Bill Paxton Biography

William "Bill" Paxton (May 17, 1955 - February 25, 2017) was an American actor and director. The films in which he appeared include The Terminator (1984), Weird Science (1985), Aliens (1986), Predator 2 (1990), True Lies (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), and Titanic (1997). Paxton also starred in the HBO series Big Love (2006-2011) and was nominated for an Emmy Award for the miniseries Hatfields & McCoys (2012).

Early life

Paxton was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of Mary Lou (ne Gray) (1926-2016) and John Lane Paxton (1920-2011). His father was a businessman, lumber wholesaler, museum executive, and occasional actor. His mother was Roman Catholic, and he and his siblings were raised in her faith. 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. Photographs of an 8-year-old Paxton being lifted above the crowd are on display at the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, Texas.

Career

Among Paxton's earliest roles were a minor role as a punk thug in The Terminator (1984), a supporting role as the lead protagonist's bullying older brother Chet in John Hughes' Weird Science (1985), and Private Hudson in Aliens (1986).

He directed several short films, including the music video for Barnes & Barnes' novelty song "Fish Heads", which aired during Saturday Night Live's low-rated 1980-1981 season. 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.

Music career

Template:Main article In 1982, Paxton and his friend Andrew Todd Rosenthal formed a new wave musical duo called Martini Ranch. The duo released its only full length album, Holy Cow, in 1988 on Sire Records. The album was produced by Devo member Bob Casale and featured guest appearances by other members of that band. The music video for the band's single "Reach" was directed by James Cameron.

1990s

Paxton worked with director James Cameron on True Lies (1994) and Titanic (1997), the latter of which was the highest-grossing film of all time at its release. In his other roles, Paxton played Morgan Earp in Tombstone (1993), Fred Haise in Apollo 13 (1995), the lead in Twister (1996), and lead roles in dark dramas such as One False Move (1992) and A Simple Plan (1998).

2000s-2010s

Paxton directed the feature films Frailty (2001), in which he starred, and The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005). Four years after appearing in Titanic, he joined Cameron on an expedition to the actual Titanic. A film about this trip, Ghosts of the Abyss, was released in 2003. He also appeared in the music video for Limp Bizkit's 2003 song "Eat You Alive" as a sheriff.

His highest profile television performances received much positive attention, including his lead role in HBO's Big Love (2006-2011), for which Paxton received three Golden Globe Award nominations. Paxton also received good reviews 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.

In 2014, he played the role of the villainous John Garrett in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , and a supporting role in Edge of Tomorrow (2014). He starred 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). In February 2016, Paxton was cast as Detective Frank Roarke for Training Day, a crime-thriller television series set 15 years after the events of the eponymous 2001 movie; it premiered a year later.

Personal life

Paxton was married from 1979 to 1980 to Kelly Rowan. In 1987, he married Louise Newbury; together, they had two children, James and Lydia.

In February 2017, a few weeks prior to having cardiac surgery, and ultimately his death, Paxton stated in an interview with Marc Maron that he had a damaged heart valve, the result of suffering from rheumatic fever in his youth.

Death

On February 25, 2017, Paxton died at age 61 from complications following heart surgery. A representative for the family released the following statement to the press on February 26:

It is with heavy hearts we share the news that Bill Paxton has passed away due to complications from surgery. A loving husband and father, Bill began his career in Hollywood working on films in the art department and went on to have an illustrious career spanning four decades as a beloved and prolific actor and filmmaker. Bill's passion for the arts was felt by all who knew him, and his warmth and tireless energy were undeniable. We ask to please respect the family's wish for privacy as they mourn the loss of their adored husband and father.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Crazy Mama	John	Uncredited
1981	Stripes	Soldier
1982	Night Warning	Eddie
1983	Taking Tiger Mountain	Billy Hampton
1983	'	Gilbreath
1983	Mortuary	Paul Andrews
1984	Streets of Fire	Clyde the Bartender
1984	Impulse	Eddie
1984	'	Punk Leader
1985	Weird Science	Chet Donnelly
1985	Commando	Intercept Officer
1986	Aliens	Private William Hudson
1987	Near Dark	Severen
1988	Pass the Ammo	Jesse Wilkes
1989	Slipstream	Matt Owens
1989	Next of Kin	Gerald Gates
1989	Back to Back	Bo Brand
1990	Brain Dead	Jim Reston
1990	'	Howard 'Hojo' Jones
1990	Navy SEALs	Dane
1990	Predator 2	Jerry Lambert
1991	'	Gus
1992	'	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	'	Zachary Cody
1995	Apollo 13	Fred Haise
1996	Twister	Bill "The Extreme" Harding
1996	'	Jerry Bruckner
1997	Traveller	Bokky
1997	Titanic	Brock Lovett
1998	'	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	Also director
2002	Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams	Dinky Winks
2003	Ghosts of the Abyss	Himself/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	'	"?	Director
2007	'	Robbie
2011	Haywire	John Kane
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	Term Life	Detective Keenan
2016	Mean Dreams	Wayne Caraway
2017	The Circle	Mae's father	In post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Deadly Lessons	Eddie Fox	Movie
1985	'	Bob Maracek	Movie
1985	The Atlanta Child Murders	Campbell	Movie
1986	Fresno	Billy Joe Bobb	Miniseries (4 episodes)
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	'	John Paul Vann	Movie
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	6 episodes
2015	Texas Rising	Sam Houston	Miniseries
2015	The Gamechangers	Jack Thompson	Movie
2017	Training Day	Detective Frank Roarke	Lead role (7 episodes)

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist	Role	Notes	Ref.
1980	"Fish Heads"	Barnes & Barnes	Main character	Director
1982	"Shadows of the Night"	Pat Benatar	Nazi officer
1987	"Touched by the Hand of God"	New Order
1988	"Reach"	Martini Ranch	Main character
2003	"Eat You Alive"	Limp Bizkit	Sheriff

Video game

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

Awards and nominations

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