Brooklyn born, Australian based entertainment producer William H. `Billy` May died this week at St. Vincent`s Hospital in Melbourne.
May was the co-creator of Walking With Dinosaurs, the $20 million production that brought 15 full-size dinosaurs to life.Billy May came from a large family of four brothers, two sisters and ten foster children. He overcame dyslexia and at age 12 was awarded a scholarship at Carnegie Hall for dance and then went on to the New York High School of Performing Arts.
As a teen he toured with Sony and Cher as well as The Osmonds and then at the age of 19 decided to move to Australia.
May discovered Samantha Sang and enlisted Barry Gibb to write a song for her. The song ‘Emotion’ was a massive global hit.
Close personal friend Harry Sandler described May as a “shooting star”. “Over the past two years we had been working on a new project and I will miss those calls with Billy - he was always so excited about a new twist or turn in the script - a new character or two - always thinking of some new way to get the point across. You will be missed my friend,” he wrote abut Billy’s passing.
May worked generously for charity. He supported TLC for Kids, The Lighthouse Foundation and the Royal Children’s Hospital as well as Think Pink, supporting women with breast cancer.
Billy died at 1.45am on Thursday, December 31 at St. Vincent’s Hospital.
