Born William Gaither Crudup on July 8, 1968 in Manhasset, New York, Billy Crudup is best known for his role in the film Almost Famous. Growing up, Crudup’s parents divorced when he was very young, remarried later, only to divorce for a second time. When he was 8, his family moved to Texas, then eventually to Florida. He graduated from Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1986. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, while continuing his passion for acting with the undergraduate company called Lab!Theatre. He was also a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. For his graduate studies, he went to Tisch School of the Arts at New York University as a fine arts major. He graduated in 1994 and made his Broadway debut the next year in the Lincoln Center Theater production of Arcadia.
Billy Crudup made his film debut in the 1996 picture Sleepers and in 1997, with Inventing the Abbotts. He regularly returns to his original love, theater, while appearing in several movies. His first role in an animated picture was in the 1999 English release of Princess Mononoke. In 2000, he starred in Almost Famous, which received four Academy Award nominations despite bombing at the box office. Since 1997, he had been the voice of the MasterCard “Priceless” series of commercials.
Crudup continued appearing on stage, earning his first Tony Award nomination for his performance in The Elephant Man on Broadway. His other notable stage credits include The Good Shepherd, The Pillowman, and The Coast of Utopia. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for The Actors Center in New York. He dated actress Mary-Louise Parker for seven years and the couple had a son. He was publicly shamed for supposedly leaving his wife when she was seven months pregnant. He also dated Claire Danes for a brief period of time.