John "Beau" Billingslea (born 1944) is an American actor, known as the voice of Jet Black in the critically acclaimed anime Cowboy Bebop, Ogremon in Digimon and Homura and Ay, the Fourth Raikage in Naruto Shippuden. In addition to voice acting, he appeared in many television shows and some films including North and South Book II: Love and War, Just Jordan, The Hannah Montana Movie, and Star Trek Into Darkness.

Biography Early life and career Billingslea was born in Charleston, South Carolina. His mother was from Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, near Charleston, and his father was from Macon, Georgia. His family moved to Meriden, Connecticut, where he grew up. At Maloney High School, he lettered in football, basketball and baseball and was offered a contract with the Kansas City Athletics, but at the advice of his father, went to University of Connecticut, where he played football and co-captained in his senior year. He graduated with a Bachelor's in Political Science in 1966. He was involved in ROTC and had to turn down entering the NFL in order to fulfill his military service, however, his commitment was deferred so that he could attend UConn Law School, where he graduated and passed the Connecticut bar in 1969. He became an officer in the Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps and had tours in Germany and Europe, working on a number of cases. In Germany, he also taught criminal law for the University of Maryland's extension program.

Acting career While in college, Billingslea was encouraged by his fraternity brother to perform the lead role in a production of The Emperor Jones. This inspired him to go into acting, and he started getting involved professionally while he was in law school. After moving to Los Angeles, he was involved in a number of action shows, including TJ Hooker, Hunter, The Fall Guy and The A-Team. Billingslea mentioned in an interview that it was probably because of his military background that he was often cast as an officer. He portrayed Ezra in the TV miniseries North and South and was involved in a number of shows including Who's the Boss?, Murphy Brown and Married... with Children. On the Nick series Just Jordan he played Jordan's maternal grandfather Grant. In the TV sitcom Franklin & Bash he portrayed Judge Douglas. He also acted in films such as Night Shift, The American President, Hannah Montana: The Movie, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and a remake of The Blob. In 2013, he portrayed Captain Abbot of the Starship Bradbury in the feature film Star Trek Into Darkness. He continues to act in stage plays such as Driving Miss Daisy where he was nominated for a Los Angeles Ovation Award in 2005.

Voice-over career Billingslea's voice-over work started with radio spots for various businesses and organizations, including Honda, Hood and California Highway Patrol. He worked on several cartoons and anime, his most notable being Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop, which was broadcast on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block. He also voiced starring characters Captain Michael Heartland in Argento Soma; Oji Tanaka in The Legend of Black Heaven, which was broadcast on International Channel and was the voice of Ogremon and various "mons" in Digimon. In Naruto, he voices Homura and Ay, the Fourth Raikage. He attended several anime conventions, including the 2016 Anime Expo, which united the Cowboy Bebop English voice cast. He has also been involved in narrating shows on The History Channel including Hero Ships, Modern Marvels, and Suicide Missions.

Personal life Billingslea lives in the Los Angeles area. He is married to Cecelia Billingslea; they have a son and a daughter together. In 1987, Billingslea was inducted into the Meriden Hall of Fame. In 2014, he gave the keynote address at a UConn Law School reunion.

Filmography

Live-action filmography Television + List of acting performances in television Year Title Role Notes Source –1987 Hunter Officer Bolin 3 episodes: "The Hot Grounder", "Flashpoint", "The Shooter" –1985 Santa Barbara Police Officer Unknown episodes The Atlanta Child Murders Commissioner Lee Brown TV miniseries Dallas Dr. Miller –1986 Hotel Cop #2, Officer Episode: "Recriminations" –1986 The A-Team Armored car guard, Owens 2 episodes: "Incident at Crystal Lake K Love", "Family Reunion" North and South Ezra TV miniseries, Book II: Love and War Moonlighting Announcer Episode: "Brother, Can You Spare a Blonde?" Trapper John, M.D. Ambers Episode: "Self-Diagnosis" MacGyver Meridan Episode: "Family Matter" Murder, She Wrote Kei Murray Episode: "Three Strikes, You're Out" Line of Fire: The Morris Dees Story Hal Television film NYPD Blue Det. Hankin Episode: "Oscar, Meyer, Weiner" Married... with Children Moderator Episode: "Banking on Marcy" Melrose Place George Episode: "Michael's Game" L.A. Law Detective Don Cuva Episode: "Whistle Stop" Uconn profile 1995 The Young and the Restless Trenton Jordan Uconn profile Terror in the Family Judge Roubal Television film Married... with Children Reverend Hightower Episode: "A Bundy Thanksgiving" Murphy Brown Agent Scanlon Episode: "Hero Today, Gone Tomorrow" Mad About You Security Chief Episode: "The Birth: Part 2" Profiler Prison Director Episode: "Coronation" Baywatch Ben Frazier Episode: "The Big Blue" Walker, Texas Ranger Tom Jakes Episode: "Justice for All" NYPD Blue Deputy Warden Jim Cullen Episode: "Hit the Road, Clark" JAG Col. Klesko Episode: "Ambush" 7th Heaven Gene Carter –2002 Family Law Judge Lawrence Harrington Unknown episodes Modern Marvels Narrator 2 episodes The West Wing Agent Caswell Gone, but Not Forgotten Chester Shortridge Television film (Lifetime) –2008 Just Jordan Grant Cunningham Unknown episodes Hero Ships Narrator History Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place Burt Parker General Hospital Prof. Russell Stern –2014 Franklin & Bash Judge James Douglas Unknown episodes Castle Dr. Walter Parish Episode: "Bad Santa" Star Trek Continues Vulcan Vice Admiral Stomm Episode: "Embracing the Winds" NCIS Denny Rydell Episode: "Burden of Proof" Cherish the Day Pastor Gordon 2 episodes 2025High PotentialMarvin PriceEpisode: "The RAMs"

Feature films + List of acting performances in film Year Title Role Notes Source Alex Joseph and His Wives FBI Agent Vernon Wood Night Shift Donny 10 to Midnight Desk Sergeant Real Genius George The Blob Moss Woodley In the Army Now Sgt. Daniels The American President Agent Cooper Final Justice Charles Made in 1994, released to video in 1997 Halloween H20: 20 Years Later Detective Fitzsimmons Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood Thompson Rebound NCBA Board Member Hannah Montana: The Movie Mayor Star Trek Into Darkness Captain Abbott

Voice-over filmography Anime + List of voice performances in anime Year Title Role Notes Source Macross Plus Col. Millard Johnson Outlaw Star Narrator Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory Admiral Kowen Digimon Ogremon, Sagittarimon, Parrotmon Cowboy Bebop Jet Black as John Billingslea Rurouni Kenshin Gohei The Legend of Black Heaven Oji Tanaka as John Billingslea, grouped under English Voice Talent Rave Master Bear / Dearhound –2002 Cyborg 009 Geromino Jr. / Cyborg 005 Argento Soma Captain Michael Heartland Wolf's Rain Sea Walrus Gungrave Bear Walken Digimon Data Squad Leopardmon 2009MonsterMilan Kolasch –2015 Naruto: Shippuden Homura, Ay (Fourth Raikage) Tiger & Bunny Ben Jackson Hunter × Hunter Light Nostrade 2011 series Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower Orphe, Bull, Julio Sawasdee Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World Valga "Rom" Cromwell Last Hope (TV Series) Cain Ibrahim Hasan Also named Unit Pandora Last Hope (TV series)#Characters Godzilla Singular Point Additional Voice Netflix dub Super Crooks Eric Netflix dub

Animation + List of voice performances in animation Year Title Role Notes Source Megas XLR Grrkek The Planet Killer & Orange Scaley Thing 1 Stakes The Moon Mini-series special for Adventure Time The Forge Booger TIE special for Toonami

Direct-to-video and television films + List of voice performances in direct-to-video and television films Year Title Role Notes Source Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie Dee Jay As John Hammond Cowboy Bebop: The Movie Jet Black Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Barret Wallace Tiger & Bunny: The Rising Ben Jackson The Last: Naruto the Movie Fourth Raikage / Ay Nominated for Best Male Supporting Vocal Performance in an Anime Movie/Special, 4th Annual BTVA Anime Dub Awards 2015

Feature films + List of voice performances in feature films Year Title Role Notes Source War of the Worlds: Goliath Abraham Douglas Premiered in Malaysia in English; U.S. release in 2014 The Laws of the Universe Part 0 Goat-type Alien Limited theatrical release

Video games + List of voice performances in video games Year Title Role Notes Source Outlaws "Buckshot" Bill Morgan –2014 Dynasty Warriors games Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War "Swordsman" Marcus Snow 2006Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan WarAnthony "Sorcerer 1" Palmer Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Barret Wallace –2016 Naruto games Ay (Fourth Raikage) WildStar Judge Kain, Osun Male Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise Tyrone Sanders Fallout 76: Wastelanders Paige, Chase Terrier, Deathklaus Horizon Forbidden West Garokkah, Emboh Starfield Percival Walker Tekken 8 Leroy Smith Bleach: Rebirth of Souls Edrad Liones

References

Book sources

External links

Beau Billingslea at Crystal Acids Voice Actor Database