Bill Denbrough

William "Bill" Denbrough is a fictional character created by Stephen King and the main protagonist of his 1986 novel It. The character is considered to be the leader of "The Losers Club" and initiates finding and killing Pennywise the Dancing Clown after his younger brother Georgie is killed by the clown. The character was first portrayed in the 1990 TV mini-series by Jonathan Brandis as a child, and by Richard Thomas as an adult. In the 2017 adaptation and its 2019 sequel, the character was portrayed by Jaeden Martell as a child and James McAvoy as an adult. Fictional character biography Bill Denbrough was born in 1946 (1947 in the 1990 TV mini-series and January 4, 1976, in the 2017 film). He is the son of Zack and Sharon Denbrough and the older brother of Georgie Denbrough and resides in Derry, Maine. Bill has a speech impediment, due to being hit by a car at the age of three, which leads to him being outcast. In late fall of 1957 (1959 in the TV mini-series; 1988 in the 2017 film), Bill is suffering from a cold, and he helps construct a paper boat for his younger brother Georgie to play with outside, despite the downpour of rain. Moments later, Georgie's arm is dismembered by Pennywise in a storm drain. After this incident, in the summer of 1958 (1960 in the 1990 TV mini-series; 1989 in the 2017 film), Bill and his friends Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier and Stanley Uris all have encounters with Pennywise. Their shared encounters with Pennywise lead them to Beverly Marsh, Ben Hanscom and Mike Hanlon, forming "The Losers Club." Along the way, the group members all have more individual encounters with Pennywise and local bully Henry Bowers—who later falls under the influence of Pennywise—until they decide to head to where they believe Pennywise to be hiding, on Neibolt Street, and believe they have killed the clown. However, they make an oath that, if Pennywise is not in fact dead, they will all return to Derry to defeat him. In his adult life, Bill has become a successful writer and married an actress, Audra Phillips. Bill has controlled his stutter and, due to the nature of It, cannot remember Derry, Georgie, or The Losers Club. After Pennywise kills a gay man named Adrian Mellon, Bill gets a phone call from Mike Hanlon, who has remained in Derry, asking him to come back and help kill Pennywise once and for all. Each member of The Losers Club returns to Derry except for Stanley, who commits suicide due to not being able to face his fears again.