The TV Watercooler joins the soap community in mourning Billy Miller, who passed away this past Friday, September 15, at the age of 43, in Austin, Texas.
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and raised in Grand Prairie, Texas, Miller first appeared on daytime as Richie Novak on All My Children from 2007-2008. In 2008, the actor joined the cast of The Young and the Restless as legacy character Billy Abbott where he won three out of five Daytime Emmy Awards nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor and Outstanding Lead Actor.
The actor left the role in 2014 and then joined the cast of General Hospital as Jake Doe/Jason Morgan/Drew Caine and stayed with the soap until 2019. Miller was once again nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in 2018.
Outside of daytime soaps, Miller also appeared on Ringer, Suits, Ray Donovan, and Truth Be Told.
Michael Fairman TV first reported Miller’s passing in the early hours of September 17 – which would have been the actor’s 44th birthday. A rep confirmed that Miller had been struggling with manic depression.
Over the past day, a number of Miller’s co-stars and employers have taken to social media to pay tribute to the actor – you can read some of them over at Soaps.com – a particular highlight is from Elizabeth Hendrickson, which is available here.
On September 18, Miller’s manager Marnie Sparer shared a statement from Miller’s mother, Patricia Miller:
“I want to personally thank the many fans and personal friends for the overwhelming amount of love, prayers and condolences sent to me and my family on the devasting death of my beautiful son BJ – Billy Miller.
He fought a long hard valiant battle with bipolar depression for years. He did everything he could to control the disease.
He loved his family, his friends and his fans, but in the end, the disease won the fight, and he surrendered his life…”
For those inclined, donations in Miller’s name can be made to the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children at https://scottishriteforchildren.org/, which is the hospital where the actor spent five years of his childhood.
Please check in on your loved ones… Many of us aren’t always able to pull ourselves out of the darkness. No matter how hard we try.
