Billie Neal, a TV and movie actress who studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, died Dec. 27, 1999, in Los Angeles, according to Variety. The cause of death was cancer. Ms. Neal was 44.
Born Gwendolyn Williams in Little Rock, she performed with the Steppenwolf Theater Co. in Chicago before finding work in such pictures as "Born on the Fourth of July," "Down by Thoughts," "Internal Affairs" and "Eve's Bayou." She also appeared TV's "Law & Order," "The Practice" and the BBC's "Signs & Wonders."
She is survived by her mother, Mildred Trimuel.
-- By Kenneth Jones