Billy Bob Thornton is a well-known name in the film industry, but life hasn't been
a smooth ride for Thornton. He’s faced all sorts of struggles throughout his lifetime,
and he’s pretty self-aware about them too. Here's the tragic details of his real-life story.
For Billy Bob Thornton, childhood was hardly a rosy affair. There were a lot of obstacles
to overcome, and his family often didn't have enough food to eat. He was raised in Malvern,
Arkansas, in a large family. His folks basically ate the food that
his grandfather managed to bring home after hunting. Thornton would help out his family
later by working in factories and doing various local music gigs.
Not being privileged also meant that Thornton saw some horrifying things as a kid. For example,
he witnessed a fatal hit-and-run accident right outside his home when he was six years old.
He also heard a neighbor dismissing the entire incident because the victim was Black.
The one good thing about being a kid, Thornton said,
was being blissfully unaware of the hardships that they faced as a family. He told ABC News,
"We didn't have a lot of money. But you know when you're a kid you don't know that.
I mean you're not aware of all of that kind of stuff."
Thornton has struggled with dyslexia ever since he was a kid. This made school very
difficult for him, and he also found himself struggling later as a professional actor.
In fact, he often needed someone else to read out his lines to him on set
so that he could remember them. He even made a film on the subject called "Dislecksia:
The Movie." The documentary dug deeper into the condition and
looked at the solutions needed to overcome the difficulties associated with dyslexia.
The actor revealed more details about his childhood experiences
in a conversation with Men's Journal. Thornton explained,
"I was severely dyslexic, so I was just kind of known around school as a moron.
Nobody really encouraged me. Dyslexia drives you, because you're trying to overcome this thing."
He added that he'd heard something that applies to his life:
Researchers believe that kids with conditions such as dyslexia end up
excelling in fields like the arts to, quote, "compensate in other ways."
Home was definitely not a safe space for Billy Bob Thornton as a kid. According to GQ, Thornton would
wait in fear for his dad to return home from work, counting to 100 several times in the final minutes
before his father came in. He has lived with obsessive compulsive disorder since childhood,
and he hoped that this ritual would guarantee that the night would go smoothly. His dad was
an abusive man who terrified the entire family and regularly hit Thornton and other family members.
As per NBC News, Thornton's mother said that her son was often beaten as a child,
and her husband would even use a belt at times. Thornton said that the first time he was hit,
he was three or four years old.
When asked what advice would he offer to someone else who
had been through something similar, he said,
"I say get away from it, but don't punish the person who has inflicted it upon you.
Forgive them and leave."
Acting wasn't an easy profession to get into for Billy Bob Thornton. According to a piece by The
Things, the actor spent many years netting minor roles in films such as "Floundering," "Tombstone,"
and "Grey Knight." Success was really hard to come by, as far as Thornton was concerned. When
it finally did come, it was through a movie that he directed, scripted, and acted in:
"Sling Blade." He won an oscar for this film and really started making a name for himself.
Thornton hasn't taken his success for granted and thinks acting isn't a function of talent alone.
He said that in order to be a really powerful actor, a person needs to think about some of
the most impactful moments from their life, focus on how they felt back then,
and use that emotion to play a role convincingly. And it seems like he does just that.
The actor was in his 40s when he finally got noticed. In other words,
he had to wait a long time for success. When he was asked about how long it took,
he said that he persevered due to his own ignorance, always believing no matter what,
that he'd be noticed sooner or later, which, of course, he was right about. Thornton added,
"If I had made it when I was in my 20s, I think I would have grabbed everything I could.
And there's no telling where I would have ended up."
Romance was a tough nut to crack
for Thornton. The actor has been married a surprising six times. His first marriage was
to a woman named Melissa Lee Gatlin, and the couple had a daughter named Amanda.
Thornton and Gatlin were only married for two years. Later, he dated actress Toni
Lawrence and married her in 1986. They, too, decided to break up after a couple of years.
After that relationship broke down, Thornton tied the knot with another actress,
Cynthia Williams, in 1990 and even worked with her in a film called "One False Move."
They split up after a brief period together. Thornton tried again and married a Russian
actress named Pietra Dawn Cherniak. They had two kids together before calling it quits.
Thornton proceeded to date actress Laura Dern. They were engaged to be married,
but things turned sour when Thornton met Angelina Jolie. They made things official
in 2000. Unfortunately, this didn't last very long, either, and the pair divorced in 2003.
After his breakup with Jolie, Thornton was rumored to have dated actress Téa Leoni, who once said,
"Billy Bob is my new favorite person in the world."
After several attempts, Thornton seems to have found everlasting
love and has been married to his current wife,
Connie Angland, since 2014. They'd known each other for 12 years before tying the knot.
“Aces.”
Thornton has expressed regret for his split with Angelina Jolie. He told NBC
News in 2004 that the relationship was definitely worth fighting for.
Thornton explained that he was insecure in the relationship and scared, saying,
"Angie was the only person that I ever had a chance with.
And I screwed that up [...] I was afraid of her. She was too beautiful for me.
She was too smart for me. She had too much integrity for me. I felt so small next to her."
Both their relationship and breakup received a lot of media attention,
as the couple had been known for being vocal about their affection for each other.
What did Jolie think about the relationship? Well, the actress felt that they ended up
drifting apart as a couple and simply could not find their way back to each other.
They didn't have much to talk about and had different passions,
something that the actress acknowledged. She told Vanity Fair in 2005,
"It was just totally different paths in life,
and then we just looked at each other one day and we had nothing to say to each other."
Billy Bob Thornton has dealt with obsessive compulsive disorder for a long time.
The actor told NBC News that it can be an exhausting experience
to live with it. He described his OCD by saying:
"You're constantly doing mathematics in your head [...] Certain numbers
represent certain people. And I can't use that number in a certain circumstance."
Additionally, as per ABC News, his dedication to doing justice to movie roles meant that he
would experiment with food and his eating habits, constantly putting on weight or shedding pounds
to fit each role. He was so obsessed at one point that he found himself battling an eating disorder.
He survived on just tuna and Twizzlers for an extended period of time to come across as,
quote, "gaunt" in one of his films. Thornton has dealt with several phobias as well,
and he struggled to keep his fears in check when shooting for the film "Love Actually."
Thornton had a smoking habit that he found difficult to get rid of. He couldn't help
turning to it despite the fact that he lost his father to lung cancer. He told NBC News,
"I wish I didn't do it simply because it hurts other people in my life."
He admitted that he enjoyed smoking and would've been very happy if someone could
tell him that it wasn't harmful to his body after all. Thornton said,
"Some people love hot fudge sundaes. I love this — this thing."
Thornton also spoke about how difficult his father's last moments were and said
that he was hallucinating toward the end, something that was very hard to witness.
Thornton stayed by his father's side, despite their troubled history. He said that it was
traumatic to see his father suffering so much and that he wasn't okay with leaving him all alone.
Losing his brother in 1988 was a harrowing experience,
something that Billy Bob Thornton couldn't really come to terms with. He was 33 years old and was
working in the film industry, trying to make a mark for himself, when his brother, Jimmy,
passed away unexpectedly from a heart ailment that had remained undiagnosed until that point.
Thornton shared with "Oprah's Master Class" how deeply his brother’s loss affected him.
He explained that it happened at a point where he was really enjoying life:
making money, hanging with friends, having little responsibility.
Jimmy’s sudden death, quote, “changed everything” for Thornton. He was permanently affected by it:
“I’ll be sad and melancholy about [Jimmy’s death] forever,
and I know it. I accept it, and I live with it.”
Jimmy was only 30 years old when he died from ventricular fibrillation.
Thornton told the Huffington Post that losing Jimmy changed him in many ways, saying,
"I don't want to forget what it felt like when he died,
because he deserves [that remembrance]. That's how important he was to me."
Thornton's daughter from his first marriage,
Amanda Brumfield, was involved in a horrifying incident in 2008. As per People, Brumfield was
not on talking terms with Thornton at the time she was convicted of aggravated manslaughter
in a disturbing case that involved a baby's death, for which she was deemed responsible.
In her defense, Brumfield claimed that the child, whom she'd been babysitting in October 2008,
had an accidental fall from her playpen. Investigators refused to believe this
and felt that the baby's injuries were far too severe and didn't align with Brumfield's claims.
She was found guilty in 2011. Thornton released a public statement on the case,
expressing his support for the baby's family. He said,
"Anytime a baby's life is lost is an unimaginable tragedy,
and my heart goes out to the baby's family and loved ones."
Billy Bob Thornton is no stranger to loss. He lost one of his closest buddies, actor John Ritter,
with whom he'd worked on the film "Bad Santa," in 2003. The actor died from a heart complication.
Thornton told NBC News that it was rather difficult to cope with Ritter's death. He said,
"No matter what your beliefs are about life,
you know, the fact of the matter is, is that you miss people when they go."
He lost two other close friends, Warren Zevon and Johnny Cash, around the same time. He was gutted,
telling Entertainment Weekly that he experienced a deep pain in his chest when he found out about
Zevon's death, as well as when found out about Ritter's demise a few days later.
He was completely shocked. The following day, it was announced that Johnny Cash had died as well.
Thornton implied that it felt unreal and difficult to believe. He said,
"It was like a cartoon, you know?"
If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse,
please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or
contact their live chat services. Also, if you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse,
you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233.
You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues,
help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website
or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
If you are struggling with an eating disorder, or know someone who is, help is available. Visit the
National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237.
You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).