Biography
Okay. This is just a temporary bio, and will be updated constantly as new information is gathered. It's straight from the top of my head, so I cannot as of right now give credit to all the great sources of info from which this bio comes. Make sure to pass over the hidden links in the bio for some goodie, too.
Stats:
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Name: William Paxton (I don't know why, but I think there's a J. in there somewhere.)
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Birthdate: May 17, 1955
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Height: Okay, this is a point of some debate. I've found everything from 5'10" to 6'5". Let's say 6'2" and be done with it.
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Hair/Eyes: (Why is this important again?) Brown/Blue
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Place of Birth: Forth Worth, TX
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Place of Residence: Ojai, CA
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Parents: John and Mary Lou Paxton
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Marital Status: Married Louise Newberry in 1987
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Children: James, 5, born March 15, 1994, and Lydia, 1, born December 19, 1997
The second of four children, it's hard to pin down what his earliest influences were. I would say it's his dad, John. He made it a point to take him and his older brother Bob (now 46), to the movies in Dallas--which would explain his love for Buddy Hackett, and why he wants to direct a movie based on Hackett's life (I believe he has Gary Sinise in mind for the part, but that could have changed). His dad started out as a travelling salesman, and then proceeded to run a rather successful lumber business. Bill remembers his dad coming home with stories to tell, and sayings he picked up. In fact, Bill's made it a point to use these sayings in his films--and one of them appears in his scene with Arnold Schwartzeneger in True Lies.
I'm not aware of much concerning his childhood. I get the feeling that, like most kids, he was rambunctious: he mentioned starting a fire with his brother one Christmas in an abandoned lot with his brother on Conan O'Brien recently. But I also know that he suffered from rheumatic fever as a kid (and even so recently as late fall/early winter was recovering from pnemonia and walking with a can from an injured knee. What a trooper. But I digress...), and that when Bill was eight his dad took him and his brother to Dallas to see President Kennedy on the day he was killed.
BILL PAXTON (Lt. Commander Mike Dahlgren) has starred in over
40 films. He was last seen in Sam Raimi's A Simple Plan, and has also starred in Ron Howard's Apollo 13, Jan de Bont's Twister and
Carl Franklin's One False Move.
Other film credits include Weird Science, Near Dark, Tombstone,
Trespass, The Evening Star and Mighty Joe Young. He received a
Golden Globe Award nomination for his work in the HBO film A
Bright Shining Lie.
Paxton has also had a longstanding relationship with Jim Cameron, both starting their professional film careers in the art department of
Roger Corman's film company. He has acted in the Cameron -directed films The Terminator, Aliens, True Lies and Titanic, and produced and starred in the music video "The Reach," which Cameron directed for Paxton's '80s cult band Martini Ranch.
He began making short films as a teenager in Fort Worth, Texas. Fish Heads, which he produced, directed and starred in, premiered
on Saturday Night Live in 1980 and was selected by Rolling Stone
Magazine as one of the 100 Best Music Videos Ever Made. In 1997, he produced and starred in the film Traveller, opposite Mark
Wahlberg. He is developing several movies now with his production
company, American Entertainment.
Paxton recently completed production on Verticial Limit, directed
by Martin Campbell, which will be released this Summer by Columbia. He is also in pre-production on Mexicali in which he will
star and will produce with Hal Lieberman and Jonathan
Mostow.
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