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Bill Paxton
William “Bill” Paxton (born May 17, 1955) is an American actor and film director. He gained in popularity after his starring roles in the movies Apollo 13, Twister, and True Lies. Paxton is currently working on the fourth season of the HBO series Big Love which is set to premiere in 2010.
Possessing a special talent for totally immersing himself in his roles, Bill Paxton does not always get the recognition he deserves. Tall, rangy, and boyishly good looking, Paxton’s career is a curiosity that has found the character actor turned filmmaker succeeding in intermittently pulling the rug from under filmgoers’ feet with a constantly expanding sense of maturity and range.
Paxton’s interest in films emerged during his teens when he began making his own movies with a Super-8 camera. He formally entered the entertainment industry in 1974 as a set dresser for Roger Corman’s New World Pictures. Paxton made his acting debut as a bit player in Crazy Mama (1975), and afterward, the young thespian moved to New York to hone his skills. Following performances in a couple of horror quickies, Paxton formally launched his Hollywood career with a tiny part in Ivan Reitman’s Stripes (1981) and this led to a steady if not unremarkable career in film and television during the ’80s. In addition to acting, Paxton made short independent films such as Fish Heads, (1982) which became a favorite on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
Paxton’s acting career got a much-needed boost in 1985 when he was cast as Ilan Mitchell-Smith’s obnoxious big brother Chet Donolley in John Hughes’ Weird Science. Some of Paxton’s more memorable subsequent roles include that of a cocky intergalactic soldier in James Cameron’s Aliens (1986), a crazed vampire in Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark, and sickly astronaut Freddie Hayes in Ron Howard’s Apollo 13. In 1996, Paxton landed a starring role, opposite Helen Hunt, in the special-effects blockbuster Twister; since then his career has taken an upward turn and Paxton is getting more leads than ever. Though few audiences saw it in its limited release, critics were quick to praise Paxton’s turn as con-artist Traveler in the 1997 movie of the same name. Following a doomed voyage on the Titanic the same year, the workhorse actor once again intrigued filmgoers as a small-town dweller struggling with his conscience after stumbling into over a million dollars in usually flamboyant director Sam Raimi’s strikingly subdued A Simple Plan.
A quiet and intense performance enhanced by a talented cast including Billy Bob Thornton and Bridget Fonda, the psychological crime drama once again provided further proof that Paxton’s impressive range of emotion stretched beyond what many filmgoers may have previously suspected. Though subsequent performances in Mighty Joe Young (1998) and U-571 (2000) did little to backup the promise shown in A Simple Plan, Paxton still had a few tricks up his sleeve, as evidenced by his directorial debut Frailty (2002), a surprisingly competent and genuinely frightening tale of religious fervor and questionable sanity.
Though cynical filmgoers may have initially viewed the trailer-touting praises of former collaborators Raimi and James Cameron as favors from old friends, the taut tale of a father who claims that God has provided him with a list of “demons” that he and his sons must cast from the earth blind-sided critics and filmgoers with its disturbingly minimalistic yet complex psychological thriller that recalled the thematic elements of previous efforts as Michael Tolkin’s The Rapture (1991). His performance as a loving father who reluctantly embarks on God’s mission was a vital component of the films emotional impact, and was once again proof that this former supporting player still had a few tricks up his sleeve.
Filmography
Back to Back with Todd Fisher and Appalonia
* Crazy Mama (1975)
* Fish Heads (1980)
* Stripes (1981)
* Night Warning (1983)
* Taking Tiger Mountain (1983)
* Deadly Lessons (1983)
* Mortuary (1983)
* The Lords of Discipline (1983)
* Impulse (1984)
* Streets of Fire (1984)
* The Terminator (1984)
* An Early Frost (1985)
* The Atlanta Child Murders (1985)
* Commando (1985)
* Weird Science (1985)
* Fresno (1986)
* Aliens (1986)
* Near Dark (1987)
* Pass the Ammo (1988)
* Slipstream (1989)
* Next of Kin (1989)
* Back to Back (1989)
* Brain Dead (1990)
* The Last of the Finest (1990)
* Navy Seals (1990)
* Predator 2 (1990)
* The Dark Backward (1991)
* The Vagrant (1992)
* One False Move (1992)
* Trespass (1992)
* Monolith (1993)
* Indian Summer (1993)
* Future Shock (1993)
* Boxing Helena (1993)
* Tombstone (1993)
* Frank and Jesse (1994)
* True Lies (1994)
* The Last Supper (1995)
* Apollo 13 (1995)
* Twister (1996)
* The Evening Star (1996)
* Titanic (1997)
* Traveller (1997)
* A Bright Shining Lie (1998)
* A Simple Plan (1998)
* Mighty Joe Young (1998)
* Twister…Ride it Out (1998)
* U-571 (2000)
* Vertical Limit (2000)
* Frailty (2001)
* Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002)
* Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)
* Resistance (2003)
* Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
* Club Dread (2004)
* Haven (2004)
* Thunderbirds (2004)
* The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005)
* Big Love (2006-present)
* The Good Life (2007)
* The Slammin’ Salmon (2008)
Films directed
* Frailty (2001)
* The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005)
Photo Gallery:
Topics: Actor, Celebrities
Tags: Brain Dead, Commando, Crazy Mama, Deadly Lessons, Fish Heads, Impulse, Mortuary, Near Dark, Next of Kin, Slipstream, Weird Science
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