Bill Paxton Movies and Career Information

William "Bill" Paxton (born May 17, 1955) is an American actor and film director. He gained popularity after his starring roles in the movies Apollo 13, Twister, Aliens, and True Lies. Paxton is currently starring in the fourth season of the HBO series Big Love which premiered in the United States on January 10, 2010. Paxton was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of Mary Lou (née Gray) and John Lane Paxton, who was a businessman, a lumber wholesaler, a museum executive, and occasionally an actor. Paxton was raised in his mother's Catholic religion. Paxton attended Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth, Texas, and then Texas State University (then called Southwest Texas State Univ.) in San Marcos, Texas, and then moved to Los Angeles, California, and began working for the movie director Roger Corman as a set designer on his movies. Exposure to movies and actors at that age influenced Paxton's decision to pursue acting, which lead him to relocate to New York City, where he studied under Stella Adler. Paxton has played many distinctive and memorable characters including the sneering older brother Chet in John Hughes' Weird Science; the loud-mouthed Colonial Marine