abbotts (1997), Almost Famous (2000), Big Fish (2003), Public Enemies (2009), The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015), Spotlight (2015), Jackie (2016), 20th Century Women (2016) and Jay Kelly (2025). He has also acted in the blockbuster films Mission: Impossible III (2006), Watchmen (2009), Alien: Covenant (2017) and Justice League (2017).
On television, he has portrayed a network executive in the Apple TV+ drama series The Morning Show (2019–present) for which he won Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.[2] He has played Timothy Geithner in the HBO film Too Big to Fail (2011), and acted in the Netflix thriller series Gypsy (2017), and the Apple TV+ science fiction dramedy series Hello Tomorrow! (2023).
On stage, Crudup acted in the Tom Stoppard play The Coast of Utopia (2007) on Broadway for which he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. He was Tony-nominated for his roles in The Elephant Man (2002), The Pillowman (2009), and Arcadia (2011). He starred in the West End production of the play Harry Clarke (2024) for which he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor.
In June 2023, Crudup married English actress Naomi Watts.[3]
Early life and education
Crudup was born in Manhasset, New York. His parents, Georgann (née Gaither) and Thomas Henry Crudup III divorced during his childhood, and later remarried, before divorcing a second time.[4][5][6] Crudup has spoken of his father, who died in 2005, as an "incessant gambler and hustler salesman" who continuously sought "to hit the jackpot" throughout his life.[7]
On his father's side, he is a descendant of Congressman Josiah Crudup of North Carolina.[8] His maternal grandfather was William Cotter "Billy" Gaither, Jr., a well-known Florida trial lawyer, and his maternal grandmother later remarried to Episcopal bishop James Duncan.[9][10][11]
The middle-born of three brothers, Crudup's brothers, Tommy and Brooks, are both producers. He left New York with his family when he was about eight years old, first living in Texas, then in Florida. He graduated from Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1986.
Crudup attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received an undergraduate degree, and he continued his passion for acting with the undergraduate acting company, LAB! Theatre. He also acted for UNC-STV's most popular show, General College. He was a member of the Beta chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon. He then studied at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts graduate acting program, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1994.
Career
1994–2005: Rise to prominence
A year after graduating from Tisch, Crudup made his debut on Broadway in the Lincoln Center Theater production of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia (1994). Crudup began acting in films such as 1996's Sleepers, 1997's Inventing the Abbotts, and 1998's Without Limits, where he played the role of running legend and Olympian Steve Prefontaine. His first role in an animated feature was in 1999's English release of Princess Mononoke, in which he voiced Ashitaka.
From 1998 to 2005, Crudup was the narrator for the U.S. television ad campaign Priceless for Mastercard. In the ads, the narrator (Crudup) lists the prices of two goods or services, then lists some third, intangible benefit gained from those purchases and concludes, "priceless". He said in 2005 that appearing in the ads "changed my life", in that they gave him the financial freedom to pursue the acting work that he wanted to do.[12] He then played lead guitarist Russell Hammond from Stillwater, the fictional band at the center of Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous (2000). Crudup received a 2002 Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play for his performance as the title character in The Elephant Man on Broadway, as well as a 2005 nomination for his role as Katurian in the Broadway production of The Pillowman, also starring Jeff Goldblum, which closed on September 18, 2005.
2006–2018: The Coast of Utopia and other roles
In 2006's The Good Shepherd, he played British spy Arch Cummings, a stand-in for Kim Philby. The same year, he played a supporting role in Mission: Impossible III. From October 2006 through May 2007, he was featured in the first two parts of The Coast of Utopia by Tom Stoppard at Lincoln Center, playing literary critic Vissarion Belinsky, for which he received a 2007 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.[13] In 2007, he played the leading role of Henry Roth in the film Dedication. He appeared as Zartan in the 2009 parody video The Ballad of G.I. Joe on the website Funny or Die. Crudup completed filming Watchmen with director Zack Snyder in Vancouver, British Columbia. He portrayed the superhero Doctor Manhattan. He portrayed former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner in a TV film about 2008's financial crisis, Too Big to Fail (2011). He starred in The Metal Children, an off-Broadway play written and directed by Adam Rapp in 2010.[14]
In 2011, Crudup received a Tony Award nomination for Featured Actor in a Play for his role in the Broadway revival of Arcadia.[15] In August 2013, he co-starred with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in the Harold Pinter play No Man's Land as well as in Waiting for Godot at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The shows transferred to The Cort Theatre in New York City, where they ran in repertory until March 2014.[16]
In November 2017, he starred in the world premiere of David Cale's one-man play Harry Clarke at Vineyard Theatre. It moved to the Minetta Lane Theatre the following spring.[17]
2019–present: The Morning Show and acclaim
Crudup acted in the Apple TV+ drama series The Morning Show portraying a cunning and charismatic network executive for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2020 and 2024 and a Critics' Choice Television Award in 2020 and 2023.[18] He returned to the West End acting in High Noon at the Harold Pinter Theatre from 2025 to 2026.[19] He also acted in Harry Clarke at the Ambassadors Theatre for which he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor.[20]
He took a supporting role in the Noah Baumbach directed Netflix dramedy Jay Kelly (2025) for which he earned positive reviews.[21][22] Also that year he returned to the New York stage acting in an off-Broadway production of the Henrik Ibsen play Ghosts at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre. Crudup acted alongside Lily Rabe, Hamish Linklater, and Ella Beatty.[23] He is set to return to the West End in a production of the Edward Albee play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opposite Gillian Anderson at the @sohoplace in 2026.[24]
Personal life
From 1996 to November 2003, Crudup was in a relationship with actress Mary-Louise Parker. She was seven months pregnant with their son, William Atticus Parker, born in January 2004, when Crudup ended their relationship and began dating actress Claire Danes.[25] Crudup and Danes separated in 2006.[26][27]
In 2017, Crudup began dating actress Naomi Watts, after the two met on the set of the Netflix drama series Gypsy.[28] The couple married in New York City in June 2023.[3][29] In June 2024, Watts and Crudup celebrated their nuptials in a second ceremony surrounded by their family in Mexico.[30]
Acting credits
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Sleepers | Thomas "Tommy" Marcano | |
| Everyone Says I Love You | Ken Risley | ||
| 1997 | Inventing the Abbotts | Jacey Holt | |
| Grind | Eddie | ||
| 1998 | Monument Ave. | Teddy Timmons | |
| Without Limits | Steve Prefontaine | ||
| The Hi-Lo Country | Pete Calder | ||
| 1999 | Princess Mononoke | Ashitaka (voice) | English dub |
| Jesus' Son | F.H. | ||
| 2000 | Waking the Dead | Fielding Pierce | |
| Almost Famous | Russell Hammond | ||
| 2001 | World Traveler | Cal | |
| Charlotte Gray | Julien Levade | ||
| 2003 | Big Fish | Will Bloom | |
| Stage Beauty | Ned Kynaston | ||
| 2005 | Trust the Man | Tobey | |
| 2006 | Mission: Impossible III | John Musgrave | |
| The Good Shepherd | Arch Cummings | ||
| 2007 | Dedication | Henry Roth | |
| 2008 | Pretty Bird | Curtis Prentiss | |
| 2009 | Watchmen | Jon Osterman / Dr. Manhattan | |
| Public Enemies | J. Edgar Hoover | ||
| The Ballad of G.I. Joe | Zartan | Short | |
| 2010 | Eat Pray Love | Stephen | |
| 2011 | Thin Ice | Randy Kinney | |
| 2012 | The Watch | Paul | |
| 2013 | Blood Ties | Detective Frank Pierzynski | |
| 2014 | Rudderless | Sam | |
| The Longest Week | Dylan Tate | ||
| Glass Chin | J.J. Cook | ||
| 2015 | The Stanford Prison Experiment | Dr. Philip Zimbardo | |
| Spotlight | Eric MacLeish | ||
| 2016 | Youth in Oregon | Brian Gleason | |
| Jackie | The Journalist | ||
| 20th Century Women | William | ||
| 2017 | Alien: Covenant - Prologue: Last Supper[31] | Christopher "Chris" Oram | Short |
| 1 Mile to You | Coach K | ||
| Alien: Covenant | Christopher "Chris" Oram | ||
| Justice League | Henry Allen | ||
| 2019 | After the Wedding | Oscar Carlson | |
| Where'd You Go, Bernadette | Elgie Branch | ||
| 2021 | Zack Snyder's Justice League | Henry Allen | Uncredited |
| Die in a Gunfight | Narrator | ||
| Donnybrook | Victor Roberts | Short | |
| 2025 | Jay Kelly | Timothy Galligan |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Too Big to Fail | Timothy Geithner | HBO television film | |
| 2017 | Gypsy | Michael Holloway | Main role, 10 episodes | |
| 2019 | At Home with Amy Sedaris | Dr. Raddish | Episode: "Halloween" | [32] |
| 2019–present | The Morning Show | Cory Ellison | Main role; 5 seasons | |
| 2022 | The Last Movie Stars | James Goldstone (voice) | Docuseries | |
| 2023 | Hello Tomorrow! | Jack Billings | Main role | |
Theater
| Year | Play | Role | Venue | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | America Dreaming | Robert | Vineyard Theatre | Off-Broadway | |
| 1995 | Arcadia | Septimus Hodge | Lincoln Center Theatre | Broadway | |
| 1996 | Bus Stop | Bo Decker | Circle in the Square Theatre | Broadway | |
| 1997 | The Three Sisters | Staff Captain Solyony | Roundabout Theatre | Broadway | |
| 1998 | Oedipus | Oedipus | Blue Light Theatre Company | Off-Broadway | |
| 2001 | Measure for Measure | Angelo | Public Theatre | Shakespeare in the Park | |
| 2002 | The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui | Flake / Defense Counsel | National Actors Theatre | Off-Broadway | |
| The Elephant Man | John Merrick | Royale Theatre | Broadway | ||
| 2004 | The 24 Hour Plays | Bobby | American Airlines Theatre | Staged reading | |
| 2005 | The Pillowman | Katurian | Edwin Booth Theatre | Broadway | |
| 2006–2007 | The Coast of Utopia: Part 1 – Voyage | Vissarion Belinsky | Lincoln Center Theatre | Broadway | |
| The Coast of Utopia: Part 2 – Shipwreck | |||||
| 2009 | The 24 Hour Plays | Billy | American Airlines Theatre | Staged reading | |
| 2010 | The Metal Children | Tobin Falmouth | Vineyard Theatre | Off-Broadway | |
| 2011 | Arcadia | Bernard Nightingale | Ethel Barrymore Theatre | Broadway | |
| 2013 | No Man's Land | Foster | Berkeley Repertory Theatre | California | |
| Cort Theatre | Broadway | ||||
| Waiting for Godot | Lucky | Berkeley Repertory Theatre | California | ||
| Cort Theatre | Broadway | ||||
| 2017 | Harry Clarke | Various | Vineyard Theatre | Off-Broadway | |
| 2018 | Minetta Lane Theatre | Off-Broadway | |||
| 2024 | Ambassadors Theatre | West End | |||
| 2025 | Ghosts | Pastor Manders | Lincoln Center Theatre | Off-Broadway | [33] |
| 2025–2026 | High Noon | Will Kane | Harold Pinter Theatre | West End | [34] |
| 2026 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | George | @sohoplace | West End | |
Awards and nominations
Notes
- ↑ Shared with George Clooney, Laura Dern, Adam Sandler, Alba Rohrwacher and Giovanni Esposito
See also
References
- ↑ "Birthdays". The Modesto Bee. Associated Press. July 8, 2022. p. 2A.
Actor Billy Crudup is 54.
- ↑ De Guzman, Chad (January 14, 2024). "Oppenheimer and Barbie Take Top Prizes at Critics Choice Awards: See All the Winners". Time magazine. Archived from the original on February 16, 2024. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
- 1 2 "Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup Are Married: 'Hitched'". Yahoo! Entertainment. June 10, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
- ↑ "Billy Crudup Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved May 21, 2008.
- ↑ Evertz, Mary (October 26, 2001). "Crudup family keeps busy in New York". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
- ↑ McHale, Joan Nielsen (July 17, 1966). "Our Town's Gaither-Crudup Storybook Nuptial". The Miami News. p. 4B. Retrieved May 15, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Ferme, Antoinio (February 16, 2023). "Billy Crudup on How His Father's 'Flawed Sense of Psychology' Inspired His 'Hello Tomorrow!' Character". Variety. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
- ↑ "Group works to save historic Crudup home site in Kittrell". Archived from the original on July 18, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- ↑ Jesse Green (October 10, 2004). "Billy Crudup: Almost Infamous". The New York Times. Retrieved May 21, 2008.
- ↑ "From class clown to Hollywood heartthrob". The Miami Herald. April 3, 1997. p. F1. Retrieved May 15, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Who's who in the South and Southwest – Marquis Who's Who. 1959. Retrieved February 11, 2012 – via Google Books.
- ↑ Hill, Logan (May 30, 2005). "Free Billy". New York.
- ↑ Kahn, Robert (June 11, 2007). "It's 'Utopia' at the Tony Awards". Newsday. p. A10. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Dziemianowicz, Joe (May 21, 2010). "New play tries to prove its 'Metal'". Daily News. p. 36. Retrieved May 15, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "2011 Tony Nominations Announced! THE BOOK OF MORMON Leads With 14!". Broadway World. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
- ↑ "カードローンの借り入れ条件の年収は重要?". twoplaysinrep.com.
- ↑ Windman, Matt (October 15, 2018). "'Sakina's' Feels Reheated". Newsday. p. A10. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Billy Crudup". Television Academy. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
- ↑ Akbar, Arifa (January 10, 2026). "High Noon review – Billy Crudup brings classic Hollywood western back with a bang". The Guardian. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
- ↑ "Olivier Awards 2025". London Theatre. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
- ↑ "'Jay Kelly' Review: George Clooney Is an Aging Movie Star in Noah Baumbach's Soft and Sad Netflix Drama About the Difficulty of Playing Yourself". IndieWire. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
- ↑ "'Jay Kelly' Review: George Clooney Plays the Movie Star but Adam Sandler Shines Brightest in Noah Baumbach's Sentimental Comedy-Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
- ↑ "Ghosts, Starring Hamish Linklater, Lily Rabe, Billy Crudup, Extends at Lincoln Center Theater". Playbill. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
- ↑ "Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup Will Star in West End Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". Playbill. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
- ↑ Susman, Gary (January 14, 2004). "Mary-Louise Parker names son after Billy Crudup". Entertainment Weekly.
- ↑ Miller, Julie (October 5, 2015). "Claire Danes Opens Up About Billy Crudup/Mary-Louise Parker Scandal". Vanity Fair.
- ↑ Lee, Esther (November 10, 2015). "Mary-Louise Parker Addresses Billy Crudup Leaving Her for Claire Danes". Us Weekly.
- ↑ McKay, Rhys (February 17, 2020). "What Was Naomi Watts' Relationship Like With Liev Schreiber?". Who. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
- ↑ Reslin, Eileen; Ryan, Tamantha (11 June 2023). "Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup Tie the Knot in New York City." News.com.au. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
- ↑ "Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup Have Second Wedding in Mexico". E! Online. June 10, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
- ↑ "Alien: Covenant – Prologue: Last Supper – 20th Century FOX". 20th Century Fox. February 22, 2017. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021 – via YouTube.
- ↑ Nolfi, Joey (April 1, 2019). "Billy Crudup is a dreamy, delusional 'doctor' in At Home With Amy Sedaris sneak peek". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
- ↑ "Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts". Lincoln Center Theatre. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
- ↑ Clive Davis (January 10, 2026). "High Noon review — Billy Crudup breathes new life into the western". The Times. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
- ↑ "The 7th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild Awards. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
- ↑ "The 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild Awards. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
- ↑ "The 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild Awards. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
- ↑ "Nominations Announced for the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®" (Press release). Screen Actors Guild. January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
- ↑ "JAY KELLY RECEIVES THE "CAPRI ENSEMBLE CAST AWARD"". Capri Film Festival (in Italian). December 18, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
- ↑ "Critics' Choice Awards: 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' Wins Best Picture, Netflix And HBO Among Top Honorees – Full Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
- ↑ "Oppenheimer, Barbie, The Bear lead 2024 Critics Choice Awards: See the full winners list". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Billy Crudup – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". IBDB. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
- ↑ "Winners & Nominees". Golden Globes. Archived from the original on January 6, 2024.
- ↑ Sicha, Choire (December 7, 2025). "It's Golden Globes nominations time and all the movies and TV shows are about anxiety". CNN. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
- ↑ Wiegand, Chris (March 4, 2025). "Fiddler on the Roof up for 13 Olivier Awards and Romola Garai Nominated Twice in Same Category". The Guardian. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
- ↑ "Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series Nominees / Winners 2020". Television Academy. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
- ↑ Lewis, Hilary; Nordyke, Kimberly (July 12, 2022). "2022 Emmy Awards Nominations Revealed". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
- ↑ "76th Emmy Awards Complete Nominations List" (PDF). Television Academy. July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
- ↑ "Emmy Nominations 2026: The Complete List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
External links
- Billy Crudup at IMDb
- Billy Crudup at the Internet Broadway Database
- Billy Crudup at the Internet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
- 1968 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- American male film actors
- American male stage actors
- American male television actors
- Male actors from New York (state)
- New York University Tisch School of the Arts alumni
- People from Manhasset, New York
- St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Florida) alumni
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
- Tony Award winners
- Theatre World Award winners
- American people of French descent