James Marsters was born James Wesley Marsters on August 20, 1962 in Greenville, California. He graduated from Davis High School and went on to study at Juilliard, the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts and the American Conservatory Theatre. After ten years of stage work, Marsters relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television. He landed his big break when he was cast as the vampire Spike on
Buffy the Vampire Slayer . Although his character was originally written to be killed after a few episodes, Spike got so popular with series fans that they made him a regular on the show. Marsters even went on to reprise his character on the Buffy spin-off,
Angel . Aside from acting, Marsters is also an accomplished musician and was the front man for his own band, Ghost of the Robot, which recently completed a successful, sold-out tour in Europe.
Spike, also known as William the Bloody, played by James Marsters on Angel, used to be a Victorian poet until he was turned into a vampire by his eventual lover, Drusilla. Originally a bloodthirsty member of Angel's band of bloodsuckers, Spike, much like his rival Angel, metamorphosed from a total villain to reluctant hero to a true fighter for and defender of good. Unlike Angel however, Spike earned his soul through a series of hellish physical trials and tortures, all in the name of redeeming himself in the eyes of his true love, Buffy, the vampire slayer.
(Photo courtesy of The WB)