Benny Wills

Born in Cedars Sinai Hospital on 7 November 1983. Attended Sherman Oaks Elementary. After the '94 earthquake, the Wills family moved to Ferndale, Maryland, where Benny went to school from 5th grade to 9th grade. While there he became a good tapper and appeared in the musical "Crazy for You" in Annapolis, at the age of 12. He was a talented baseball player, starting in the Sherman Oaks Little League - where one of his teams was sponsored by Burt Reynolds and "Evening Shade" - and continuing in Maryland. He also played competitive soccer, taught himself to juggle, and became a baseball-trivia maniac. In high school in California, he had to make a decision: return to acting, or concentrate on sports, particularly baseball. He chose acting. He has won several scholarships & awards for his acting, and has attended training programs run by The Second City, the Steppenwolf Theater School, and Shakespeare & Company, from Massachusetts. In May 2005 he received the "Book Award" by the SFSU theater faculty for "Outstanding Achievement in Acting" at San Francisco State University, given to one theater student a year. He is also the recipient of the Dr. Samuel & Betty Elkind theater award for 2005-06 at SFSU. He completed filming an independent feature in September 2005, in a supporting role (Deputy Parks), called "Valley of the Heart's Delight," starring Pete Postelthwaite, Diana Scarwid, Gabriel Mann and Bruce McGill, directed by Tim Boxell, and produced by Scott Rosenfelt. Its release date is 2006. It's a period drama, written by Miles Murphy, set in 1933 San Jose.