- Born
- Height5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
- Known for Daytime Emmy Award-winning "Take This Lollipop" and a ratings-winning role on CBS-TV's "Criminal Minds," Bill Oberst Jr. is an American actor of stage and screen whose real-life gentleness and interest in things spiritual are at odds with his often macabre screen persona. Ron Chaney, great-grandson of Lon Chaney, presented Oberst with the first Lon Chaney Award For Outstanding Achievement In Independent Horror Films in 2014.
Oberst's staged theatrical reading "Ray Bradbury's Pillar Of Fire" won an Ernest Kearney Platinum Award for its Los Angeles debut, and was named Best Solo Show Of Hollywood Fringe and Best LA Solo Show in the 2015 Best Of LA Theater Roundup at Bitter-Lemons. In 2017 "Ray Bradbury's Pillar Of Fire" won a United Solo Theatre Festival Award for its Off-Broadway debut on Theatre Row in New York City. Oberst later played Ray Bradbury on tour and Off-Broadway in "Ray Bradbury Live! (forever)", a solo portrayal authorized by Ray Bradbury's estate and publisher. His touring solo stage show about Satan, "Adversary," debuted in 2024.
The premiere of the horror-themed episode of CBS-TV's "Criminal Minds" which introduced Oberst's deformed killer character (also guest-starring Adrienne Barbeau and Tobin Bell) was the evening's most-watched TV program. CBS included Oberst's character in their list of "Criminal Minds' 14 Most Notorious Serial Killers." The character remains one of only a handful of uncaptured "Criminal Minds" killers.
He is perhaps most widely-known internationally as the face of director Jason Zada's "Take This Lollipop," awarded a Daytime Emmy Award by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in the category of New Approaches-Daytime Entertainment. Oberst has been seen by over 100 million viewers worldwide as an online stalker in the interactive application for Facebook users.
His individual award wins include a 2017 Horror Icon Award at The Optical Theatre Festival in Italy, a 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award at Killuride Film Festival, a 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award at iHolly International Film Festival, a 2017 Best Actor Award at Dark Veins Horror Film Festival, a 2016 Eastman Award for Best Actor at Stock Shock Film Festival, a 2014 Best Actor Award at the Los Angeles Movie Awards, a 2015 Best Actor Award at Chicago Horror Film Festival, a 2015 Best Actor Award at Ontario Fright Night Theatre Film Festival, a 2015 Best Actor Award at Biloxi Fear Fete Film Festival, a 2015 Best Actor Award at Dallas Twisted Tails Film Festival, a 2014 Best Actor Award at FANtastic Horror Film Festival, a 2014 Best Actor Award at Housecore Horror Film Festival, a 2014 Best Actor Award at Tucson Terrorfest, a 2014 Best Actor Award at Los Angeles ZedFest Film Festival, a 2013 Best Actor Award at Pollygrind Film Festival, a 2012 Best Actor Award at Shockfest Film Festival, a 2012 Golden Cobb Award for Best Rising B-Movie Actor, a 2012 Baddest Villain Award at ZedFest Film Festival, a 2013 Monstey Award for Great Historical Monster Moments, a 2016 Best Supporting Actor Award at FANtastic Horror Film Festival, a 2017 Best Actor Award at Italy's Optical Theatre Festival and a 2018 Best Actor Award at An Anti-Hero Production Genre Film Festival in Los Angeles, a 2023 Best Actor Award at FANTastic Horror Film festival, a 2024 Best Actor Award at Shawna Shea Film Festival and a 2024 Best Actor Award at Wreak Havoc Horror Film Festival
His shared awards include a 2013 International Critics Award at Deauville Film Festival in France, a 2014 Best Narrative Feature Award at The Los Angeles Movie Awards, a 2016 Director's Award at Boston Underground Film Festival, a 2013 Audience Award at Phoenix Film Festival, a 2013 Audience Award at New Orleans Film Festival, a 2013 Copper Wing Award at Phoenix Film Festival, a 2013 Best Feature Award at Unreal Film Festival, a 2013 Narrative Feature Award at Pollygrind Film Festival, a 2012 Shocker Award at LA Shockfest Film Festival, a 2012 Best Ensemble Acting Award at Sacramento Horror Film Festival a 2012 Best Ensemble Acting Award at Phoenix Film Festival, a 2021 Outstanding Achievement Award at L'age d'Or International Arthouse Film Festival, a 2021 Festival Award at Crown Wood International Film Festival, a 2020 Judges Award at Culture & Diversity Film Festival, and a 2022 Award of Prestige at the Vegas Movie Awards.- IMDb Mini Biography By: James Ellis
- Scarred face with piercing eyes
- Macabre, menacing characters with an undercurrent of melancholy
- On the set of the Criminal Minds episode Blood Relations (2014), Oberst stayed off the communications grid entirely; remaining in solitude, character and wardrobe whether shooting or not.
- Sara Karloff inscribed a photo of her father Boris Karloff to Oberst with the phrase "Bill, that's NOT a scary face!" after meeting the actor and finding him to be "just like my father; not at all scary up close.".
- The facial scarring that gives Bill his menacing look is largely a result of a childhood bicycle accident which necessitated reconstructive surgery.
- For his 2007 audition for the role of Adolf Eichmann in the World War II drama, The Glass House, Bill borrowed a reproduction Nazi SS uniform, jackboots and an antique German Iron Cross from a museum curator. As he walked from his car to the audition in downtown Los Angeles, he was spat on by passers-by and verbally assailed from passing cars for 3 blocks.
- Came to Sherman's March (2007) audition in full make-up and wearing an authentic uniform (including sword and pistol) borrowed from a Civil War reenactor.
- I asked an old preacher once how he got his call to the ministry. He said, 'Preaching came to me and I ran. But it caught me, so I preach.' I think acting is the same way. I always tell kids when I visit schools that I believe God gives us all a vocation, the thing we are put here on earth to do. The trick is to make your vocation your occupation, if you can.
- My sympathies have always been with the monster.
- Jesus is the most durable and resilient figure in history. Had he not existed, I doubt we would have had the guts to imagine him.
- My personal theory is that fear of death accounts for most of the real horror in the world; the cruelty, the coldness of heart, the emptiness of celebrity culture.
- An actor will end up with a bleeding heart if they're worth a damn. Being so many others leads one to the realization that there is no "other," only us in potentiality, for better or worse.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content