William James Dafoe was born on July 22, 1955, in Appleton, Wisconsin. One of eight children of Muriel Isabel (née Sprissler) (Novem– September 14, 2012) and Dr.
William Alfred Dafoe (J– November 21, 2014), he recalled in 2009: 'My five sisters raised me because my father was a surgeon, my mother was a nurse and they worked together, so I didn't see either of them much.' His brother, Donald Dafoe, is a transplant surgeon and researcher.
