Bill Paxton

Biography: Bill Paxton, who was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, is an American film and TV actor whose acting career began in the 80s. He discovered his desire to become an actor during high school when he and his friends made movies using hand-held cameras and Super 8 film. His parents, who were supportive of his goal, approved of his relocating to Los Angeles when he was eighteen.

In order to pay the bills while looking for work in the industry, Bill used to park cars at the Beverly Hills Hotel. He also began working as a set designer for Roger Corman at New World Pictures. Determined that acting gigs will come his way once he took a few acting lessons, Paxton moved to New York to study under renowned acting coach Stella Adler in New York University.

Work did come in as Bill made 11 big screen appearances between 1981 and 1986, the most notable of which was playing the memorable character Chet in Weird Science. Although he began his acting career with minor roles and bit parts in blockbuster films such as The Terminator (1984) and Aliens (1986), Paxton eventually made his own hits in major roles in Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), and Titanic.

Aside from his work as an actor, Paxton has also directed short films and episodes of Saturday Night Live. He was also a member of the musical band Martini Ranch. On television, he was cast as Bill Henrickson, the protagonist husband in a polygamous family, in the HBO drama Big Love in 2006.… Expand