Bill Paxton was a popular character actor and then leading man in a four-decade career that lasted until his untimely death in 2017. Born and raised in Texas, Bill Paxton took an unusual career path: he moved to Hollywood in 1973, at age 18, and began working as a gofer and art department assistant. (An early employer was
James Cameron, then a production designer but later an Oscar-winning director.) But in 1976 he moved to New York City to take classes from famed acting coach Stella Adler; two years later he returned to Hollywood determined to make it as an actor. Sturdy and good-looking, but never exactly leading-man handsome, Paxton built a career as a character actor and villain, starting with his role as the evil older brother in the 1985 sci-fi comedy
Weird Science. 10 years later he played astronaut Fred Haise in
Apollo 13 (1995) and had a leading man role in the tornado-loving action film
Twister (1996, with
Helen Hunt). Other key films included
Predator 2 (1990) and
Tombstone (1993, with
Kurt Russell). He remained friends with James Cameron and appeared in Cameron’s films
The Terminator (1984),
Aliens (1986, with
Sigourney Weaver),
True Lies (1994, with
Arnold Schwarzenegger),
Titanic (1996) and
Ghosts of the Abyss (2003). Paxton was 51 when he won the lead in the HBO series
Big Love. He played Bill Henrickson, a polygamist trying to juggle life with three wives (played by Jeanne Tripplehorn, Ginnifer Goodwin and
Chloë Sevigny). The highly-praised series ran from 2006-2011 and gave Paxton a long run in a starring role. He was later Emmy-nominated for the miniseries
The Hatfields and the McCoys (he was a McCoy), and at the time of his death in 2017 he had just completed filming on the first season of the TV series
Training Day. “It is with heavy hearts we share the news that Bill Paxton has passed away due to complications from surgery,” his family said in a statement shortly after his death.