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William "Bill" Paxton (born May 17, 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American actor and film director. He is a son of John Lane Paxton (an occasional actor) and Mary Lou Paxton. Paxton has been married to Louise Newbury since 1985, and they have two children, James (born 1994) and Lydia (born 1997). Distinctive and memorable characters that Paxton has played include the sneering older brother Chet in John Hughes' Weird Science; Hudson, the loud-mouthed space soldier in James Cameron's Aliens ("Game over, man! Game over!"); astronaut Fred Haise in Ron Howard's Apollo 13; the sadistic vampire Severen in Kathryn Bigelow's film Near Dark; and a tornado researcher opposite Helen Hunt in the blockbuster Twister and the sleazy car salesman in True Lies. Notable is the moving performance Paxton delivered in Carl Franklin's critically acclaimed One False Move. Paxton moved to Los Angeles at 18 and began working for director Roger Corman as a set designer on his films. Exposure to films and actors at that age influenced his decision to pursue acting and led Paxton to relocate to New York City, where he studied with Stella Adler. In addition to his acting career, Paxton has directed a number of short films, including Fish Heads, which aired during Saturday Night Live's low-rated 1980-1981 season on the episode hosted by Ellen Burstyn (with musical guests Aretha Franklin and Keith Sykes (http://snl.jt.org/ep.php?i=198012060)). He has also moved into directing feature films with Frailty and The Greatest Game Ever Played. He was also a member of the band Martini Ranch. Paxton is currently performing in the HBO drama Big Love as the head of a polygamous family in Utah.
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