William Shockley
William Shockley has fashioned a notable career, portraying complex characters as an actor, adding experience as a director, producer and screenwriter.
In 2021, Shockley founded Redbud Studios with partners Allen Gilmer and Scott Dolezal. Based in Austin, TX, Redbud Studios is a film production and distribution company. Redbud's inaugural film, Frank & Penelope, was filmed in Austin and Terlingua, TX, and is set for release in Summer 2022. Shockley, Allen Gilmer, Riki Rushing and Tom Brady serve as Executive Producers. Shockley will also be seen in Death in Texas, starring Bruce Dern, Stephen Lang and Ronnie Gene Blevins. He stars in Martingale with Kelly Sullivan. Shockley also appears in County Line: All In, starring Tom Wopat.
Shockley made his directorial debut with the short film, Common Threads, starring Nancy Stafford, a period piece set in Tucson, Arizona, 1887. Common Threads won 8 Film Festival Awards, including 'Best Short Film - Family' at the 2017 'IFS Film Festival' in Los Angeles. At the 2017 'Best Shorts Awards Competition' in La Jolla, CA, Common Threads won 6 Awards of Excellence, including Short Film, Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Family Programming and Ensemble Cast. And at the 2017 Lady's First International Film Festival in Cork, Ireland, Common Threads won Best Production Design.
In 1986, while doing theatre in Dallas, Texas, Shockley had his first audition, and was cast by Paul Verhoeven in Robocop. His next decision was easy. Sell everything and move to Los Angeles.
After just a few months of living in LA, Shockley landed a slew of episodic and movie-of-the-week roles. He was cast in the feature films Howling: Rebirth with Phil Davis, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane with Andrew Dice Clay, Switch with Ellen Barkin, and The Joyriders with Martin Landau and Kris Kristofferson. Paul Verhoeven cast Shockley again in the cult classic, Showgirls.
Shockley has also worked in numerous television projects. He won over audiences for six years as 'Hank Lawson', the antihero saloon-keeper in CBS' highly regarded drama, "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman", starring Jane Seymour. As evidence to his character's popularity, Shockley was given a development deal by CBS and starred in his own series, a Dr. Quinn spin-off series, "California". Shockley also starred opposite Whoopi Goldberg in the CBS sitcom, "Bagdad Cafe", and opposite Teri Garr in the critically acclaimed ABC series, "Good & Evil ".
After reading countless scripts as an actor, Shockley began focusing on script-writing. He has co-written 10 feature scripts that have been produced, and has also produced 10 films.
Aside from acting, Shockley does extensive voice over work in television and radio advertising. He has voiced campaigns for Enterprise, Sony, Sprint, Bausch & Lomb, AT&T, Toyota, Siemens, Cisco Systems, Isuzu, Fruit of the Loom and XM Satellite Radio, to name a few.
In the world of on air radio, Shockley hosted 52 weeks of "The Road", a syndicated country music program airing in 200 cities. The program featured live country music concert tracks mixed with interviews with the artists. "The Road" was nominated by Billboard Magazine as Best Syndicated Radio Program.