May 17, 1955-February 25, 2017
As some of you may or may not know, one of my favorite actors died last night. Bill Paxton, born May 17, 1955 to Mary Lou and John Lane Paxton, passed away last night due to complications from heart surgery. He was 61. For those of us who are enormous fans of Mr. Paxton, this comes as a major shock. I was talking to one of my friends at work about movie stuff, as we usually do, and he told me that Bill Paxton had died. At first, I refused to believe it, because Bill was not that old, nor did he suffer from any serious cancer. Sure enough, I get home and to my dismay, it was true. This is absolutely tragic, because it came out of nowhere. I don’t to focus on his death, because I want to celebrate his life and the amazing career that he’s had over the past 30+ years.
Bill Paxton was born in Fort Worth, Texas and lived there until he turned 18, when he moved to Los Angeles, California. He found work as a set dresser for Roger Corman’s New World Pictures company. While he’s had a few bit parts in a couple of things between 1975 and 1984, Bill got his biggest break when James Cameron cast him as a blue-haired punk in The Terminator. It wasn’t a huge role and only lasted a few minutes, but it was more than enough, because Cameron would again cast Bill Paxton in another blockbuster movie, Aliens. It was his portrayal of Pvt. Hudson that put him on the map. While Bill Paxton has rarely been considered a leading man in movies, the characters that he inhabits are nothing short of spectacular. Obviously, Hudson is probably his most famous role. At that point, it didn’t really matter what kind of material you threw at the guy, he would always find a way to make it memorable, even if the movie surrounding him wasn’t as good. Mr. Paxton has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, including Kurt Russell, Tom Hanks, James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sigourney Weaver, Donald Glover and Tom Cruise. Yeah, he doesn’t necessarily get the A-list status that these other folks do, but his body of work is no less impressive. He’s worked in television and film, both in front of and behind the camera. His love of the art form and the industry was evident in every single thing he did. He never half-assed ANYTHING. To say that the world has lost a great actor and artist is an understatement. Bill Paxton leaves behind a wife, Louise Newbury and two children.