You will be sorely missed. This past week, however, Hollywood woke up on the day of the awards to find that Fort Worth native Bill Paxton had died at the age of 61 due to complications during heart surgery. Actor Bill Paxton, known for iconic roles in Aliens, Tombstone, Twister, The Terminator, Predator, Weird Science, Apollo 13, and many, many more, has died, a representative for his family said in a statement. He was 61. There was something so glorious, so inspirational about those scenes, and no one could pull them off like Paxton, with his desperate confidence and Texas drawl. However, it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that his career started to achieve some consistency. “It is with heavy hearts we share the news that Bill Paxton has passed away due to complications from surgery,” the statement said. He garnered critical acclaim for his performance as the lead role in the HBO series Big Love, receiving three Golden Globe nominations, as well as his performance in the History Channel miniseries Hatfields & McCoys, which earned him an Emmy nomination. Among the favorite ditties on the playlist was “Fish Heads,” recorded in 1978 by a Los Angeles-based band that including Billy Mumy, who portrayed Will Robinson on the TV show Lost in Space in the 1960s. RIP Bill Paxton (34 photos) Actor Bill Paxton, known for iconic roles in Aliens, Tombstone, Twister, The Terminator, Predator, Weird Science, Apollo 13, and many, many more, has died, a representative for his family said in a statement. He described for Bullz-Eye magazine in 2010 how he had overheard Mumy and co-writer Robert Haimer talking about making a “Fish Heads” video. Paxton always managed to land the role that placed his character staring down certain death — whether it be the fearsome maw of a Xenomorph alien or the eerie outline of a Predator — before screaming “FUCK IT!” and charging wild-eyed, guns blazing at his foe. Bill Paxton lebte mit seiner Frau und zwei gemeinsamen Kindern in Ojai in Kalifornien. Tom Hanks called him “simply a wonderful man,” while Arnold Schwarzenegger said, “Bill could play any role, but he was best at being Bill — a great human being with a huge heart.” These were joined by younger actors who only admired Paxton from afar, as Josh Gad called his sudden death “beyond crushing” and Patton Oswalt said, “I can’t believe he’s gone.”. First, Cameron cast him as the buffoonish salesman who tries to move in on a married Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies, in which Paxton was stuck in a terrible subplot but brought Pvt. It is with great sadness that we have lost our beloved actor Bill Paxton on February 25th 2017 due to a stroke during a heart surgery. His early roles included a turn in The Lords of Discipline, in which he was credited as “Wild” Bill Paxton and played a military-school cadet who brutally hazes the newbies. Er starb am 25. Hudson’s hysteria to a comic part for all he was worth. I have read and agree to the Paxton volunteered to direct the video, drawing on his experiences making short films in Fort Worth, and he gave himself the lead role. That film wound up finishing second in 1996’s box-office race to Independence Day (which starred Pullman, ironically enough), but then that movie would be drowned out in turn the following year by Cameron’s Titanic, in which Paxton played a pivotal role in the framing story. RIP Bill Paxton. But he remained humble, down to earth, and friendly throughout his life, even after he became a bona fide Hollywood star. He was 61. Privacy Policy, we won't post anything without permission, Copyright © 2020 Chive Media Group, LLC All Rights Reserved. The reaction from his colleagues, too, tells us what a fine man has been lost as well. And that’s how I’ll remember him. The actor had other worthy credits, including a leading role in Carl Franklin’s highly praised but little-seen 1992 thriller One False Move. His early roles included a turn in The Lords of Discipline, in which he was credited as “Wild” Bill Paxton and played a military-school cadet who brutally hazes the newbies. Since 1994, Fort Worth Weekly has provided a vibrant alternative to North Texas’ often-timid mainstream media outlets by offering incisive, irreverent reportage that keeps readers well informed and the powers-that-be worried. “A loving husband and father, Bill began his career in Hollywood working on films in the art department and went on to have an illustrious career spanning four decades as a beloved and prolific actor and filmmaker. Paxton was living in L.A. then but having difficulty landing acting roles. Paxton was born on May 17, 1955, in Fort Worth and grew up wealthy on the city’s West Side, living in his family’s large house on Indian Creek Drive next to the golf course at Shady Oaks Country Club. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Terms of Service Though his career had fallow stretches and films that didn’t merit his talents, he showed no signs of losing his unshowy energy and his knack for finding ways to make their straightforwardness into something interesting. 3 talking about this. To be fair, he was busy during the ’00s giving his other iconic performance as a polygamist on HBO’s Big Love, where you believed that his quiet and cool-headed character could yet have a personality strong enough to pull three wives into his orbit. “He was born into a family of wealth and took advantage of that, but I never saw him behave as if he were entitled to anything,” Huckabee said. Hudson, a Marine whose fighting swagger disintegrates after encountering the xenomorphs. His 2002 directing debut Frailty showed great promise, though he got to direct only one other feature, The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005), an undistinguished Disneyfied golf drama. The Oscar ceremony is known, among other things, for its annual montage of film-industry professionals who died during the previous 12 months. Todesursache war ein Schlaganfall, den er nach Komplikationen bei einer Herz-Operation erlitten hatte. His death came too late to be edited into the montage, but Jennifer Aniston cried as she spoke of Paxton’s death, and A-list stars from around the world took to Twitter to express their sadness and appreciation for him both as an actor and as a person. Paxton told Marc Maron during a WTF podcast on February 6 that the illness is known to damage the heart valves. We ask to please respect the family’s wish for privacy as they mourn the loss of their adored husband and father.”. His longtime affiliation with director James Cameron started in 1984 with a role as a gang leader in The Terminator, though he’d make a much larger impression two years later in Cameron’s Aliens as Pvt. © Copyright © 2020 Fort Worth Weekly, All Rights Reserved. Many kids growing up in the late 1970s would tune in to the Dr. Demento syndicated radio show and listen to bizarre novelty songs on Saturday nights. I can honestly say that of my top ten favorites, he was in at least five of them. Februar 2017 im Alter von 61 Jahren. Hollywood loses a cherished actor. Some films of his are yet to be released, such as The Circle, where he plays Emma Watson’s father. People were often shocked to discover he’d been born rich. Paxton participated in drama classes at Arlington Heights High School in the early 1970s and began making homemade films with buddies, including local screenwriter, director, and producer Tom Huckabee. The man had a huge impact on so many of my favorite movies. This was followed by a turn as one of the marooned astronauts in the Oscar-nominated Apollo 13 and then the lead role in the heavily hyped disaster flick Twister. and (The role was neatly complemented by his part in 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow, playing a drill sergeant who would have squashed Hudson.). The Paxton family’s deep pockets proved helpful to Paxton as he struggled to establish himself as an actor in Hollywood. Bill’s passion for the arts was felt by all who knew him, and his warmth and tireless energy were undeniable. It’s hard to remember now that in the 1990s, the joke going around film fans was everyone’s inability to distinguish Bill Paxton from Bill Pullman, two white guys of similar age bearing similar names who always seemed to play the guy who would woo the leading lady but ultimately lose her to the leading man. His leading role in 1998’s thriller A Simple Plan showed him at his best, with the actor using his innate decency to demonstrate powerfully how a man’s desperate circumstances and sudden windfall could lead him to evil.