Billy Miller, the three-time Emmy winner for The Young and the Restless who also had long-running roles in All My Children and General Hospital, has died. He was 43.
The actor died Friday in Austin, Texas, and was struggling with manic depression at the time, his manager told The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday, which would’ve marked Miller’s 44th birthday. His cause of death is not available at this time.
Miller broke out when he landed the role of Richie Novak on ABC’s All My Children. Shortly after he left the soap opera, he was cast as Billy Abbott on CBS’ The Young and the Restless. He portrayed the character to much critical acclaim over the course of more than 700 episodes. The same year Miller left the CBS soap, he took on another long-running part as Jason Morgan/Drew Cain on ABC’s General Hospital.
Following three, long back-to-back stints on some of the biggest soap operas on cable, Miller moved on to recurring roles in drama series like Suits and Truth Be 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 Sept. 17, 1979, and raised in Grand Prairie, Texas. He attended the University of Texas in Austin and studied production sequence. Upon graduating, he moved to Los Angeles and began working in the mailroom at an entertainment management/production company.
After some friends dared him to pursue a career as an actor, he did, and his first successes came from the commercial world, where he booked multiple national ads. In addition to acting, Miller also owned several Los Angeles restaurants and bars for many years.
He is survived by his mother, Patricia, sister Megan, brother-in-law Ronnie, nephew, Grayson and niece, Charley.
