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Bill Paxton

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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.
DiedFebruary 25, 2017(2017-02-25) (aged 61)
Occupation(s)Actor, director
Years active1975–2017
Spouses
  • Kelly Rowan
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1979; div. 1980)​
  • Louise Newbury
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1987; "his death" is deprecated; use "died" instead. 2017)​
Children2, including James Paxton

William "Bill" Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017)[1][2] 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.

Early life

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

Paxton was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of Mary Lou (née Gray) and John Lane Paxton. His father was a businessman, lumber wholesaler, museum executive, and occasional actor.[3] His mother was Roman Catholic, and he and his siblings were raised in her faith.[4] 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 eight-year-old Paxton being lifted above the crowd are on display at the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, Texas.[5][6]

Career

Paxton in April 2010

Some of Paxton's earliest roles were a minor role as a punk thug in The Terminator (1984) and a supporting role as the lead protagonist's bullying older brother Chet 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 worked 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.[7]

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).[7]

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).[7]

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).[8]

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.[9]

Personal life and death

Paxton was married from 1979 to 1980 to Kelly Rowan. In 1987, he married Louise Newbury; together, they had two children, James and Lydia Paxton. On February 25, 2017, Paxton died at age 61 due to complications from heart surgery.[10][11]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1975 Crazy Mama John Uncredited[12]
1981 Stripes Soldier [13]
1982 Night Warning Eddie [14]
1983 Taking Tiger Mountain Billy Hampton [15]
1983 The Lords of Discipline Gilbreath [13]
1983 Mortuary Paul Andrews [13]
1984 Streets of Fire Clyde the Bartender [13]
1984 Impulse Eddie [13]
1984 The Terminator Punk Leader [13]
1985 Weird Science Chet Donnelly [13]
1985 Commando Intercept Officer [13]
1986 Aliens Private William Hudson [13]
1987 Near Dark Severen [13]
1988 Pass the Ammo Jesse Wilkes [13]
1989 Slipstream Matt Owens [13]
1989 Next of Kin Gerald Gates [13]
1989 Back to Back Bo Brand [13]
1990 Brain Dead Jim Reston [13]
1990 The Last of the Finest Howard 'Hojo' Jones [13]
1990 Navy SEALs Dane [13]
1990 Predator 2 Jerry Lambert [13]
1991 The Dark Backward Gus [13]
1992 The Vagrant Graham Krakowski [13]
1992 One False Move Dale 'Hurricane' Dixon [13]
1992 Trespass Vince [13]
1993 Monolith Tucker [13]
1993 Indian Summer Jack Belston [13]
1993 Boxing Helena Ray O'Malley [13]
1993 Tombstone Morgan Earp [13]
1994 True Lies Simon [13]
1994 Frank and Jesse Frank James [13]
1994 Future Shock Vince [13]
1995 The Last Supper Zachary Cody [13]
1995 Apollo 13 Fred Haise [13]
1996 Twister Bill "The Extreme" Harding [13]
1996 The Evening Star Jerry Bruckner [13]
1997 Traveller Bokky [13]
1997 Titanic Brock Lovett [13]
1998 A Simple Plan Hank [13]
1998 Mighty Joe Young Professor Gregory O'Hara [13]
2000 U-571 Lieutenant Commander Mike Dahlgren [13]
2000 Vertical Limit Elliot Vaughn [13]
2001 Frailty Dad Meiks Director[13]
2002 Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams Dinky Winks [13]
2003 Ghosts of the Abyss Narrator [13]
2003 Resistance Major Theodore 'Ted' Brice [16]
2003 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over Dinky Winks [13]
2004 Club Dread Coconut Pete [13]
2004 Thunderbirds Jeff Tracy [13]
2004 Haven Carl Ridley [17]
2005 Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D Edgar Mitchell [18]
2005 The Greatest Game Ever Played Director[13]
2007 The Good Life Robbie [13]
2011 Haywire John Kane [13]
2011 Tattoo Director
2012 Shanghai Calling Donald [19]
2013 The Colony Mason [13]
2013 2 Guns Earl [13]
2013 Red Wing Jim Verret [13]
2014 Million Dollar Arm Tom House [13]
2014 Edge of Tomorrow Master Sergeant Farell [13]
2014 Nightcrawler Joe Loder [13]
2016 Term Life Detective Keenan [13]
2016 Mean Dreams Wayne Caraway [13]
2017 The Circle Mae's father Post-production[13]

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1983 Deadly Lessons Eddie Fox Television film
1985 An Early Frost Bob Maracek Television film
1985 The Atlanta Child Murders Campbell Television film
1986 Fresno Billy Joe Bobb Television miniseries
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 A 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[20] Television film
2017 Training Day Detective Frank Roarke

Video games

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

Music videos

Year Title Artist Role
1980 "Fish Heads" Barnes & Barnes main character
1988 "Reach" Martini Ranch main character
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 dead at 61". NY Daily News. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  2. ^ "BREAKING NEWS: Twister and Titanic star Bill Paxton dies at age 61". Mail Online. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  3. ^ "Bill Paxton Biography". FilmReference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  4. ^ Spitznagel, Eric (January 8, 2010). "Bill Paxton Can Defend Polygamy, But He Can't Defend Sarah Palin". Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  5. ^ Wilonsky, Robert (March 28, 2007). "The Day Bill Paxton Saw John F. Kennedy". Dallas Observer Blogs. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  6. ^ DiBlasi, Loren (May 25, 2012). "Live With Kelly: Bill Paxton 'Hatfields & McCoys' Interview". Recapo. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  7. ^ a b c Bill Paxton at IMDb
  8. ^ "Zadzooks: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Havoc – Exo Zombies review". The Washington Times. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  9. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 26, 2016). "Bill Paxton To Star In 'Training Day' Pilot". Deadline. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  10. ^ Paxton dies at age 61
  11. ^ Petit, Stephanie; Lara, Maria Mercedes. "Bill Paxton Dead at 61 Due to Complications from Surgery". People movies. Time Inc. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  12. ^ Saperstein, Pat; Lang, Brent (February 26, 2017). "Bill Paxton, 'Titanic' and 'Big Love' Star, Dies at 61".
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be "Filmography for Bill Paxton".
  14. ^ ‹The template AllMovie title is being considered for deletion.› Night Warning (cast & crew) at AllMovie
  15. ^ Lin, Kristian (September 28, 2011). ""Taking Tiger Mountain" in Dallas".
  16. ^ ‹The template AllMovie title is being considered for deletion.› Resistance (cast & crew) at AllMovie
  17. ^ "Plots and Personalities Collide on a Tropical Island". The New York Times. September 15, 2006.
  18. ^ ‹The template AllMovie title is being considered for deletion.› Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D (cast & crew) at AllMovie
  19. ^ Lee, Maggie. "Shanghai Calling".Variety
  20. ^ 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. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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