BIOGRAPHY
WILLIAM OSTRANDER
William Ostrander plays school bully " Buddy Repperton" who is responsible for a many of the events where in the film lead to his gang being killed by the possessed car "Christine"
“I was hired for my first film a week after I arrived in Los Angeles in 1978. The film was called, “Sunnyside”, and it starred Joey Travolta, John’s brother, and for the first 3 weeks half the production crew thought I was Joey.  I took some time after that to study and performed theatre works by everyone from Shakespeare to Moliere to Neil Simon and Sam Shepherd.
I co-starred in a pilot (Irene) with the recently passed, Irene Cara, played a surfer in “Lou Grant” with Ed Asher, and co-starred in a silent comedy TV show for England’s Channel 4 TV. Frank Franzetta’s unique artwork led to a landmark animated film, “Fire and Ice”, directed by Ralph Bash, where I played two of the leads and voiced 5 characters. I then landed the role of “Raunchy Randy” along side of Debra Winger and Paul Winfield in “Mike’s Murder” playing an aspiring male stripper. (That was a bit embarrassing to show the parents.) Then off to the Philippines to play “Bandit” in a “Mad Max” type of film called, “Stryker”. That one sucked. Had a great time doing my own stunts though.
“Christine” came next. Apparently, I have a “mean and stupid looking face” because that’s how the character was described in the screenplay. I fucking LOVED playing Buddy Repperton. Humorously, I won an award for “Best Hair in Horror” for Buddy’s wavy locks.
I joined Alexandra Paul in France for a cameo in “Just the Way You Are”.
I filmed “Red Heat” alongside Linda Blair in Austria. I pushed her out of a car - and it had nothing to do with the story. Oops…. Good story. ”Buddy” lives on…
I was invited to play Marlon Brando’s character in a Broadway Stage production of “On the Waterfront” but the money fell through and the production was never mounted. I starred with Will Hare in a short film, “Coyote, USA” about eco-terrorism, based on the book “The Monkey Wrench Gang”.
I co-starred in a seven part mini-series, “North and South” where I played Forbes LaMotte next to Patrick Swayze and David Carradine and have a fight scene with John Stockwell from Christine. I played a recurring role on a TV series called “Knots Landing” which made me question what I was doing.
I wrote, produced and directed, “To the Point”, a comedic short film that was nominated for numerous awards in multiple film festivals. And I wrote, directed, produced, and starred in a radio comedy called “The Adventures of a Private Dick”.
I had growing pains and needed a course correction so I went to Africa and did volunteer conservation work to save the Black Rhino and Cheetah in Namibia. Amazing experience. After a year I came home with a wife and son. To keep up my health insurance I picked up a few co-starring roles in “Touched by an Angel”, “Michael Hayes” with David Caruso, and had a small role in “Mulholland Drive” starring your home grown Naomi Watts.
I raised a family, ranched and farmed, traveled around the globe (rode horses across Mongolia, motorcycles around Sri Lanka, climbed Kilimanjaro, and backpacked through the Umfolozi Game Reserve in South Africa, etc., etc.) and built a construction company that specialized in custom remodels of homes, primarily for people in the entertainment business.
I developed a film project for Michael Phillips (Raging Bull) and developed an ensemble TV series for CBS about a farm family in the mid-west.
I started two non-profits (Citizens Congress and the Citizens Congress Education Foundation) and lobbied in Washington D.C. to challenge our country’s obsession with money in politics. I ran for Congress and State Assembly, and wrote a bill still being debated in our Congress, to curb the outsized influence of special interest money in our elections. I also wrote legislation for publicly funded elections for my home town of San Luis Obispo.
Currently, besides my construction consulting business, I also serve as guest host and regular guest on the Dave Congalton Radio Show, a talk radio program that covers local and national issues and events.
After a lengthy hiatus I did a small film called, “Faery”. Presently, I have been hired to play Captain Whitaker, the lead in a new film about the paranormal called “Anomaly”. The author wrote that role for me 17 years ago after seeing me in “Christine”…”
Thank you for having me in Australia!
Written by William Ostrander