William Fichtner is an actor who has amassed a thick file of acting credits in a career that has now surpassed thirty years. One of the shows for which he is most known is Prison Break where he played Alexander Mahone for one episode short of 60. Here are all the facts you need to know.
William Fichtner – age, family, heritage
William Fichtner was born in November 1956. He was born on an Airforce Base in Long Island and was raised in Cheektowaga, near Buffalo all in the state of New York. William is the only son born to his parents William E. and Patricia A. Fichtner among four daughters namely Mary, Margaret, Pamela, and Patricia who are in various kinds of careers with one of them a teacher and the other a Major in the US Airforce. William has German, Dutch, English, and Irish ancestry. His surname is German and found in Germany, Austria, and German-speaking parts of Switzerland.
Fichtner is well-educated. He attended Maryvale High School in Cheektowaga, then he attended the State University of New York at Farmingdale for an associate degree, then the State University of New York at Brockport for the full degree in criminal justice. The latter college would later award him with an honorary doctorate degree.
William Fichtner is 62 years old.
William Fichtner – career
William Fichtner list of credits covers TV, feature films, video games, flirting on the edges of 90 credits. It began in 1987 as the world turns. The world doesn’t turn in that sense. People make shows and call it whatever they desire. “As The World Turns” is a soap opera that began in 1956 and ran on CBS up till 2010, ranking as one of the top three longest continuous drama on American airtime. In 1987 and till 1994, Fichtner played the role of Josh Snyder in eleven episodes.
While in this show, William appeared on ABC’s “The Man Called Hawk” and in NBC’s “Baywatch” for one or two episodes. After “As The World Turns”, he appeared in ABC’s “Grace Under Fire”, playing his part in eight episodes of the sitcom. In 2002, he was in “MDs” the medical thriller on ABC (ten episodes).
In 2005, he began playing one of the roles for which he is known today – he began playing Sheriff Tom Underla the lead character in the American science fiction drama called “Invasion”. It was a show about the invasion of a small Florida town by waterbased creatures who came with the hurricane. The show lasted for just one season of 22 episodes with William appearing in all of them. If the show had gone on for say five more seasons, no one can effectively measure how big Fichtner’s career would have been.
Fichtner’s biggest appearance on TV comes from Fox’s “Prison Break” in which he appeared in seasons two, three, and four as FBI Special Agent Mahone who specializes in hunting down escaped prisoners. He is one of the few clean FBI agents in the show. In fact, it is said that his character was specially created to counter the rising list of antagonists in the show. In all, Fichtner played this role in 59 episodes. He didn’t appear in the revival and fifth season because the writers just couldn’t smuggle his character arc into a show that largely took place in and around a prison in Yemen.
Other important show with William Fichtner as part of the cast include HBO’s comedy-drama “Entourage” in 2009 to 2011 (eight episodes), the French, German, Italian, and American collaborated show “Crossing Lines” between 2013 and 2014 (22 episodes), Fox’s musical drama “Empire” 2015-2016 (four episodes), as wheel-chair bound Adam Janikowski CBS’ “Mom” from 2016 to the time of writing this (52 episodes), a role he played so well that many wonder if he is indeed disabled; he isn’t disabled – he is that good. Etc.
On the film part of things, including but not limited to Contact, Armageddon, Go, Equilibrium, Black Hawk Down, The Perfect Storm, The Longest Yard, Crash, and The Dark Knight. Plus that TV film “Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden”. He has also lent his voice in more than half a dozen video games.
William Fichtner’s Relationships
William Fichtner is a married man. He got married to Betsy Aidem an actress who is mostly known for her roles on TV and on stage. One of her most popular stage acts is the oddly named “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress”. The marriage began in 1987 and produced one child. The marriage came to an end in 1996. Two years later, Fichtner remarried.
Fichtner’s second marriage was to Kymberly Kalil an actress whose last credit came twenty years ago in 1999, a year after she got married to Fichtner. The two are blessed with a child. The two are still married.
Net worth
William Fichtner has made money in his chosen career. After more than 80 credits, he would feel cursed not to have a tangible amount to show for it. He is worth eight million dollars. The actor is 6 feet 0½ inch ( or 1.84 m).
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