Wil Willis is a former U.S. Army Ranger and Air Force para-rescue, actor and television host, whose fame was due to his American television series “Forged in Fire”, which aired on the History Channel .
Just a simple reminder that the article is created and owned solely by marriedbiography.org. The article cannot be republished in other pages or documents. Copyright is DMCA protected. Any copies found will be flagged.
Original source: https://marriedbiography.org/wil-willis-wiki-wife-net-worth-height-brother-biography/
Early life and family
Wil Willis was born on February 14, 1975 in Portugal and grew up in a military family with his four other siblings. His father, Jakob Willis, was a veteran of the United States Air Force and, due to his father’s profession, moving to a different military base every couple of years while growing up was a normal thing. When he was two, the family returned to the United States and lived in Texas, moved again when he was five to Florida, and after three years settled permanently in California. His father finally retired from military service in 1991.
Little is known about his family.
He graduated from a local high school in North Carolina and followed in his father’s footsteps by pursuing a military career instead of enrolling in college. He received his training at the Rangers Advanced Individual Training and Indoctrination Program and the Basic Airborne School.
Career
Military career
In October 1993, he joined the 3rd 75 Ranger Battalione U.S. Army Ranger Regiment, and was on active duty for approximately six years until 1998. He then joined the U.S. Air Force Pararescue and trained to become a Pararescue Officer, helping to provide care medical during combat, as well as on recovery missions.
He has also participated in several humanitarian missions and provided support for NASA astronaut landing recovery missions. He received a Sikorsky Rescue Award in 2001 and was promoted to Instructor for Weapons, Tactics and Air Operations. He served in the United States Air Force for approximately ten years, and before retiring completely from military service, spent another full year as an Air Force Reservist in 308e Rescue Squadron.
TV career
First step
To prepare for an acting career, he enrolled at the New York Film Academy to study acting and writing. After graduating, he got minor roles in films such as “Beerfest” in 2006 and “In the Valley of Elah” with Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron in 2007.
When TV networks created reality shows with military concepts, producers decided to hire military veterans to make the show more authentic, instead of hiring actors to do it, giving credit on reality TV. Due to Wil’s extensive experience in the military and his general physical appearance, he was chosen to appear in the TV show “Special Ops Mission”, which premiered in August 2009. He would perform missions of special ops in a simulated war game scenario against opponents. forces. It was similar to the Mission Impossible series, in which Wil would be given a solo mission to be completed by a few United States Marine Corps Master Sergeants. He would be the one who would decide on all possible means to carry out the mission according to military rules.
The show ran for one season, with positive reviews for its authenticity, and originally aired on the American Heroes Channel.
more success
Wil was offered a job by the Military Channel in 2011, with the TV show “Triggers: Weapons That Changed the World.” This time, along with master gunsmith Mike Tristano, he would showcase and explore legendary weapons and explosives that have been used in different eras. Again, Wil brought some realism to the show, given that he was a former weapons and training program instructor in the US Air Force. It premiered in November 2011 and ran for two seasons, then was picked up and renamed by American Heroes Channel in 2014.
It was also broadcast on the British channel Quest.
In 2015, he got his biggest break with the television competition show “Forged in Fire”, which aired on the History Channel. He is the host of the show in which world-class blacksmiths would compete to forge bladed materials and thus recreate iconic weapons, as judged by experts in the history of weapons and warfare. The show is in its seventh season with 158 episodes and has become so popular that some seasons have aired over 30 episodes, a far cry from its first season with only 10 episodes. Due to its success, a spin-off series was commissioned by History Channel titled “Forged in Fire: Knife or Death” in 2018.
In June 2020, another spin-off series premiered, and Wil was also tapped to host the show “Forged in Fire: Beat the Judges”, in which former “Forged in Fire” champions were called back to challenge the judges. residents. .
Private life
Wil married longtime girlfriend Krystle Amina in October 2017 at the popular 1909 wedding venue in Topanga, Calif., after proposing to her in February of that year at the Empire State Building. They spent their honeymoon at a Hawaiian resort. His wife is a professional illustrator and designer. They have a son they named Flash Orion Willis, born March 7, 2020.
Wil has two sons from a previous relationship, Jacob and Caleb, who were both present at the wedding; there is no information about the mother of the children. Both Wil and Krystle are quite private and rarely talk about their personal lives. If Wil’s Instagram posts are to be believed, his children seemed to have a good relationship with their mother-in-law.
Advocacy/Charity
Wil is an active supporter of the ReGroup Ranches Foundation and even promoted a video about them. This foundation helps approximately 20,000 veterans to reintegrate into civilian life after serving the country. He also made a documentary, “The Transition Project”, in which he traveled the country on a motorcycle for 15 days, to help raise awareness of the challenges that military veterans face when leaving the military.
Interesting facts
- Wil is affectionately referred to by his fans as the Human Swiss Army Knife, for his skill and vast experience in handling multiple weapons including guns, knives, and explosives.
- He keeps a personal arsenal at home, such as an SR-25 semi-automatic rifle, a Beretta M9 pistol, and bladed weapons he forged, including a kukri folding tactical knife.
- He is active on his social media accounts including Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Most of his publications came from his personal travels with his family and the promotion of his work.
- Wil is the proud owner of two dogs, Luxy and Bambam.
Appearance
He is 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) tall, weighs 80 kg (176 lb) and has an athletic build. He is Caucasian with black hair and black eyes.
Net value
Authoritative sources have estimated his net worth at over $1 million, as of June 2020.
