William Paxton sometimes known as "Wild Bill" among friends and co-stars for his crazed
sense of humor and his love for pranks was born in Fort Worth Texas on May 17, 1955.
His parents were Mary and John Paxton. His father worked as a lumber wholesaler and,
later, during his son's career, an occasional actor. His great-great-grandfather was Elisha
Franklin Paxton, a general in the Confederate States Army who was killed commanding the
legendary Stonewall Brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
Paxton was photographed as a young boy in the crowd when President John F. Kennedy departed
from the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth after giving his last speech on the morning of his
assassination on November 22, 1963.
Paxton graduated from Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth in 1973, after which
he studied at Richmond College in England. Paxton later moved to Los Angeles, where he worked
at film studios in the property and art departments He aspired to be a film director but after
was rejected by film schools he decided to pursue acting as his profession.
Moving to New York, Paxton studied acting under Stella Adler at New York University.
Some of Paxton's early roles included “Stripes” in 1981 The Terminator in (1984), Streets
of Fire, Weird Science in (1985), and in Aliens in(1986). He also appeared in the Pat Benatar music
video “Shadows of the Night”. He directed several short films, including
the music video for Barnes & Barnes's novelty song "Fish Heads".
Bill Paxton helped form a new wave band called Martini Ranch. The band released its
only full-length album, Holy Cow, in 1988 on Sire Records.
During the 90’s Paxton appeared in Predator 2 , “Navy Seals , “Tombstone" in 1993,
True Lies with Arnold Schwarzenegger , “Apollo 13” in 1995, “Twister” in ’96 and Titanic in
(1997). In the year 2000, his films included U-571
and Vertical Limit. Frailty in (2001) and “The greatest game ever played” in 2005
both of which which he also directed, He then did Thunderbirds in (2004), Edge of
Tomorrow and “Nightcrawler in (2014).
Paxton was married to Kelly Rowan from 1979 to 1980. In 1987 he married Louise Newbury,
whom he first met in London when she was a student. They had two children: James,
also an actor, and Lydia.
A few years after appearing in Titanic, Paxton joined Director James Cameron on an expedition
to the actual Titanic. A film about this trip, Ghosts of the Abyss was released in
2003.
His successful television performances included his lead role in HBO's Big Love which ran
from (2006–2011) for which Paxton received three Golden Globe Award nominations. Paxton
also appeared in the miniseries Hatfields & McCoys in (2012), for which he was nominated
for an Emmy Award. In 2014, he played the role of the villainous John
Garrett in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. In February 2016, Paxton was cast as Detective
Frank Rourke for the CBS television crime drama Training Day.
Bill Paxton suffered from a damaged heart valve, which developed after having rheumatic
fever at the age of 13. Paxton underwent an aortic aneurysm repair and bicuspid aortic
valve replacement surgery on February 14, 2017. Sadly eleven days later, on February
25, 2017, Paxton died of a stroke. He was only 61 years old.
On February 26, 2017, while introducing the annual In Memoriam segment at the 89th
Academy Awards, which took place the day after Paxton's death, a visibly emotional Jennifer
Aniston paid tribute to Paxton tearing up as she lauded the late actor as a “cherished
member of the Hollywood family.”
His remains were cremated, and are interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park of Hollywood
Hills.
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