Born in Long Island, New York, but having German, Irish, and English descent, William Fichtner is an American actor. After completing high school, he studied criminal justice in college before moving to New York City to focus on acting. By 1988, Fichtner landed his first acting job, in the daytime drama, As The World Turns. Five years later, he landed a recurring role on the series Grace Under Fire and started working on feature films such as Malcom X (1992), Quiz Show (1994), Strange Days (1995) and Heat (1995). In 1997, he played Kent, the blind astronomer in Contact (1997). Performances in films like Armageddon (1998), Go (1999) and The Perfect Storm (2000) increased his popularity. After a small role in the blockbuster Pearl Harbor (2001), he won accolades for his portrayal of a gay detective in the comedy, What`s the Worst That Could Happen?, later that year.

Fichtner then appeared in Ridley Scott`s critically acclaimed military drama, Black Hawk Down (2001). He then moved to the small screen for his role as in the medical drama MDs (2002). Fichtner continued to rack up movie credits by appearing in the film Equilibrium (2002). In 2004, he appeared in Nine Lives, a critically acclaimed drama. In 2005, Fichtner joined the team of the Academy Award-winning film Crash (2004). He continued to enjoy television success in the series Prison Break (2006-2007). Fichtner played Phil Yagoda on hit TV series, Entourage (2004-2011). He then took on a role playing a bank manager in Gotham City for Christopher Nolan`s The Dark Night (2008 ). He also starred in movies like Date Night (2010), The Big Bang (2011) and Drive Angry (2011).

No stranger to the stage, Fichtner starred in a number of off-Broadway productions including, The Years, Raft Of Medusa, and Clothes for a Summer Hotel. Back on the big screen, he played a supporting role in Elysium (2013), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), American Wrestler: The Wizard (2016), Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) and The Neighbor (2017). On the Television front, Fichtner played the troubled profiler, Carl Hickman in the crime procedural, Crossing Lines (2013-2015), Jameson Henthrop on Empire (2015) and Adam on the CBS comedy, Mom (2013). In 2018 Fichtner acted alongside Chris Hemsworth, Elsa Pataky, Michael Shannon and William Fichtner in Nicolai Fuglsig`s action movie, 12 Strong. His other projects include Josie & Jack (2019) and Finding Steve McQueen (2019).