William Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017) was an American actor and director. He appeared in films such as The Terminator (1984), Weird Science (1985), Aliens (1986), Predator 2 (1990), Tombstone (1993), True Lies (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), Titanic (1997), U-571 (2000), ‘’ Mighty Joe Young’’ (2000), Vertical Limit (2000), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Nightcrawler (2014). He also starred in the HBO drama series Big Love (2006–2011), earning three Golden Globe Award nominations during the show\'s run. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for portraying Randall McCoy in the History channel miniseries Hatfields & McCoys (2012). Paxton\'s final film appearance was in The Circle (2017), released two months after his death.\n', '

Paxton was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of Mary Lou (née Gray) and John Lane Paxton. His father was a businessman, lumber wholesaler, museum executive and occasional actor, most notably appearing in Sam Raimi\'s Spider-Man films. Paxton\'s great-great-grandfather was Elisha Franklin Paxton, a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War, who was killed commanding the legendary Stonewall Brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Bill\'s mother was Roman Catholic and he and his siblings were raised in her faith. Paxton was in the crowd when President John F. Kennedy emerged from the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth, Texas on the morning of his assassination on November 22, 1963. Photographs of an eight-year-old Paxton being lifted above the crowd are on display at the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas. He later co-produced the film Parkland, about the assassination. Paxton is distantly related to actress Sara Paxton.\n', '

On the Marc Maron podcast, Paxton revealed that at the age of 13 he contracted rheumatic fever, which had damaged his heart. During his teens, Paxton worked as a paper delivery boy with Mike Muir.\n', '

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