NYE, Bill 1955–

PERSONAL

Full name, William S. Nye; born November 27, 1955, in Washington, DC; son of Ned Nye. Education: Cornell University, degree in mechanical engineering, 1977. Religion: Jewish.

Addresses: Agent—William Morris Agency, 151 El Camino Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Career: Actor, writer, producer, and consultant. Featured in the "Universe of Energy" pavilion at Disney's EPCOT Center, Orlando, FL; answered science–related questions on radio and television as Bill Nye, the Science Guy. Previously worked as an engineer for Boeing and appeared in several training films for the company; was issued a patent for a collapsible, water–filled magnifying glass.

Awards, Honors: Daytime Emmy Award, outstanding performer in a children's series, 1998, outstanding children's series (with others), 1999, 2000, outstanding writing in a children's series (with others), 2000, Daytime Emmy Award nominations, outstanding writing in a children's series (with others), 1999, outstanding performer in a children's series, 1999, 2000, all for Bill Nye, the Science Guy.

CREDITS

Film Appearances:

Himself, Ellen's Energy Adventure, 1996.

Film Work:

Science consultant, Flubber (also known as Disney's "Flubber: The Absent Minded Professor"), Buena Vista, 1997.

Television Appearances; Series:

Various, Almost Live!, 1984.

The Science Guy (live–action bumpers), Back to the Future, CBS, 1991.

Host, Bill Nye, the Science Guy, syndicated, 1993–94, then PBS, 1994–2000.

Technical expert, BattleBots (also known as Comedy Central's "BattleBots"), Comedy Central, 2000.

Host, The Eyes of Nye, 2005.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Science teacher, Principal Takes a Holiday, ABC, 1998.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Walt Disney World's Very Merry Christmas Parade, 1993.

Walt Disney World's Happy Easter Parade, 1994.

The Making of EPCOT's Innoventions, The Disney Channel, 1994.

Earth Day at Walt Disney World, The Disney Channel, 1996.

Narrator, Astronauts (documentary), PBS, 1997.

Host, Absent Minded Inventions and the Search for Flubber with Bill Nye, the Science Guy, ABC, 1997.

Narrator, Astronauts, 1997.

VH1 Big in '03, 2003.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Himself, MMC, 1989.

Guest, Late Night with David Letterman, 1992.

Himself, "Boo!," Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Cartoon Network, 1996.

Himself, "Sharing," Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, PBS, 1997.

Mr. Stone, "Guilt," Get Real, Fox, 2000.

Himself, Win Ben Stein's Money, Comedy Central, 2001.

Also appeared in "The Science of Sex and Attraction," Turn Ben Stein On, Comedy Central.

Television Work; Series:

Technical advisor, Back to the Future, CBS, 1991.

Producer, Bill Nye, the Science Guy, syndicated, 1993–94, then PBS, 1994–2000.

Science producer, Bill Nye, the Science Guy, PBS, 1999–2000.

Television Work; Movies:

Scientific consultant, Principal Takes a Holiday, ABC, 1998.

RECORDINGS

Video Tapes:

Appeared in Fabulous Wetlands, Washington State Department of Ecology.

WRITINGS

Television Series:

Almost Live!, c. 1984–89.

Bill Nye, the Science Guy, syndicated, 1993–94, then PBS, 1994–2000.

Television Specials:

Absent Minded Inventions and the Search for Flubber with Bill Nye, the Science Guy, ABC, 1997.

Nonfiction:

Big Blue Ocean, Disney Press, 1999.

Also wrote Bill Nye, the Science Guy's Big Blast of Science, Addison–Wesley; Bill Nye, the Science Guy's Please Consider the Following, Disney Press.

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals:

St. Petersburg Times, October 11, 1999.

Bill Nye
1955-

Television Personality

Education and Entertainment

Bill Nye the Science Guy was one of Vice President Al Gore's favorite TV shows. The zany half-hour program aired on Public Broadcasting System (PBS) channels around the nation and, though it was aimed at fourth graders, it appealed to people of all ages. In a format replete with "cool" music, stunts, and flashy graphics, Bill Nye the Science Guy took one important scientific concept with each episode and used it as the learning objective for that show. Interviews with "way cool" scientists and bizarre demonstrations of how science is applied in everyday life were hallmarks of the Emmy-Award winning program.

Beginnings

Bill Nye was raised in Washington, D.C., and studied mechanical engineering under Carl Sagan at Cornell University. After beginning his engineering career at Boeing Corporation in Seattle, Washington, Nye began moonlighting as a stand-up comic after friends dared him to enter a Steve Martin look-alike contest. He premiered the Science Guy as a regular on Almost Lively a local comedy-variety television show. He and several Seattle producers convinced the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy to fund a pilot which so impressed Disney executives, they offered to jointly produce the show with PBS and the NSF. In 1993 the premiere installment of the show aired to rave reviews.

A Different Approach

Michael Eisner, chairman of Disney, said Nye "makes you understand very sophisticated concepts. I learn all those things I probably should have learned in high school." Focusing on one concept each show, Nye provided real life examples to show children how science touches their lives. For example, in one episode, he stripped to his shorts in a meat locker to show that "temperature doesn't cause colds, germs do." In another, he illustrated the scale of the solar system by using a soccer field and high-speed photography of driving 423 miles away. Providing experiments that children could try at home was another popular facet of his show. Children also liked the fast pace and unpredictability of the program.

Public Response

Hailed by many educators as an example of ways that teaching could be done to hold the attention of children and make it fun, the show was sometimes criticized for presenting an unrealistic picture of the hard work a successful career in science took. Nye, nonetheless took the concept into other forms of media through the publication of books with accessible language such as Bill Nye the Science Guy's Big Blast of Science (1993) and Bill Nye the Science Guy's Big Blue Ocean (1999), CDRO M games involving earth science with a meteor headed for Earth, and exhibits at Disney's Epcot Center. Understandable and engaging, Bill Nye made science come alive for children across the country.

Sources:

Peter Carlin, "Force of Nature," People (21 October 1996): 69.

Current Biography Yearbook 1998 (New York: H.W. Wilson, 1998), p. 433-435.