Bill Paxton
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William Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017) was an American actor, filmmaker and musician. A versatile character actor known for his distinctive Texan drawl and everyman screen persona,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> he was a four-time Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award nominee, among other accolades.
Paxton starred in films Near Dark (1987), Tombstone (1993), Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and A Simple Plan (1998), and played supporting roles in Weird Science (1985), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Nightcrawler (2014). He was a close collaborator of director James Cameron,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> appearing in his films The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), True Lies (1994), and Titanic (1997). He made his directorial debut with the 2001 horror film Frailty, in which he also starred, earning him Saturn Award nominations for Best Director and Best Horror Film.
On television, Paxton starred as Bill Henrickson on the HBO drama series Big Love (2006–2011), for which he earned three Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor – Television Series Drama during the show's run. He was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for portraying Randall McCoy in the History Channel miniseries Hatfields & McCoys (2012).
Early life
William Paxton<ref>Template:Cite web "On the Internet, on IMDB, they've got that my middle name as Archibald. I don't have a middle name! My father doesn't like middle names."</ref> was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 17, 1955, the son of Mary Lou (née Gray; 1926–2016) and John Lane Paxton (1920–2011).<ref name="New York Times"/> His mother was a Catholic who raised him and his siblings in her faith.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His father was a businessman, lumber wholesaler, museum executive, and (during his son's career) an occasional actor, notably appearing in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films as Bernard Houseman and alongside Paxton in A Simple Plan (1998). His great-great-grandfather was Elisha Franklin Paxton (1828–1863), a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War who was killed commanding the Stonewall Brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
Paxton is distantly related to actress Sara Paxton and was the great-nephew of Mary Paxton Keeley, a prominent journalist and close friend of Bess Truman. At the age of eight, he was in the crowd when President John F. Kennedy emerged from the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth on the morning of his assassination on November 22, 1963. Photographs of Paxton being lifted above the crowd are on display at the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He later co-produced the film Parkland about the assassination. He graduated from Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth in 1973, after which he studied at Richmond College in London, alongside his old high-school friend Danny Martin. There, they met fellow Texas native Tom Huckabee, with whom they made Super 8 short films for which they built their own sets.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> One of Paxton's first lead roles was in Huckabee's experimental film Taking Tiger Mountain. Paxton subsequently moved to Los Angeles, where he worked in props and art departments and as a parking valet at the Beverly Hills Hotel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After being rejected by film schools in Southern California, he switched his ambitions from directing to acting.<ref name="Gilbey">Template:Cite news</ref>
Career
Acting and filmmaking
Among Paxton's earliest roles were as a mortuary assistant in Mortuary (1983), a minor role as a punk in The Terminator (1984), a minor role as a bartender in Streets of Fire, a supporting role as the lead protagonist's bullying older brother Chet Donnelly in John Hughes's Weird Science (1985), and Private William Hudson in Aliens (1986).
He directed several short films, including the music video for Barnes & Barnes's novelty song "Fish Heads", which aired during Saturday Night LiveTemplate:'s low-rated 1980–81 season and was in heavy rotation during the early days of Canadian music channel MuchMusic. 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.
In 1981, Paxton worked in the movie Stripes<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as a soldier, in the bar scene with John Candy and Bill Murray.
He worked alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator (1984) and in Commando (1985), as well as in True Lies (1994), which reunited him with James Cameron.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He reunited with Cameron on Aliens (1986). His performance in the latter film as Private Hudson earned him the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
He also appeared in Weird Science (1985). In 1987, Paxton played the most psychotic of the vampires, Severen, in Kathryn Bigelow's critically acclaimed neo-Western horror film Near Dark.
In 1990, Paxton appeared in Predator 2 (1990). He collaborated with James Cameron again on Titanic (1997), 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), Bill Harding in Twister (1996), and lead roles in dark dramas such as One False Move (1992) and A Simple Plan (1998). In 1990, he co-starred with Charlie Sheen and Michael Biehn in Navy Seals.
Paxton also appeared in Indian Summer (1993) and Mighty Joe Young (1998). After 2000, he appeared in U-571 (2000), Vertical Limit (2000), Frailty (2001), Broken Lizard's Club Dread (2004), Thunderbirds (2004), Edge of Tomorrow (2014) and Nightcrawler (2014).
Paxton directed the feature films Frailty (2001), in which he also starred, and The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005).<ref name="tcmdb" /> Four years after appearing in Titanic, he joined Cameron on an expedition to the wreck of the Titanic. A film about this trip, Ghosts of the Abyss, was released in 2003.<ref name="tcmdb" /> He also appeared in the music video for Limp Bizkit's 2003 song "Eat You Alive" as a sheriff. In addition, Paxton also played a character in both Spy Kids 2 and Spy Kids 3-D.
Paxton starred in "A Bright Shining Lie" (HBO 1998), an American war drama television film written and directed by Terry George, based on Neil Sheehan's 1988 book of the same name and the true story of John Paul Vann's experience in the Vietnam War.
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He also received positive 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).<ref name="tcmdb" /> 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).<ref name="cod">Template:Cite web</ref> Paxton starred as General Sam Houston in the Western miniseries Texas Rising for The History Channel in 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In February 2016, Paxton was cast as Detective Frank Rourke for Training Day, a crime-thriller television series set 15 years after the events of the eponymous 2001 movie.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It premiered a year later.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His final film appearance was in The Circle (2017), released two months after his death.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Music
Template:Main In 1982, Paxton and his friend Andrew Todd Rosenthal formed a new wave musical band called Martini Ranch. The band released its only full-length album, Holy Cow, in 1988 on Sire Records.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album was produced by Devo member Bob Casale, and featured guest appearances by two other members of that band.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The music video for the band's single "Reach" was directed by James Cameron.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2018, his performances as Peter "Coconut Pete" Wabash in Broken Lizard's Club Dread were released posthumously on the album Take Another Hit: The Best of Coconut Pete.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Personal life
Paxton married Kelly Rowan in 1979 and they divorced a year later.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He met Louise Newbury on a bus in Twickenham, London, where she was a student. They were married in 1987.<ref name="New York Times"/> They lived in Ojai, California, and had two children, including James, who also became an actor.<ref name="New York Times">Template:Cite news</ref>
Death and lawsuit
In early 2017, Paxton stated in an interview on WTF with Marc Maron that he had a damaged aortic heart valve, resulting from rheumatic fever that he contracted as a child.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On February 14, 2017, he underwent open-heart surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to repair the damaged valve and correct an aortic aneurysm.<ref>Bill Paxton Died Of Stroke Following Surgery – Update March 6, 2017.</ref><ref name=strickland>Template:Cite news</ref> He died of a stroke eleven days later on February 25 at the age of 61.<ref name="New York Times"/><ref name="Gilbey"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="NBC News">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was cremated and his ashes were buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park of Hollywood Hills.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2018, Paxton's estate filed a lawsuit against Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and surgeon Dr. Ali Khoynezhad for the Bentall procedure operation that was performed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Khoynezhad was comfortable with his care and denied any wrongdoing; however, the hospital decided to settle the lawsuit due to publicity reasons.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref>
Tributes
Public figures
Filmmakers and actors paid tribute to Paxton after his death.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=tribute>Template:Cite magazine</ref> On February 26, 2017, while introducing the annual In Memoriam segment at the 89th Academy Awards the day after Paxton's death, a visibly emotional Jennifer Aniston paid tribute to him.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His Big Love co-star Chloë Sevigny remembered him as "one of the less cynical, jaded people [she'd] ever met in the business" and said, "He believed in entertainment being transportive and transformative. He believed in the magic of what we can bring to people. That was really a gift that he gave to me."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The television show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. paid tribute at the end of its season-four episode "What If...", and a number of storm chasers paid tribute to his role in Twister by spelling out his initials "BP" via the Spotter Network.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Films
The 2017 film Call Me by Your Name was dedicated to Paxton's memory. The film's producer, Peter Spears, explained that his husband Brian Swardstrom, who was also Paxton's best friend and agent, once visited the set with Paxton during filming and befriended the film's director Luca Guadagnino, who ultimately decided to dedicate the film "in loving memory of Bill Paxton". Close friend and frequent collaborator James Cameron wrote a tribute in an article for Vanity Fair, detailing their 36-year friendship and expressing regret over the projects they would not be able to make together.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The 2019 John Travolta film The Fanatic, which co-starred Paxton's son James, was dedicated to Paxton. James would later play a younger version of Paxton's S.H.I.E.L.D. character in the final season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which served as a tribute to his role in the show. Cameron's 2022 film, Avatar: The Way of Water was dedicated to the memory of Paxton as well as to James Horner, who previously worked with Cameron on Aliens, Titanic and the first Avatar. Paxton worked with both Cameron and Horner on the former two films. Cameron had hoped to cast Paxton in the Avatar sequels before his death.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Template:Abbr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Crazy Mama | John | Uncredited | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 1981 | Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker/Night Warning | Eddie | as William Paxton | |
| Stripes | Soldier #8 | <ref name="tcmdb">Template:Cite web</ref> | ||
| 1983 | Reckless | 'Bobo' | ||
| Template:Sortname | Gilbreath | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| Mortuary | Paul Andrews | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| Taking Tiger Mountain | Billy Hampton | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | ||
| 1984 | Streets of Fire | Clyde The Bartender | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Impulse | Eddie | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| Template:Sortname | Johnny | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 1985 | Weird Science | Chet Donnelly | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Commando | Intercept Officer #1 | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 1986 | Aliens | Private William Hudson | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| 1987 | Near Dark | Severen | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| 1988 | Pass the Ammo | Jesse Wilkes | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| 1989 | Slipstream | Matt Owens | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Next of Kin | Gerald Gates | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| Back to Back | Bo Brand | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 1990 | Brain Dead | Jim Reston | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Template:Sortname | Howard 'Hojo' Jones | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| Navy SEALs | Floyd "God" Dane | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| Predator 2 | Detective Jerry Lambert | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 1991 | Template:Sortname | Gus | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| 1992 | One False Move | Sheriff Dale 'Hurricane' Dixon | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Template:Sortname | Graham Krakowski | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| Trespass | Vince | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 1993 | Boxing Helena | Ray O'Malley | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Indian Summer | Jack Belston | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| Monolith | Tucker | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| Tombstone | Morgan Earp | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 1994 | Future Shock | Vince | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| True Lies | Simon | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 1995 | Apollo 13 | Fred Haise | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Template:Sortname | Zachary Cody | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| Frank and Jesse | Frank James | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 1996 | Twister | Dr. Bill Harding | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Template:Sortname | Jerry Bruckner | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 1997 | Traveller | Bokky | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Titanic | Brock Lovett | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 1998 | Template:Sortname | Hank Mitchell | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Mighty Joe Young | Professor Gregory O'Hara | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 2000 | U-571 | Lieutenant Commander Mike Dahlgren | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Vertical Limit | Elliot Vaughn | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 2001 | Frailty | Dad Meiks | Also director | <ref name="tcmdb" /> |
| 2002 | Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams | 'Dinky' Winks | Cameo | <ref name="tcmdb" /> |
| 2003 | Ghosts of the Abyss | Himself / narrator | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Resistance | Major Ted Brice | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | ||
| Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over | 'Dinky' Winks | Cameo | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| 2004 | Broken Lizard's Club Dread | Pete 'Coconut Pete' Wabash | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Thunderbirds | Jeff Tracy | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| Haven | Carl Ridley | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | ||
| 2005 | Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D | Edgar Mitchell | Short film | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2007 | Template:Sortname | Robbie | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| 2011 | Haywire | John Kane | ||
| Tornado Alley | Narrator | |||
| 2012 | Shanghai Calling | Donald | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2013 | The Colony | Mason | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| 2 Guns | CIA Agent Earl | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| Red Wing | Jim Verret | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 2014 | Million Dollar Arm | Tom House | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Edge of Tomorrow | Master Sergeant Farell | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| Nightcrawler | Joe Loder | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 2015 | Pixies | Eddie Beck | Voice | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2016 | Term Life | Detective Joe Keenan | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| Mean Dreams | Wayne Caraway | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | ||
| 2017 | The Circle | Vinnie Holland | Posthumous release | <ref name="tcmdb" /> |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Template:Abbr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Deadly Lessons | Eddie Fox | Movie | <ref name="tcmdb" /> |
| 1985 | Template:Sortname | Bob Maracek | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| The Atlanta Child Murders | Campbell | Miniseries | <ref name="tcmdb" /> | |
| 1986 | Fresno | Billy Joe Bobb | Miniseries (4 episodes) | <ref name="tcmdb" /> |
| Miami Vice | Detective Vic Romano | Episode: "Streetwise" | ||
| 1987 | The Hitchhiker | Trout | Episode: "Made for Each Other" | <ref name="filmreference">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 1993 | Tales from the Crypt | Billy DeLuca | Episode: "People Who Live in Brass Hearses" | |
| 1998 | Template:Sortname | John Paul Vann | Movie | <ref name="tcmdb" /> |
| 2003 | Frasier | Ernie | Episode: "Analyzed Kiss" | |
| 2006–11 | Big Love | Bill Henrickson | Lead role (53 episodes) | <ref name="NYTObit">Template:Cite news</ref> |
| 2012 | Hatfields & McCoys | Randolph McCoy | Miniseries (3 episodes) | <ref name="NYTObit" /> |
| 2013 | JFK: The Day That Changed Everything | Narrator | Documentary | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2014 | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | John Garrett | 6 episodes | |
| 2015 | Texas Rising | Sam Houston | Miniseries | <ref name=Deadline>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| The Gamechangers | Jack Thompson | Movie | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| 2017 | Training Day | Detective Frank Roarke | Lead role (13 episodes) |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Artist | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | "Fish Heads" | Barnes & Barnes | Main character | Also director | <ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> |
| 1982 | "Love Tap" | Main character | |||
| "Shadows of the Night" | Pat Benatar | Wehrmacht-Unteroffizier | <ref name="filmreference" /> | ||
| 1983 | "Soak It Up" | Barnes & Barnes | Main character | ||
| 1984 | "Ah Ā" | ||||
| 1986 | "How Can the Labouring Man Find Time for Self-Culture?" | Martini Ranch | |||
| 1987 | "Touched by the Hand of God" | New Order | <ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | ||
| 1988 | "Reach" | Martini Ranch | Main character | <ref name="filmreference" /> | |
| 2003 | "Eat You Alive" | Limp Bizkit | Sheriff | <ref name="filmreference" /> |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare | Kahn | Exo Zombies | <ref name="cod" /> |
Theme park attractions
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Twister...Ride it Out | Himself | Pre-show co-host with Helen Hunt |
Production work
Awards and nominations
References
External links
- Template:IMDb name
- Bill Paxton and Bill Paxton – Movie Director at The Numbers
- Template:Discogs artist
- 1955 births
- 2017 deaths
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- American male film actors
- American male television actors
- American male video game actors
- American male voice actors
- American people of Austrian descent
- American people of Dutch descent
- American people of English descent
- American people of French descent
- American people of German descent
- American people of Norwegian descent
- American people of Scotch-Irish descent
- American people of Scottish descent
- American people of Swiss descent
- American people of Swiss-German descent
- American people of Welsh descent
- Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
- Film directors from Texas
- Male actors from Fort Worth, Texas
- Male Western (genre) film actors
- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- Deaths from complications of heart surgery