James William Anderson III was born and lived his whole life in the US and he got famous by being a singer in the genre of country music. He had also appeared as a TV personality.

Early life:

Bill spent his early years in Griffin in Georgia and Decatur too, although he was born on November 1, 1927 in Columbia.

He decided to study journalism since he always had a a got sense of writing. University of Georgia had him not only as a student, but also as a radio DJ. This was great for him since he could share his songs to the audience.

Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication was more than happy to give him a degree in journalism after all of the hard work he had put in it. He was a part of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity too, but this was something that he was not that proud of.

He was lucky to find a job in Atlanta Constitution very fast after his graduation. There were many graduates without a job in this period.

However, he always knew that he would be the happiest if he could live from the writing he loved to do so he started to pursue this career at the age of nineteen.

He had a job in Georgia back them and he actually got the chance to get his song “City Lights” recorded by Ray Price. On his surprise, the song went viral on the country charts and he moved to Nashville to get a deal with Decca Records.

Career development:

He first started out his country career by recording songs for a small label, but the songs have never seen success and he was a big discouraged by this.

His first big hit was „That’s What It’s Like to Be Lonesone” and he made big money of it. When he realized that he is on the right path, he started to make much more songs such as: “Mama Sang a Song” that became his best hit and was made in 1962, “8 X 10” (from 1963). These songs were some of his best songs in the whole career he had for the next decades of hard work.

In 1965, he got closer to the audience by being on a game show To Tell The Truth and he was identified by questions. He got very close to the audience by being such a relaxed and funny person who made jokes all of the time.

In 1978, he made a hit called “I Can’t Wait Any Longer” and them he decided to leave his career in country music and relax a bit.

He was also called “whispering Bill” because he is known to whisper in his songs. It distinguished him from other artists.

He has been nominated for various skills he has such as songwriting, singing, being a part of the best duet.

The biggest award he ever received was actually the one that he got by Country Music Hall of Fame.  All known celebs received this award.

He also had a career as a songwiter and wrote for Ray Price, Connies Smith. Mark Wills and George Jones. He had spent his time making these hits which ended up topping the charts.

Bill is a person of many interests and therefore he made a network game show and later even a soap opera called One Life to Live. He enjoyed being an entertainer more than anything and this is why he was good at any job where he encountered with the audience.

He was not only a host, but also co-produced game shows and a TNN show You Can Be a Star.

Becoming a really famous TV person, he was a guest on other’s shows oftenly: The Tonight Show, The Today Show, Hee Haw and similar.

Nowadays, he had writen an autobiography called Whisperin’ Bill in 1989.

He was a part of Grand Ole Opry and performed often in that same surrounding.

There is over 400 different songs that he had written or co-written for somebody else and therefore there is too much to mention.

In 2004, he made his last official work by making a music video”Whiskey Lullaby”.

Now, he is having a peaceful life at the age of 80.

Personal life:

He didn’t have much luck in marriage and had two wives: Bette Anderson whom he married in 1959 and got divorced in 1969. Later, he married Becky Anderson whom he decided to leave in 1997.

He had been charged with domestic assault and his girlfriends often claimed that he was abusive. These scandals made an impact on his career and many people think that this is the reason why he decided to go quiet and only co-write in his nowadays  life. 

Quick summary

Full name:  James William Anderson III

Date of birth: November 1, 1937

Birthplace: Columbia, South Carolina

Age: 80

Profession: singer, TV person

Height: NA

Weight: NA

Net Worth: $6 million