Bill Lancaster was born on September 30, 1946, in Sheridan, Grant County, Arkansas.
He attended Arkansas A&M in Monticello on a baseball scholarship. After college, he worked for the Pine Bluff Commercial as a sportswriter and sports editor. Later Lancaster became the sports editor for the Northwest Arkansas Times. He then began working for the Arkansas Gazette, where he covered south Arkansas news.
Lancaster transitioned to politics when he aided in Ray Thornton's campaign for US Senate. He served as the information director for the Arkansas House of Representatives and then became the Arkansas Senate's first chief of staff, a position he held for twenty-five years. Governor Mike Beebe appointed him to serve on the Arkansas State Claims Commission. Lancaster was the director of the Witt Stephens Grant County Museum.
Eventually returning to his writing career, Lancaster authored two novels, Grant County Scoops and Benchwarmer.
#1: Composite image of early photo of Bill Lancaster and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Bill Lancaster's paternal grandfather, Joe Allen Lancaster; April 24, 1860
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Bill Lancaster's paternal grandmother, Annie Lancaster
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Bill Lancaster's father, Joe Donham Lancaster (front row, 2nd from right), with classmates of Little Creek School, Sheridan, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Bill Lancaster's mother, Pauline Speck Lancaster (back row, left), and her siblings, ca. 1916
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Bill Lancaster's uncle, James Odell Speck, ca. 1918
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Bill Lancaster's aunt, Odie Moore; his great-grandmother, Elizabeth Mildred Vance Sevier; Moore's son, Bill Moore Jr.; and great-grandfather, Joseph Windle Sevier
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Bill Lancaster's maternal grandmother, Mary Alyce Sevier Speck; October 16, 1930
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Bill Lancaster's maternal grandparents, Mary Alyce Sevier and Arch Willard Speck, Sheridan, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Bill Lancaster, 1 year, 6 months old, 1948
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Bill Lancaster, first grade, 1952
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Bill Lancaster and his brother, Bob, ca. 1954
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Bill Lancaster
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: Bill Lancaster and family, 1956
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Bill Lancaster (back row, 3rd from left) with the Court Square baseball team
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Bill Lancaster, state batting champion, 1964
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Bill Lancaster, high school football photo
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Bill Lancaster and his cousin, Gopher, 1965
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: Bill Lancaster (back row, 2nd from right) with family, 1966
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: Bill Lancaster's father, Joe Lancaster, in front of Bill Lancaster's childhood home; Sheridan, Arkansas, 1966
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Bill Lancaster's mother, Pauline Speck Lancaster, 1969
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22: Governor Frank White and Bill Lancaster on a hunting trip, 1982
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#23: Bill Lancaster with his son, Eric, and daughter, Leslie, 1983
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Bill Lancaster, Cliff Hoofman, and Jack McCoy on a fishing trip
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: Bill Lancaster's mother, Pauline Speck Lancaster, ca. 1986
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#26: Bill Lancaster (left) and Muhammad Ali
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#27: Bill Lancaster (1st photo: right; 2nd photo: 2nd from left) with friends at the Ben Hogan Texarkana Open/David Pryor Pro-Am, 1992
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#28: Bill Lancaster (right) with President-elect Bill Clinton, 1992
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#29: Playbill for a Bill Lancaster comedy show, December 1992
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#30: Bill Lancaster (left) and Nolan Richardson at the Arkansas Senate, 1994
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#31: Bill Lancaster, 1996
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#32: Bill Lancaster, 1999
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#33: Bill Lancaster, chief of staff of the Arkansas state senate, next to his parking space; Little Rock, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#34: Bill Lancaster, chief of staff of the state senate, in his office in the Arkansas State Capitol building; Little Rock, Arkansas, 2003
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#35: Bill Lancaster (left) and actor, Andy Griffith, 2003
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#36: Bill Lancaster (right) and Jim Hill, Arkansas state senator
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#37: Bill Lancaster and his wife, Scarlet Lancaster, 2005
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#38: Bill Lancaster with Worm Club friends in Mike Beebe's room when he was elected governor of Arkansas; (back row) Don Tilton, Rocky Willmuth, Bill Lancaster, Jon Fitch; (front row) Ed Drilling, 2006
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#39: Bill Lancaster (right) with Governor Mike Beebe, 2012
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#40: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Bill Lancaster; Sheridan, Arkansas, 2012
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#41: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Bill Lancaster; Sheridan, Arkansas, 2012
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#42: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Bill Lancaster; Sheridan, Arkansas, 2012
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#43: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Bill Lancaster; Sheridan, Arkansas, 2012
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
