William Fichtner's Real Name: William Edward Fichtner

Quick answer: William Fichtner's real name is William Edward Fichtner. He is an American actor, born November 27, 1956, in East Meadow, New York, later known for films including Armageddon.

Real name and early life

He is known professionally as William Fichtner. Because Encyclopedia.com and TV Insider independently record the fuller form William Edward Fichtner, that form is used in the title. Both date the birth to November 27, 1956. Encyclopedia.com places it in East Meadow, Long Island, New York; TV Insider gives the birthplace as East Meadow, New York. This page records both the Long Island wording and the shorter New York wording. Encyclopedia.com also lists Bill Fichtner as a name form, says he studied criminal justice at the State University of New York at Brockport, and says he also attended the State University of New York at Farmingdale.

Career highlights

Encyclopedia.com says he played Josh Snyder/Rod Landry on As the World Turns from 1987 to 1993, and had a recurring role as Ryan Sparks on Grace Under Fire from 1993 to 1995. TV Insider independently says he started out on the CBS soap As the World Turns in 1987, and later had a recurring role in that ABC sitcom as Ryan Sparks, the love interest of Brett Butler's Grace, dating the sitcom role to 1994–1995. This page records Encyclopedia.com's 1993–1995 span for Grace Under Fire and TV Insider's 1994–1995 span rather than treating them as the same dates.

Encyclopedia.com lists film credits including Roger Van Zant in Heat (1995), Kent in Contact (1997), Colonel William Sharp, the Shuttle Freedom pilot, in Armageddon (1998), Burke in Go (1999), David "Sully" Sullivan in The Perfect Storm (2000), and Delta Sergeant First Class Jeff Sanderson in Black Hawk Down (2001). TV Insider independently lists Heat, Contact, Armageddon, and Go among his film credits, and also names later work including Flanagan in Crash (2004), Special Agent Alexander Mahone on Prison Break (dated to 2005 in its credits list), General Adams in Independence Day: Resurgence (2016), and a series credit on Mom (2013). Encyclopedia.com's entry, which stops with mid-2000s credits, does not list Prison Break.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up William Fichtner, William Edward Fichtner, or Bill Fichtner are looking for the same American actor. Independent sources support the fuller form used in the title.