Bill Paxton

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.^[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).

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bill Paxton.

• Bill Paxton at the Internet Movie Database
• Bill Paxton at the TCM Movie Database
  
• Bill Paxton at AllMovie
• Bill Paxton and Bill Paxton - Movie Director at The Numbers
• Bill Paxton on National Public Radio in 2005
• Bill Paxton on National Public Radio in 2002