Sam Bottoms Movies and Career Information

Samuel John "Sam" Bottoms (October 17, 1955 – December 16, 2008) was an American actor and producer. Bottoms was born in Santa Barbara, California, the third son of James "Bud" Bottoms (a sculptor and art teacher) and Betty (Chapman), both of whom survive him. He was the brother of actors Timothy Bottoms (born 1951), Joseph Bottoms (born 1954) and Ben Bottoms (born 1960). When Bottoms was 16 years old, he was on the set of The Last Picture Show, in which his older brother Timothy starred, when the director Peter Bogdanovich decided to give him a screen test. Sam ended up playing the character of Billy in the movie, who has no spoken lines, but contributes a pivotal role in the drama. Two years later, Bottoms appeared with Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales. He is perhaps best remembered for his role as surfer Lance Johnson, a Navy Gunner's Mate stationed on a river boat in Francis Ford Coppola's 20th century opus, Apocalypse Now. Other notable roles include his part in Seabiscuit and co-starring with British Chinese-Singaporean movie star Ava Lyn Koh in a lesbian-assassin thriller True Files, aka Shanghai Lily. He died of glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain tumor, on