- Born
- DiedFebruary 25, 2017 · Beverly Grove, Los Angeles, California, USA (stroke following an aortic aneurysm repair and bicuspid aortic valve replacement surgery)
- Birth nameWilliam Paxton
- Nicknames
- Wild Bill
- Knuckles
- Height6′ (1.83 m)
- Bill Paxton was born on May 17, 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas. He was the son of Mary Lou (Gray) and John Lane Paxton, a businessman and actor (as John Paxton). Bill moved to Los Angeles, California at age eighteen, where he found work in the film industry as a set dresser for Roger Corman's New World Pictures. He made his film debut in the Corman film Crazy Mama (1975), directed by Jonathan Demme. Moving to New York, Paxton studied acting under Stella Adler at New York University. After landing a small role in Stripes (1981), he found steady work in low-budget films and television. He also directed, wrote and produced award-winning short films including Barnes & Barnes: Fish Heads (1980), which aired on Saturday Night Live (1975). His first appearance in a James Cameron film was a small role in The Terminator (1984), followed by his very memorable performance as Private Hudson in Aliens (1986) and as the nomadic vampire Severen in Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark (1987). Bill also appeared in John Hughes' Weird Science (1985), as Wyatt Donnelly's sadistic older brother Chet. Although he continued to work steadily in film and television, his big break did not come until his lead role in the critically acclaimed film-noir One False Move (1991). This quickly led to strong supporting roles as Wyatt Earp's naive younger brother Morgan in Tombstone (1993) and as Fred Haise, one of the three astronauts, in Apollo 13 (1995), as well as in James Cameron's offering True Lies (1994).
Bill died on February 25, 2017, in Los Angeles, from complications following heart surgery. He was 61.
- IMDb mini biography by: Leslie Walter <leslie@snoopy.usask.ca>
- SpousesLouise Newbury(May 12, 1987 - February 25, 2017) (his death, 2 children)Kelly Lynn Rowan(October 2, 1979 - July 22, 1980) (divorced)
- ChildrenLydia Paxton
- ParentsMary Lou Paxton (Gray)
- Frequently portrayed characters who are dead by the end of their respective films (i.e. The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), Next of Kin (1989), Navy Seals (1990), Predator 2 (1990), Tombstone (1993), U-571 (2000), Vertical Limit (2000), Club Dread (2004))
- Frequently worked with James Cameron
- After his tragic, unexpected death, storm chasers across the country united in forming his initials "B.P." using their GPS coordinates as tribute to his well-loved character from the movie Twister (1996).
- At eight years old, Paxton was in the crowd waving when President John F. Kennedy emerged from the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth, Texas, on the morning of November 22, 1963. There are pictures at the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas where the young Paxton can clearly be seen astride the shoulders of an onlooker.
- He was the only actor to have been killed by a Terminator, an Alien, a Predator, the Grim Reaper and a serial killer.
- Bill had rheumatic fever in the seventh grade. This kept him hospitalized for a month and bedridden for four months. He had to take regular doses of penicillin until he was age 18.
- Had earned the nickname "Wild Bill" among friends and co-stars for his apparently crazed sense of humor and his love for elaborate pranks.
- It's very liberating to be naked in front of a hundred people, but there's nothing sexual about lovemaking on a movie set...
- . . . but it was movies I had always wanted to be in. I'm into the whole thing, not just performing. I love watching what goes on behind the camera. My heroes are Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd -- complete filmmakers.
- I want people to re-evaluate me. My dream would be to make films like Clint Eastwood did... You have to be a self-starter out here at a certain point. It's important to take the reigns or, otherwise, you can be regaled to obscurity so quickly.
- I've always loved movies about con men. I think con men are as American as apple pie.
- I support the troops. This is tough time right now. I think a lot of people in our industry are afraid to speak out. I had a drink with Sean Penn the other night. He went over to Baghdad in December just to see for himself what was going on. And that guy is as American as anybody I ever met.
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