William "Bill" Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017) was an American actor, director, producer, screenwriter, editor, production designer, production manager, set decorator and singer who played Private Hudson in the 1986 film Aliens and Jerry in the 1990 film Predator 2. He later lent his likeness to the Hudson character in the 2013 video game Aliens: Colonial Marines, although he did not provide the character's voice in this appearance. He was the father of Alien: Alone actor James Paxton. Other notable films Paxton appeared in include Near Dark (1987), Tombstone (1993), True Lies (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), Titanic (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014). Aside from his work in film, Paxton had an extensive career in television.
For his role in Aliens, Paxton won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. In addition to this, he was nominated for four Golden Globes and an Emmy. He is often said to be one of two actors (the other being Lance Henriksen) who have been killed on-screen by an Alien, a Predator and a Terminator (although some argue that Paxton's character in The Terminator was not definitively killed).
On February 25, 2017, Paxton died of a stroke precipitated by complications following heart surgery.[1][2]
Awards and Nominations
| Year | Film | Notes |
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| 1986 | Aliens | Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor |
Filmography
| Year | Title | Functioned as | Notes | |
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| Director | Actor | |||
| 1975 | Crazy Mama | 
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Uncredited |
| 1980 | Fish Heads |
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| 1981 | Stripes |
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| 1983 | Night Warning |
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| Taking Tiger Mountain |
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| Mortuary |
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| The Lords of Discipline |
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With Michael Biehn, Valerie Colgan, William Hope and Stuart Milligan | |
| 1984 | Impulse |
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| Streets of Fire |
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| The Terminator |
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With Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen and Arnold Schwarzenegger, directed by James Cameron | |
| 1985 | An Early Frost |
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| Commando |
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With Bill Duke, Dan Hedaya, Thomas Rosales, Jr. and Arnold Schwarzenegger | |
| Weird Science |
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| 1986 | Fresno |
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| Aliens |
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| 1987 | Near Dark |
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With Jenette Goldstein and Lance Henriksen |
| 1988 | Pass the Ammo |
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| 1989 | Slipstream |
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With Simon Crane, Alan Polonsky and Ricco Ross |
| Next of Kin |
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With Adam Baldwin | |
| Back to Back |
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| 1990 | Braid Dead |
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| The Last of the Finest |
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With Steve Boyum | |
| Navy SEALs |
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With Michael Biehn | |
| Predator 2 |
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| 1991 | The Dark Backward |
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| 1992 | The Vagrant |
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| One False Move |
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| Trespass |
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With Gerard G. Williams | |
| 1993 | Monolith |
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With John Cann, John Hurt and David St. James |
| Indian Summer |
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| Boxing Helena |
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| Tombstone |
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With Michael Biehn | |
| 1994 | Frank and Jesse |
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| True Lies |
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With Steve Boyum and Arnold Schwarzenegger, directed by James Cameron | |
| Future Shock |
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| 1995 | The Last Supper |
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With Ron Perlman |
| Apollo 13 |
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With Christopher John Fields | |
| 1996 | Twister |
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With Jake Busey |
| The Evening Star |
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| 1997 | Titanic |
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With Simon Crane, Jenette Goldstein and Michael Papajohn, directed by James Cameron |
| Traveller |
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| 1998 | A Bright Shining Lie |
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| A Simple Plan |
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| Mighty Joe Young |
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With Charlize Theron | |
| 2000 | U-571 |
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With Carsten Voigt |
| Vertical Limit |
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With Simon Crane | |
| 2001 | Frailty |
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| 2002 | Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams |
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With Danny Trejo, directed by Robert Rodriguez |
| 2003 | Ghosts of the Abyss |
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| Eat You Alive |
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Uncredited | |
| Resistance |
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| Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over |
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With Danny Trejo, directed by Robert Rodriguez | |
| 2004 | Club Dread |
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| Haven |
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| Thunderbirds |
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With Clive Curtis and Deobia Oparei | |
| 2005 | The Greatest Game Ever Played |
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| 2007 | The Good Life |
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With Harry Dean Stanton |
| 2011 | Haywire |
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With Michael Fassbender |
| Tattoo |
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| 2012 | Shanghai Calling |
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| 2013 | The Colony |
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With Laurence Fishburne |
| 2 Guns |
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| Red Wing |
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| 2014 | Edge of Tomorrow |
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With Simon Crane and Shane Steyn |
| Million Dollar Arm |
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| Nightcrawler |
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With Michael Papajohn | |
Documentary Appearances
- Grunts in Space
- The Making of Alien3
- The Beast Within: Making Alien Enhancement Pods
- Superior Firepower: Making Aliens
- The Hunters and the Hunted: The Making of Predator 2
Trivia
- Paxton was approached by the Brothers Strause for the role of the chef Ritchie in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, but ultimately he did not appear.[3] Had he accepted the role, he would have held the remarkable distinction of appearing in the second movie of the Alien series, the second movie of the Predator series and the second movie of the Alien vs. Predator series. He also would have been the only actor to appear in all three series.
External Links
- Bill Paxton at the Internet Movie Database
- Bill Paxton on Wikipedia
- ↑ Bill Paxton, 'Titanic' and 'Aliens' Actor, Dead at 61
- ↑ People.com
- ↑ "AvPGalaxy Podcast - Episode #60". Retrieved on 2018-08-07.