Early Life, Family and Education
Billingsley was born in New York, New York. His father, Alwin Michaelsen, is a financial consultant who graduated from Princeton in 1954, and his mother, Gail Billingsley was once Alwin's secretary. Gail is the niece of Stork Club owner Sherman Billingsley. Gail's cousin, Glenn Billingsley, was briefly married to actress Barbara Billingsley (1915–2010); she continued to use his last name for her stage name. Gail was the one who initially took the children around to auditions. All five of the children in the family had acting careers when they were young. The oldest of Billingsley's siblings, Dina and Win, had the briefest acting careers working mostly in commercials with brief guest spots on television shows. Dina and her current husband live in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Win is now an attorney in Istanbul, Turkey. Billingsley's older sister Melissa Michaelsen was probably best known for her role as Maxx Davis in the 1980 television show Me and Maxx. Slightly older than Peter is brother Neil Billingsley who began playing Danny Walton on the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow in 1975 and had numerous roles in commercials and guest shots on TV series. Following his acting career, Neil entered the world of finance and works in New York City.
Billingsley received his early childhood education from a combination of tutors (including child actor tutor Wesley Staples), public schools and private institutions (including the Professional Children's School in New York City), Phoenix Country Day School in Paradise Valley, AZ, and eventually passed his California High School Proficiency Exam at the age of fourteen. He seems to have also attended some public secondary schools following the GED including Arcadia High School in Phoenix. In the late 1980s, Billingsley took a brief break from show business to attend Phoenix College.
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