Billy Miller, the three-time Emmy winner of The young and the restless who also had long-running roles All my children And General Hospital, has passed away. He was 43.
The actor died Friday in Austin, Texas, and was struggling with manic depression at the time, his manager said The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday, which would have celebrated Miller’s 44th birthday. His cause of death is unknown at this time.
Miller broke out when he got the role of Richie Novak on ABC All my children. Shortly after leaving the soap opera, he was cast as Billy Abbott on CBS’ The young and the restless. He portrayed the character to critical acclaim over the course of more than 700 episodes. The same year Miller left the CBS soap, he took on another long-running role as Jason Morgan/Drew Cain on ABC’s General Hospital.
After three long consecutive stints on some of cable’s biggest soap operas, Miller moved on to recurring roles on drama series like To take And The truth is told. He also appeared in Ray Donovan, Fatal Honeymoon, American Sniper, Ringer, Castle And Justified over the course of his career.
William John Miller II was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on September 17, 1979, and raised in Grand Prairie, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and studied production sequencing. After graduating, he moved to Los Angeles and started working in the mailroom at an entertainment management/production company.
After some friends challenged him to pursue a career as an actor, he did so, and his first successes came from the commercial world, where he booked several national advertisements. In addition to acting, Miller also owned several restaurants and bars in Los Angeles for many years.
He is survived by his mother, Patricia, sister Megan, brother-in-law Ronnie, nephew Grayson and niece Charley.