Bill Paxton
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| Bill Paxton | |
| Birth name | William Paxton |
| Born | May 17, 1955 Fort Worth, Texas, United States |
William "Bill" Paxton (born May 17, 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas) is a Golden Globe award nominated American actor and film director. He is a son of John Lane Paxton (an occasional actor) and Mary Lou Paxton. Paxton has been married to Louise Newbury since 1985, and they have two children, James (born 1994) and Lydia (born 1997).
Distinctive and memorable characters that Paxton has played include the sneering older brother Chet in John Hughes' Weird Science; Hudson, the loud-mouthed space soldier in James Cameron's Aliens ("Game over, man! Game over!"); astronaut Fred Haise in Ron Howard's Apollo 13; the sadistic vampire Severen in Kathryn Bigelow's film Near Dark; and a tornado researcher opposite Helen Hunt in the blockbuster Twister and the sleazy car salesman in True Lies. Notable is the moving performance Paxton delivered in Carl Franklin's critically acclaimed One False Move.
Paxton moved to Los Angeles at 18 and began working for director Roger Corman as a set designer on his films. Exposure to films and actors at that age influenced his decision to pursue acting and led Paxton to relocate to New York City, where he studied with Stella Adler.
In addition to his acting career, Paxton has directed a number of short films, including Fish Heads, which aired during Saturday Night Live's low-rated 1980-1981 season on the episode hosted by Ellen Burstyn (with musical guests Aretha Franklin and Keith Sykes (http://snl.jt.org/ep.php?i=198012060)). He has also moved into directing feature films with Frailty and The Greatest Game Ever Played. He was also a member of the band Martini Ranch.
Paxton is currently performing in the HBO drama Big Love as the head of a polygamous family in Utah.
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[edit] Trivia
- Paxton has the dubious distinction of being the first actor to play characters which have been killed by an Alien (as Private Hudson in Aliens), a Predator (as Jerry Lambert in Predator 2), and a Terminator (as the punk leader in The Terminator). Since the 2004 film Alien vs. Predator, Lance Henriksen can also claim this particular honor.
- James Cameron gave Paxton the nick name "knuckles." This was due to Paxton settling a dispute in a local bar during the filming of True Lies, Paxton warned off a disgruntled local who had taken issue with the disruption caused by filming. Paxton had donned an iron knuckleduster given to him by Lance Henriksen and persuaded the man to back down.
[edit] Filmography
- Big Love (2006)
- Haven (2004)
- Thunderbirds (2004)
- Club Dread (2004)
- Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
- Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)
- Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002)
- Frailty (2002)
- Vertical Limit (2000)
- U-571 (2000)
- Mighty Joe Young (1998)
- A Simple Plan (1998)
- A Bright Shining Lie (1998)
- Traveller (1997)
- Titanic (1997)
- The Evening Star (1996)
- Twister (1996)
- Apollo 13 (1995)
- The Last Supper (1995)
- True Lies (1994)
- Frank and Jesse (1994)
- Tombstone (1993)
- Boxing Helena (1993)
- Future Shock (1993)
- Indian Summer (1993)
- Monolith (1993)
- Trespass (1992)
- The Vagrant (1992)
- The Dark Backwards (1991)
- One False Move (1991)
- Predator 2 (1990)
- Navy Seals (1990)
- Back to Back (1990)
- Brain Dead (1990)
- The Last of the Finest (1990)
- Next of Kin (1989)
- Slipstream (1989)
- Pass the Ammo (1988)
- Near Dark (1987)
- Aliens (1986)
- Fresno (1986)
- Weird Science (1985)
- Commando (1985)
- The Atlanta Child Murders (1985)
- An Early Frost (1985)
- The Terminator (1984)
- Streets of Fire (1984)
- Impulse (1984)
- Mortuary (1984)
- The Lords of Discipline (1983)
- Deadly Lessons (1983)
- Taking Tiger Mountain (1983)
- Stripes (1981)
- Night Warning (1981)
- Crazy Mama (1979)
[edit] Interviews
[edit] External links
Categories: 1955 births | Living people | Alien film series actors | American character actors | American film actors | American film directors | American television actors | Texas actors | People from Fort Worth | Tales from the Crypt actors | Terminator actors | Miami Vice actors | Frasier actors | Spy Kids actors | English-language film directors | Big Love actors
