Bill Paxton was born on May 17, 1955, in Fort Worth, Texas, to Mary Lou (Gray) and John Lane Paxton, a businessman and actor. At the age of eighteen, Bill moved to Los Angeles, California, where he began his career in the film industry as a set dresser for Roger Corman's New World Pictures.
His film debut came in the Corman film Crazy Mama (1975),directed by Jonathan Demme. Paxton then moved to New York, where he studied acting under Stella Adler at New York University. He landed a small role in Stripes (1981) and subsequently found steady work in low-budget films and television.
Paxton 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 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 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 Paxton died on February 25, 2017, in Los Angeles, from complications following heart surgery. He was 61.
