His father was the local policeman for Elham and it was there that Bill spent his childhood - which included appearing in Raising a Riot in 1955, for which he was paid by Kenneth More himself. Soon after leaving school he decided to join the Parachute Regiment after seeing them drop into a local field on his way to school. After serving in the military for nearly a decade, Bill retired to Dorset and set up his own aviation company, obtaining a pilot's licence on the way. His first wife's premature death from cancer was a huge shock to him, but afterwards he met and married Jane Tranter, with whom he had a son. He continued to work in the aviation industry - which included some work for the local police force, as well as engaging in other work centered around his background. Bill worked with his son Richard on a D-Day documentary during March 2002, which was shot on location in Northern France. It proved to be the first time that father and son had been able to work together on a film project and the end result won an award at Canford School in Dorset. Afterwards Bill and and his son shared ideas whilst Richard was writing what would eventually become his feature film debut, Live for the Moment. In November 2003, however, Bill was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer which had spread to his liver and lungs; he was given a year to live. Sadly, after three failed chemotherapy treatments, Bill succumbed to the disease in May 2004, four months before Live for the Moment was released. The Internet Movie Database