Billy Crudup is an American actor of film and stage. Billy Crudup is well known for his role as guitarist Russell Hammond in Almost Famous. He also starred in the 2007 romantic comedy film Dedication. In 2009, Billy appeared as Doctor Manhattan in the film Watchmen and as J. Edgar Hoover in the film Public Enemies.

Crudup is the grandson of Billy Gaither, a well-known Florida trial lawyer. His parents, divorced during his childhood, and later remarried, before divorcing a second time. Crudup has two brothers Tommy, an executive producer, and Brooks. Billy Crudup graduated from Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1986.

He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received an undergraduate degree, and he continued his passion for acting. Billy Crudup was a member of the Beta Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon. Billy then studied at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in 1994.