Bill Paxton (1955-2017)
Tuesday, February 28, 2017 at 11:00AM By Nathaniel R
In all the hoopla and festivities surrounding Oscar night, we neglected to note the passing of an actor who has a real pop culture fixture since the 1980s. Bill Paxton died of complications in surgery the day before the Oscars. He was currently leading the TV adaptation of Training Day in the former Denzel Washington role (they had reversed the race dynamics of the leads for the series). CBS says the role will not be recast though they have not yet announced if there will be a second season.
Paxton's first credited feature role was as "Soldier" in the comedy Stripes (1981) but most people first noticed him in the mid 80s in the films of James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow...
He was the mohawked punk in the beginning of The Terminator (1984) who picks the wrong naked man to harass and of course he gained major pop culture cred as the highly stressed Private Hudson in Aliens (1986), who everyone quoted a lot in the 1980s...
GAME OVER, MAN, GAME OVER!
FINGER LICKIN' GOOD.
He won the Saturn Award for Private Hudson and later co-starred in yet more Cameron features (Titanic, True Lies). He was also memorable as the terrifying Severen in Kathryn Bigelow's potent vampire flick Near Dark (1987).
But that was just the beginning. He'd later go on to multiple Globe nods for headlining the polygamy drama Big Love on HBO and he was a regular fixture in action films (Haywire, 2 Guns, Vertical Limit, Navy Seals, Tombstone, Twister) and genre fare (Agents of SHIELD, Edge of Tomorrow, etcetera)
What's your fondest memory of Paxton?
Aliens, Bill Paxton, James Cameron, Near Dark, RIP
Reader Comments (19)
Had a crush on him growing up. Cameron's dialogue for him in True Lies is pretty controversial, "Ass like a ten year old boy" – but, my favorite from the movie is, "I'm nothing, I'm navel lint". He holds the distinction of being killed by The Terminator, The Alien, and The Predator.
He didn't have the fame as his co-stars, but I'll always remember him as Fred Haise in <I>Apollo 13</I>.
Big Love. I still cannot believe he was never up for an Emmy.
In a nearly empty theatre, I enjoyed whatever happened in A Simple Plan. He gave a quiet, strong performance which he rarely got the chance to do. Nobody talks about it anymore. Great little film.
As the obnoxious jerk, but hot, older brother Chet in "Weird Science".
But also his work in "Frailty" with Jeremy Sumpter and "A Simple Plan" with Billy Bob Thornton and Bridget Fonda.
His nude scene in Weird Science was a defining moment in my developing sexuality. He had a terrific body of work, so to speak, and very underrated as an actor. Anyone who can go from Chet in Weird Science to Hank Mitchell in A Simple Plan is a great actor.
A SIMPLE PLAN A MASTERPIECE.
As Hudson in Aliens, Pullman was the best. He was humorously whiny and overwrought throughout ("That's it! Game over!"), but went out as a hero, taking out as many of the monsters as he could, as they pulled him below. I also thought he was terrific in A Simple Plan. RIP, Bill Paxton.
Paxton has the distinction of being the only actor to have been killed by the Terminator, an Alien, and a Predator.
Anyway, Paxton's death was a massive shock and loss for such a relatively young actor, who like Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Williams and Alan Rickman, to name three other actors we recently lost, potentially had another few decades of great performances in him.
And I concur with MARKGORDONUK, A Simple Plan is a modern film classic.
As for my favourite Paxton moment, he had so many memorable lines and characters, but ultimately I've got to pick the hilariously swaggering Private Hudson, who goes from cocksure to cowardly and then finally courageous, as he died in a heroic blaze of glory. Game over man. :(
A Simple Plan.
Paxton seemed like the type of actor who knew exactly who he was. He didn't try to stretch out too hard out of his wheelhouse and stuck with things that suited his abilities. I wish he would have directed more. We got Frailty and a Disney-fied golfing movie.
Very sexy nude scene in Boxing Helena.
Just saw Aliens again! Great actor, he'll be missed!
Aliens is his defining moment for me. But he was an enjoyable actor in everything I saw him in. R.I.P. Bill Paxton.
My favorite was A Simple Plan. Such an under-rated film. May he RIP.
He was so good in so many genre pictures- the white trash vampire in "Near Dark" and the psycho dad in the very disturbing " Frailty" - one of those working class pros who always delivered
Aw, RIP Private Hudson. John Oliver just made a joke about him two weeks ago, "Faith and facts aren't like Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton. When you confuse them, it actually matters!" But Bill Paxton did matter.
@Rob - Bill Paxton, not Pullman. God, even in death he's mistaken for Bill Pullman. #RIP
I always have a soft spot for Paxton, who was so memorable in Aliens and Weird Science. Glad his career took off in the '90s, and that he of course got his own series on HBO. (Big Love was truly everything.)
A SIMPLE PLAN is brilliant (I think Bill Paxton and Bridget Fonda deserved awards recognition along with Billy Bob). I can't believe on this actresscentric site no one's mentioned him as Aurora Greenway's therapist who crosses the line with her in hopes of working through his maternal issues in THE EVENING STAR! That's my favorite performance of his; I especially love the way he almost seems in certain moments to channel Jack Nicholson. It's of course very sad to hear he's gone...