Bill Nighy was born on December 12, 1949 in Caterham, Surrey. His father was the manager of a garage in Croydon and his mother was a psychiatric nurse.
He studied English Language and English Literature, and was fond of reading, particularly Ernest Hemingway.
After leaving school, he initially attempted to become a journalist, but found that he lacked the necessary qualifications, and instead found work as a messenger boy for a magazine.
He lived in Paris for a while, living every author's dream of attempting to write "the great novel", but failed miserably, with nothing more than the title to show for his effort. Broke, he managed to persuade the British consul to ship him home.
It was suggested to him that he might pursue acting as a career, so he trained at Guilford School of Dance and Drama. Since then, he has enjoyed nearly nonstop work as an actor, on stage, screen, and even radio.
Bill is with actress Diana Quick, and although they are not married, he refers to her as his wife to avoid having to explain their situation.
Prior to his role in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, he was probably most well known as "Barton" from the movie adaptation of "The Phantom of the Opera".
Bill Nighy plays the role of Slartibartfast in the 2005 big budget Disney movie, "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy."
Much of the information on this page was taken directly from the movie's official British site. |
