William "Bill" Paxton was an American actor and film director. He gained popularity after starring roles in the films Apollo 13, Twister, Aliens, True Lies, and Titanic. Paxton starred in the HBO series Big Love (2006–2011).
Alien franchise credit[]
Hudson[]
- Aliens (1986)
Other credits[]
- Crazy Mama (1975) - John
- Fish Heads (1980)
- Stripes (1981) - Soldier
- Night Warning (1983) - Eddie
- Taking Tiger Mountain (1983) - Billy Hampton
- Deadly Lessons (1983) - Eddie Fox
- Mortuary (1983) - Paul Andrews
- The Lords of Discipline (1983) - Gilbreath
- Impulse (1984) - Eddie
- Streets of Fire - Clyde the Bartender
- The Terminator (1984) - Punk Leader
- An Early Frost (1985) - Bob Maracek
- The Atlanta Child Murders (1985) - Campbell
- Commando (1985) - Intercept Officer
- Weird Science (1985) - Chet Donnelly
- Fresno (1986) - Billy Joe Bobb
- Aliens (1986) - William Hudson
- Near Dark (1987) - Severen
- Slipstream (1989) - Matt Owens
- Next of Kin (1989) - Gerald Gates
- Back to Back (1989) - Bo Brand
- Brain Dead (1990) - Jim Reston
- The Last of the Finest (1990) - Howard 'Hojo' Jones
- Navy SEALs (1990) - Dane
- Predator 2 (1990) - Jerry Lambert
- The Dark Backward (1991) - Gus
- The Vagrant (1992) - Graham Krakowski
Biographical information[]
Personal life[]
Paxton was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of Mary Lou (née Gray) and John Lane Paxton, a businessman, lumber wholesaler, museum executive, and occasional actor. He was raised Roman Catholic, his mother's religion. He attended St. Anne's Catholic School, Arlington Heights High School (Fort Worth, Texas), and Southwest Texas State University (San Marcos, Texas).
Career[]
Paxton has appeared in such films as Weird Science, Aliens, Apollo 13, Near Dark, Twister, Titanic and True Lies. 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.
Paxton has also 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 and The Greatest Game Ever Played.
Paxton 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 Limp Bizkit video Eat You Alive.
In 1988, Paxton and the vocalist/guitarist Andrew Todd Rosenthal formed a short-lived rock duo Martini Ranch.
Death[]
On February 25, 2017, Paxton died at age 61 from complications following surgery.[1] [2]
Trivia[]
- Throughout his film career, Bill Paxton holds the dubious record as the only actor to be attacked by an Alien, a Predator and a Terminator. Lance Henriksen would later share the same record after the release of Alien vs. Predator in 2004.