Billy Marshall Stoneking was born in Orlando, Florida, the second child of Charles and Florence Marshall. He was born William Randolph Marshall on 31 August 1947. His sister, Barbara, named him "Randolph" after her favorite movie actor, Randolph Scott, and his mother selected "William", after an old family friend, later aide de camp to President John F. Kennedy).
When his father retired in 1961, the family moved to northern California where he attended high school in Folsom and Rancho Cordova, California. He graduated from California State University, Sacramento in 1970, majoring in English, with minors in philosophy and education. And in 1972, he migrated to Australia.
The name "Stoneking" derives from his paternal great-grandfather, Reuben Stoneking (of Hundred, West Virginia, Wetzel County). Stoneking"s early years were spent growing up on military bases around the United States, including Randolph Field (Texas) and Fort Slocum (New York). "The bumper stickers said, "America, love it or leave it", so I left." In 1983, after more than a decade living in Australia, four years of which were spent living with tribal Aboriginal people 275 km west northwest of Alice Springs, Stoneking graduated from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in Sydney, specialising in screenwriting.
Teaching Screenplays In 1982 Stoneking entered the full-time screenwriting program of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.
Stoneking"s first films were made in the mid-1980s, including a chronicle of his work at Papunya Aboriginal Settlement, Desert Stories. He also edited some television scripts, including the American Film Institute award-winning drama series Stringer(American Broadcasting Company television).
This was followed by a script for Paramount Television"s Mission: Impossible, and the full-length stage play Sixteen Words for Water. Mentor, script editor, producer, and story consultant Stoneking is now a teacher of dramatic writing.
His "Drama of Screenwriting" workshop has been held in every capital city in Australia and New Zealand.
He was one of the script editors on the American Film Institute-nominated Australian feature, Chopper (2000). He has produced a number of small films, including Nosepeg"s Movie, Jelly"s Placenta. and Gayby Baby.
