Billy Miller was an American actor known for his portrayals of first a recast Jason Morgan, then his twin Drew Cain on the ABC Daytime soap opera General Hospital. He was also known for his role as Billy Abbott on the CBS Daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless (2008-2014).
Personal life[]
Miller was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and raised in Grand Prairie, Texas. He is the middle child and only son, who has two sisters, Michelle and Megan. As a child, Miller spent five years as a patient of Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, an organization he now supports.
He attended Mirabeau B. Lamar High School in Arlington, Texas and the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, where he received a communications degree and was one of only twenty students in the film department's intensive Production Sequence.
Career[]
Acting career After graduating from college, Miller moved out to Los Angeles where he began working in the mail room of Industry Entertainment. His first break into acting came after he signed on with the Wilhelmina modeling agency. He appeared in six commercials, including two for Electronic Arts' The Sims. He also did commercials for JCPenney, Pizza Hut and pokerparty.com.
At the age of 24, he screen-tested for the CBS Daytime soap opera As the World Turns, but due to bad management, he lost the audition, and subsequently the management and agency. He took a two-year hiatus from acting after that experience.
In 2006, Billy returned to acting, starring in an episode of CSI: NY. A year later, he landed the role of Richie Novak, the murdering, and blackmailing brother of Annie Lavery on the ABC Daytime soap opera All My Children. His first appearance on-screen was August 30, 2007. When news of the character's demise broke in August 2008, Miller began the audition process again. Barbara Bloom (Senior Vice President, Daytime, CBS Entertainment), Julie Hanan Carruthers (Executive Producer, All My Children), Marla Kanelos (former Script Writer, All My Children, now Associate Head Writer, The Young and the Restless), and screen-test partners Peter Bergman and Elizabeth Hendrickson were instrumental in helping him get the job at The Young and the Restless.
Billy's last appearance as Richie Novak on All My Children coincided with his first appearance as Billy Abbott on The Young and the Restless on September 19, 2008. He is the fourth contract actor to fill the role, a role that had been met with varying degrees of success in its three previous attempts to recast the part. Miller, who submitted the longest Emmy reel among all nominated performers (over 32 minutes long—an entire episode), was awarded for his work in an It's A Wonderful Life-styled episode of The Young and the Restless with his first nomination and win as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series on June 27, 2010 as well as June 14, 2013.
In 2011, he was nominated a second time in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category for the same role.
He also appears, as himself, in an independent film titled "Remembering Nigel"', which premiered at the Paso Robles Digital Film Festival on November 25, 2009.
In August, it was confirmed that Miller would be appearing in primetime as a recurring cast member on the CW Network’s thriller Ringer. Miller was recently cast as Gabe Watson in the Lifetime made-for-TV movie, Fatal Honeymoon.
On September 2, 2014, General Hospital executive producer Frank Valentini announced on Twitter that Miller would join the cast as Jason Morgan, formerly portrayed by former Y&R co-star Steve Burton.
Although Jason had been back on canvas since August 12, 2014, Miller didn't make his first appearance until October 1, 2014.[3]
On July 12, 2017, a GH source stated on Twitter that "Miller is currently in contract negotiations while Burton (the former Jason) is signing a long term deal. No word who will play "Real Jason" yet."[4]
On July 28, 2017, according to Soaps in Depth, Miller has re-signed with GH. Miller also signs his contract year to year.[5][6][7]
On December 1, 2017, it was revealed that Steve Burton (Patient 6) had reprised the role of Jason, while Miller's role was retconned as Jason's twin brother Andrew Cain.
On May 22, 2019, Soaps.com announced that Billy Miller (along with Tamara Braun) will temporarily be off-screen for storyline reasons as their characters go to Mt. Kilimanjaro during the week of May 27-31. They were last seen on May 28 and made appearances on June 4 and June 12 before returning on June 17.
On June 15, 2019, rumors began swirling around that Miller may soon be leaving the show although nothing has been confirmed yet.
On July 28, 2019, it was confirmed that Miller will exit the series and that he had already taped his final scenes, putting his last air-date sometime in August.[8] He made his last appearance on August 21, 2019.
In 2021, his role of Drew was recast with former All My Children alum, Cameron Mathison, who was known for his role of Ryan Lavery. Mathison's voice was first heard as Drew on August 16, 2021 and he made his first appearance as Drew on August 17, 2021.
His death was announced on September 16, 2023.[9] On September 18, his family made public the cause of death, by Miller's own hand due to bipolar depression.[10]
Filmography[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Television | |||
| 2006 | CSI: NY | Will Graham | Episode: "Live or Let Die" |
| 2007 | All My Children | Richie Novak | Series regular; 2007–2008 |
| 2008 | The Young and the Restless | Billy Abbott | Series regular; 2008–2014 |
| 2011 | Justified | James Earl Dean | Episode: "The Moonshine War" |
| Ringer | Charlie Young | Recurring role; 2011–2012 | |
| 2013 | Castle | Mickey Gerhardt | Episode: "Number One Fan" |
| 2014 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Officer Robert Dolan | Episode: "The Fallen" |
| General Hospital | Jason Morgan Drew Cain |
Series regular; 2014–2019 | |
| Major Crimes | Anthony Hunt | Episode: "Down the Drain" | |
| 2015 | Suits | Marcus Specter | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Ray Donovan | Todd Doherty | Four episodes |
| Film | |||
| 2009 | Remembering Nigel | Himself | |
| 2011 | Ripper | Edward | 3D Short Film |
| 2012 | Fatal Honeymoon | Gabe Watson | Lifetime Made-for-TV Movie |
| 2014 | Bad Blood | Garret Church | |
| 2015 | American Sniper | Naval Recruiter | |
Awards and nominations[]
| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | The Young and the Restless | won | [11] |
| 2011 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | The Young and the Restless | nominated | [12] |
| 2013 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | The Young and the Restless | won | [13] |
| 2014 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series | The Young and the Restless | won | [14] |
| 2015 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series | The Young and the Restless | nominated | [15] |
Outside Links[]
References[]
- ↑ Billy Miller was originally hired as a Jason Morgan recast in 2014, but his role was rewritten to be Jason's long-lost identical twin brother, Andrew Cain when Steve Burton returned in 2017.
- ↑ Miller technically originated the role of Drew in 2017 after Steve Burton returned as Jason under alias, Patient 6.
- ↑ http://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/billy-miller-makes-gh-debut/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/jmcrenny/status/885247046248255488
- ↑ http://abc.soapsindepth.com/posts/general-hospital-billy-miller-jason-signs-new-contract-137928
- ↑ https://twitter.com/fyeahGH/status/889909295122231296
- ↑ https://twitter.com/BillyKellyFans/status/897028071240237058
- ↑ https://daytimeconfidential.com/2019/07/29/billy-miller-out-at-general-hospital
- ↑ https://michaelfairmantv.com/billy-miller-daytime-emmy-winner-gh-yr-amc-alum-dead-at-43/2023/09/16/
- ↑ https://tvline.com/news/billy-miller-cause-of-death-revealed-suicide-bipolar-manic-depression-1235045616/
- ↑ 'As the World Turns' tops Daytime Emmys. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved on May 5, 2013.
- ↑ The 38th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award Nominations. emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved on May 5, 2013.
- ↑ The 40th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award Winners. emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved on June 17, 2013.
- ↑ The 41st Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award Winners. emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on June 23, 2014. Retrieved on June 17, 2013.
- ↑ The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Award Nominations (PDF). emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on March 31, 2015. Retrieved on March 31, 2015.