Bill Paxton

Bill Paxton

Paxton at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con International
Born William Paxton
(1955-05-17) May 17, 1955
Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Occupation Actor, director
Years active 1975–present
Spouse(s) Kelly Rowan (m. 1979; div. 1980)
Louise Newbury (m. 1987)
Children 2

William "Bill" Paxton (born May 17, 1955) is an American actor and director. He has appeared in a number of films, including The Terminator (1984), Weird Science (1985), Aliens (1986), True Lies (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), and Titanic (1997). He also starred in the HBO series Big Love (2006–2011) and was nominated for an Emmy Award for the miniseries Hatfields & McCoys.

Early life

Paxton was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of Mary Lou (née Gray) and John Lane Paxton, a businessman, lumber wholesaler, museum executive, and occasional actor.[1] His mother was Roman Catholic, and he and his siblings were raised in her faith.[2]

Paxton (child seen raised above the crowd), before President Kennedy emerges from Hotel Texas on November 22, 1963.

Paxton was in the crowd when President John F. Kennedy emerged from the Hotel Texas on the morning of his assassination on November 22, 1963. There are pictures at the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, where an eight-year-old Paxton can be seen being lifted above the crowd by his father.[3][4]

Career

Paxton in April 2010

Some of Paxton's earliest roles include a minor role as a punk thug in The Terminator (1984) and a supporting role as the lead protagonist's bullying older brother in John Hughes' Weird Science (1985). He also appeared in Aliens (1986) as the sarcastic Private Hudson: Except for Lance Henriksen, Paxton is the only actor to play characters confronted by a Terminator (The Terminator), a Xenomorph (Aliens), and a Predator (Predator 2). Paxton collaborated with director James Cameron on True Lies (1994) and Titanic (1997), which was the highest grossing film of all time at its release. Four years after appearing in Titanic, he joined James Cameron on an expedition to the actual Titanic. A film about this trip, Ghosts of the Abyss, was released in 2003.[5]

Some of Paxton's notable performances include playing Morgan Earp in Tombstone (1993), Fred Haise in Apollo 13 (1995), the lead role in the successful Twister (1996), lead roles in dark dramas such as One False Move (1992) and A Simple Plan (1998), and, more recently, a supporting role in Edge of Tomorrow (2014).[5]

Paxton received acclaim for some of his television performances. Most notably, he had the lead role in HBO's Big Love (2006-2011), for which Paxton received three Golden Globe nominations. Paxton also received attention for his performance in the History Channel's miniseries Hatfields & McCoys (2012), for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award, alongside co-star Kevin Costner. He directed a number of short films, including Fish Heads, which aired during Saturday Night Live's low-rated 1980–1981 season. He directed the feature films Frailty (2001), in which he starred, and The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005).[5]

He was cast in a music video for the 1982 Pat Benatar song "Shadows of the Night", in which he appeared as a Nazi radio officer. He appears in the Limp Bizkit video Eat You Alive. In 1988, he and vocalist/guitarist Andrew Todd Rosenthal formed a short-lived rock duo Martini Ranch. In 2014, he played the role of the villainous John Garrett in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He stars alongside Jon Bernthal, Rose McGowan, and John Malkovich as a playable character in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (downloadable "Exo Zombies" mode).

Cultural references

In the American Dad! episode "Francine's Flashback", Bill Pullman is portrayed as a forgettable actor who confuses himself with Bill Paxton.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1975 Crazy Mama John Uncredited
1980 Fish Heads Main Character Short film
1981 Stripes Soldier
1982 Night Warning Eddie
1983 Taking Tiger Mountain Billy Hampton
1983 Lords of Discipline, TheThe Lords of Discipline Gilbreath
1983 Mortuary Paul Andrews
1984 Streets of Fire Clyde the Bartender
1984 Impulse Eddie
1984 Terminator, TheThe Terminator Punk Leader
1985 Weird Science Chet Donnelly
1985 Commando Intercept Officer
1985 Early Frost, AnAn Early Frost Bob Maracek
1986 Aliens Private William Hudson
1986 Fresno Billy Joe Bobb
1987 Near Dark Severen
1989 Slipstream Matt Owens
1989 Next of Kin Gerald Gates
1989 Back to Back Bo Brand
1990 Brain Dead Jim Reston
1990 Last of the Finest, TheThe Last of the Finest Howard 'Hojo' Jones
1990 Navy SEALs Dane
1990 Predator 2 Jerry Lambert
1991 Dark Backward, TheThe Dark Backward Gus
1992 Vagrant, TheThe Vagrant Graham Krakowski
1992 One False Move Dale 'Hurricane' Dixon
1992 Trespass Vince
1993 Monolith Tucker
1993 Indian Summer Jack Belston
1993 Boxing Helena Ray O'Malley
1993 Tombstone Morgan Earp
1994 True Lies Simon
1994 Frank and Jesse Frank James
1994 Future Shock Vince
1995 Last Supper, TheThe Last Supper Zachary Cody
1995 Apollo 13 Fred Haise
1996 Twister Bill Harding
1996 Evening Star, TheThe Evening Star Jerry Bruckner
1997 Traveller Bokky
1997 Titanic Brock Lovett
1998 Simple Plan, AA Simple Plan Hank
1998 Mighty Joe Young Professor Gregory O'Hara
2000 U-571 Lieutenant Commander Mike Dahlgren
2000 Vertical Limit Elliot Vaughn
2001 Frailty Dad Meiks Director
2002 Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams Dinky Winks
2003 Ghosts of the Abyss Narrator
2003 Resistance Major Theodore 'Ted' Brice
2003 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over Dinky Winks
2004 Club Dread Coconut Pete
2004 Thunderbirds Jeff Tracy
2004 Haven Carl Ridley
2005 Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D Edgar Mitchell Short film
2005 Greatest Game Ever Played, TheThe Greatest Game Ever Played Director
2007 Good Life, TheThe Good Life Robbie
2011 Haywire John Kane
2011 Tattoo Director
2012 Shanghai Calling Donald
2013 The Colony Mason
2013 2 Guns Earl
2013 Red Wing Jim Verret
2014 Million Dollar Arm Tom House
2014 Edge of Tomorrow Master Sergeant Farell
2014 Nightcrawler Joe Loder
2016 Mean Dreams Wayne Caraway Post-production
2016 The Circle Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1983 Deadly Lessons Eddie Fox Television film
1985 Atlanta Child Murders, TheThe Atlanta Child Murders Campbell Television film
1986 Miami Vice Detective Vic Romano Episode: "Streetwise"
1987 The Hitchhiker Trout Episode: "Made for Each Other"
1993 Tales from the Crypt Billy DeLuca Episode: "People Who Live in Brass Hearses"
1998 Bright Shining Lie, AA Bright Shining Lie John Paul Vann Television film
2003 Frasier Ernie Episode: "Analyzed Kiss"
2006–11 Big Love Bill Henrickson Lead role, 53 episodes
2012 Hatfields & McCoys Randolph McCoy 3 episodes
2013 JFK: The Day That Changed Everything Narrator Documentary
2014 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. John Garrett Recurring role, 6 episodes
2015 Texas Rising Sam Houston Television miniseries
2015 The Gamechangers Jack Thompson[6] Television film

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2015 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Kahn Exo Zombies

Music videos

Year Title Artiste Role
2003 "Eat You Alive" Limp Bizkit Sheriff

Awards and nominations

Year Association Category Title Result
1987 Saturn Awards Best Supporting Actor Aliens Won
1988 Near Dark Nominated
1995 True Lies Nominated
1995 CableACE Awards Best Actor in a Dramatic Series Tales from the Crypt Nominated
1996 Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Apollo 13 Won
1997 Saturn Awards Best Actor Twister Nominated
1998 Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Titanic Nominated
1999 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film A Bright Shining Lie Nominated
2003 Saturn Awards Best Director Frailty Nominated
2006 Satellite Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Big Love Nominated
2007 Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Nominated
2008 Nominated
2009 Satellite Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Nominated
2010 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Nominated
2012 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Hatfields & McCoys Nominated
2013 Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Nominated

References

  1. ↑ "Bill Paxton Biography". FilmReference.com. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
  2. ↑ Spitznagel, Eric (January 8, 2010). "Bill Paxton Can Defend Polygamy, But He Can't Defend Sarah Palin". Retrieved 2015-07-19.
  3. ↑ Wilonsky, Robert (March 28, 2007). "The Day Bill Paxton Saw John F. Kennedy". Dallas Observer Blogs. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
  4. ↑ DiBlasi, Loren (May 25, 2012). "Live With Kelly: Bill Paxton 'Hatfields & McCoys' Interview". Recapo. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 Bill Paxton at the Internet Movie Database
  6. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (April 22, 2015). "GTA Drama Casts Daniel Radcliffe and Bill Paxton". gamespot.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2015.

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