Billy Hayes has been writing, speaking, acting, and directing since the best-selling book he wrote about his experience of survival and escape from a Turkish prison, "Midnight Express", was made into an Academy Award-winning film in 1978. His other books include "The Midnight Express Letters", and the sequel, "Midnight Return".Locked Up Abroad, the National Geographic series, shared Hayes' story in 2010 with a new worldwide audience, and in 2013 Peter Schaufuss presented his powerful ballet version of Midnight Express at the London Coliseum, reaching yet another audience. Hayes is currently touring his one-man show, Riding the Midnight Express, which premiered at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Hayes has acted extensively in film, theater, and television, and is a member of the Actors' Studio West Playwright/Director Unit. He's especially proud of the Best Actor Award (L.A. Weekly) for his 2006 performance in the Samuel Beckett tribute, Shuffle, Shuffle, Step. He directed both the play and feature film (starring Brian Austin Green) versions of the critically acclaimed and award-winning Cock & Bull Story. Other directing credits include the award-winning William Inge play The Last Pad, produced by Amnesty International; The Cage, at NYC's Neighborhood Group Theater; and the L.A. Production of the Year (L.A. Weekly), Washington Square Moves, for which the NAACP honored Hayes with a Best Director nomination.As an artist member of Inside Out, Hayes used theater skills therapeutically with both at-risk youth and disturbed, incarcerated patients in a hospital setting. He has also shared the lessons of his life experience mentoring homeless youths at the L.A. Free Clinic, and in extensive speaking engagements across North America. Hayes is devoted to his daily yoga practice, and to his wife, Wendy.For more information, including video clips, go to www.billyhayes.com.