William Lambert Moseley (born November 11, 1951) is an American film actor and musician who has starred in a number of cult classic horror films, including Night of the Living Dead (1990), House of 1000 Corpses, Repo! The Genetic Opera and The Devil's Rejects. His first big role was in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 as Chop Top. On the HBO TV series Carnivàle, Moseley had a recurring role as camp cook Possum. He has also released records with guitarist Buckethead in the band Cornbugs, as well as featuring on the guitarist's solo work.
As the above film list will tell you, Moseley is most well-known for playing Ax-Crazy psychopaths in horror films, although his characters usually have a strong element of Black Comedy to them. This last, in particular, has endeared him to fans, who know that they can generally count on Moseley to be one of the most entertaining aspects of a film.
Not to be confused with English actor William Moseley.
Selected Filmography:
Film
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 - Chop Top
- The Blob (1988) - Soldier #2
- Pink Cadillac - Darrell
- The First Power - Bartender
- Night of the Living Dead (1990) - Johnnie
- White Fang - Luke
- Honey, I Blew Up the Kid - Federal Marshall
- Army of Darkness - Deadite Captain
- House of 1000 Corpses - Otis B. Driftwood
- The Devil's Rejects - Otis B. Driftwood
- Evil Bong - Bong World Patron
- Thr3e - Slater
- Grindhouse - Dr. Heinrich von Strasser (segment "Werewolf Women of the SS")
- Halloween (2007) - Zach 'Z-Man' Garrett
- Repo! The Genetic Opera - Luigi Largo
- The Alphabet Killer - Carl Tanner
- Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet - Graveyard Gus
- Dead Air (2009) - Logan
- The Devil's Carnival - The Magician
- Texas Chainsaw 3D - Drayton Sawyer
- Charlie's Farm - John Wilson
- Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival - The Magician
- Death House - Giger
- Boar - Bruce
- Crepitus - Crepitus
- 3 from Hell - Otis B. Driftwood
Television
- Freddy's Nightmares - Buzz
- Tour of Duty - Sgt. Jones
- Father Dowling Mysteries - Kane/Larry Webster
- Unsolved Mysteries - David Young
- The Practice - Jake Spooner
- ER - Charlie
- Carnivàle - Possum
- Days of Our Lives - Joel
- Holliston - Crazy Max
- Z Nation - General McCandles
- Slasher - Homeless Guy
Voice-Over
- Corpse Killer - Captain
- The Haunted World of El Superbeasto - Otis B. Driftwood
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) - Bernie
- Uncle Grandpa - Additional Voices
This actor's work provides examples of:
- Ax-Crazy: Most of his villainous roles tend to be this to varying degrees.
- Beauty Inversion: A downplayed example, but he's often been made to look uglier in roles than he actually is (most notably with Chop Top).
- Black Comedy: Many of the villains he's played over the years. Terrifying? You bet. Hilarious? Absolutely.
- Chewing the Scenery: Oh yes. And audiences love him for it.
- Creepy Blue Eyes: One of his best-known characteristics, most notably put to spectacular use as Otis B. Driftwood.
- Large Ham: Not always, but his most famous roles all contain a healthy dose of this.
- No Indoor Voice: He's easily one of the shoutiest guys in horror.
- Older Than They Look: Just by looking at him, you'd never know that the guy is in his seventies.
- Typecasting: And proudly so. Bill loves horror movies, and regards playing villains as ridiculously fun. He has played more heroic and normal characters, but it's clear that he really has the time of his life as an unhinged bad guy.
