Bill Ragsdale was born and raised in El Dorado. He graduated from El Dorado High School in 1979 and entered Hendrix that fall. He graduated in 1983 with a B.A. in Humanities and went on to complete the Acting Curriculum at The Drama Studio London's American Program in Berkeley, Calif.
Following graduation he starred as Charley Brewster in the Columbia Pictures’ Fright Night. Later that same year he made his Broadway debut as Eugene Jerome in Neil Simon’s Biloxi Blues. He went on to revive both characters in the respective sequels.
Other film credits include Smooth Talk with Laura Dern, Mannequin II, and The Reaping.
He returned to Broadway in 1996 in Stephen Sondheim’s play Getting Away with Murder.
Other New York credits include Briar Patch at Ensemble Studio Theater, Blind Spot at the Westbank and Step Lively! at the WestBeth Theater. His numerous regional theater credits include Berkeley Rep, The Old Globe (San Diego), Pacific Theater Ensemble (Los Angeles) California Conservatory Theater (San Leandro, Calif.), Arkansas Rep (Little Rock), and Southern Rep (New Orleans).
His television credits include Herman’s Head, Brother’s Keeper, Grosse Point, and American Pie as a series regular and recurring roles on Ellen, Judging Amy, and Less than Perfect. He was a presenter at the 1991 Emmy Awards. He is currently recurring on the FX Network drama Justified.
His acting awards and honors include the National Society of Arts and Letters Drama Competition, San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle Award, Drama-Logue Award, Carbonell Award and a People Choice Award nomination.
Ragsdale lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three children.