My Name Is Bill W. is a 1989 ABC Hallmark Hall of Fame made-for-television drama film directed by Daniel Petrie, starring James Woods, JoBeth Williams and James Garner. William G. Borchert, who wrote the film script for television, based it on the true story of William Griffith Wilson and Robert Holbrook Smith (the men respectively called "Bill W." and "Dr. Bob"), the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. James Woods won an Emmy for his portrayal of Wilson.
| My Name Is Bill W. | |
|---|---|
My Name Is Bill W. video cover
| |
| Genre | Drama |
| Written by | William G. Borchert |
| Directed by | Daniel Petrie |
| Starring | James Woods James Garner JoBeth Williams |
| Theme music composer | Laurence Rosenthal |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Peter K. Duchow James Garner |
| Producer | Daniel Petrie |
| Production location | Richmond, Virginia |
| Cinematography | Neil Roach |
| Editors | Paul Rubell John Wright |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Production companies | Warner Bros. Television Garner-Duchow Productions Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | April 30, 1989 (1989-04-30) |
The movie details the true story of stockbroker William Griffith Wilson, a World War I veteran whose drinking problem becomes a serious addiction and causes him to lose his fortune in the stock market collapse of 1929. Wilson's career and his domestic life are in tatters when he meets Robert Holbrook Smith, also struggling with a drinking problem. The duo founded a support group that became the nucleus for the society Alcoholics Anonymous.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| George Coe | Frank Shaw |
| James Garner | Robert Holbrook "Dr. Bob" Smith |
| Robert Harper | Jeremy Partlin |
| Joe Inscoe | Fred |
| Mark Joy | Guy Kolb |
| Gary Sinise | Ebby Thacher |
| Rick Warner | Bill Dotson |
| Fritz Weaver | Dr. Burnham |
| JoBeth Williams | Lois "Lo" Wilson |
| James Woods | William Griffith "Bill W." Wilson |
| Dalton Grey | Mike Davis stockbroker |
