Billy Bryan — Movies & TV Shows

Biography

William "Billy" Bryan was born in Newport News, Virginia to an opera singing artist/engineer father who taught him to draw and sing, and a choir-directing, ball-of-fire preacher’s-daughter mother who taught him to pattern, to sew, and to smile. Inspired by Jim Henson and the Muppets, Billy started building and performing puppet shows while in High School. In 1976, after graduating from Syracuse University with a BFA in Metalsmithing, Billy hitchhiked and hopped freights across the country to pursue his show biz dreams in Los Angeles. Within two weeks of arriving in Hollywood, he was building a banana costume for Elton John’s tour, and he’s been working steadily ever since. Five years in the NBC Wardrobe Department prepared him for the hectic pace of the movie effects industry. In 1981, he left NBC and started working for a short time in Sid and Marty Krofft’s shop, where he met Mark Siegel, who recommended him to design and construct the stillsuits for Dune. Soon thereafter, he was hired to fabricate and portray the Staypuft Marshmallow Man in Ghostbusters at Richard Edlund’s Boss Films. At Boss Films, Billy befriended Randy Cook and Steve Johnson, who each would eventually employ …