Billy Bob Thornton, born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone. In the mid-1990s, after writing, directing, and starring in the independent film Sling Blade, he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He appeared in several major film roles following Sling Blade 's success, including 1998's Armageddon and A Simple Plan. During the late 1990s, Thornton began a career as a singer-songwriter. He has released three albums and was the singer of a blues rock band.
Career
One of Thornton's early screen roles was as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire with John Ritter and Markie Post. His role as the villain in 1992's One False Move, which he also co-wrote, brought him to the attention of critics. He also had small roles in the early 1990s films Indecent Proposal, On Deadly Ground, Bound by Honor, Grey Knight, and Tombstone. Thornton put Wilder's advice to good use, and went on to write, direct and star in the independent film Sling Blade, which was released in 1996. The film, an expansion of a short film titled Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade, introduced the story of Karl Childers, a mentally handicapped man imprisoned for a gruesome and seemingly inexplicable murder. Sling Blade garnered international acclaim. Thornton's screenplay earned him an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, a Writers Guild of America Award, and an Edgar Award, while his performance received Oscar and Screen Actors Guild nominations for Best Actor.
In 1998, he portrayed the James-Carville-like Richard Jemmons in Primary Colors. Thornton adapted the book All the Pretty Horses into a 2000 film with the same name, starring Matt Damon and Penélope Cruz. The negative experience (he was forced to cut more than an hour) led to his decision to never direct another film (a subsequent release, Daddy and Them, had been filmed earlier). Also in 2000, an early script which he and Tom Epperson wrote together was made into The Gift which starred Cate Blanchett, Hilary Swank, Keanu Reeves, Katie Holmes, Greg Kinnear, and Giovanni Ribisi.
Thornton's screen persona has been described by the press as that of a "tattooed, hirsute man's man". He appeared in several major film roles following Sling Blade 's success, including 1998's Armageddon with Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis, and A Simple Plan. In 2001, he directed Daddy and Them, while also securing starring roles in three hollywood pictures, Monster's Ball, Bandits and The Man Who Wasn't There, for which he received many awards. He played a malicious mall Santa Claus in 2003's Bad Santa, a black comedy that performed well at the box office and established Thornton as a leading comic actor, and in the same year, portrayed a womanizing President of the United States in the British romantic comedy Love Actually. Thornton has stated that, following Bad Santa's success, audiences "like to watch him play that kind of guy," and "they casting directors call [him] up when they need an asshole. It's kinda that simple... you know how narrow the imagination in this business can be." In 2004 he played Davy Crockett in The Alamo.
CBC incident
On April 8, 2009, Thornton and his musical group The Boxmasters appeared on CBC Radio One program Q which was widely criticized and received international attention after Thornton was persistently unintelligible and discourteous to host Jian Ghomeshi. Thornton eventually explained he had "instructed" the show's producers to not ask questions about his movie career. Ghomeshi had mentioned Thornton’s acting in the introduction. Thornton had also complained Canadian audiences were like “mashed potatoes without the gravy." The following night, opening for Willie Nelson at Toronto's Massey Hall, Thornton said mid-set he liked Canadians but not Ghomeshi, which was greeted with boos and catcalls. The Boxmasters did not continue the tour in Canada as, according to Thornton, some of the crew and band had the flu.
Filmography
List of film appearances
Title Year Role Notes
Hunter's Blood 1986 Billy Bob
South of Reno 1988 Counterman
Going Overboard 1989 Dave
Chopper Chicks in Zombietown 1989 Tommy
The Dark Backward 1991 Patron at Sloppy's (uncredited)
For the Boys 1991 Marine Sergeant, Korea
One False Move 1992 Ray Malcolm also co-wrote
Tombstone 1993 Johnny Tyler
Blood In Blood Out 1993 Lightning
Indecent Proposal 1993 Day Tripper
The Killing Box 1993 Langston
Trouble Bound 1993 Coldface
On Deadly Ground 1994 Homer Carlton
Floundering 1994 Gun Clerk
Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade 1994 Karl Childers Short film
Dead Man 1995 Big George Drakoulious
The Stars Fell on Henrietta 1995 Roy
Sling Blade 1996 Karl Childers also wrote and directed
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Don't Look Back 1996 Marshall also co-wrote
The Winner 1996 Jack
The Apostle 1997 Troublemaker
U Turn 1997 Darrell
Princess Mononoke 1997 Jigo Voice Only (English Language Version)
A Simple Plan 1998 Jacob Mitchell Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Armageddon 1998 Dan Truman, NASA Administrator
Homegrown 1998 Jack Marsden
Primary Colors 1998 Richard Jemmons
Pushing Tin 1999 Russell Bell
The Last Real Cowboys 2000 Tar
South of Heaven, West of Hell 2001 Brig. Smalls
Daddy and Them 2001 Claude Montgomery also wrote and directed
Monster's Ball 2001 Hank Grotowski Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (also for Bandits and The Man Who Wasn't There)
National Board of Review Award for Best Actor (also for Bandits and The Man Who Wasn't There)
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Bandits 2001 Terry Lee Collins Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (also for Monster's Ball and The Man Who Wasn't There)
National Board of Review Award for Best Actor (also for Monster's Ball and The Man Who Wasn't There)
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
The Man Who Wasn't There 2001 Ed Crane Chlotrudis Audience Award for Best Actor
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (also for Bandits and Monster's Ball)
London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
National Board of Review Award for Best Actor (also for Bandits and Monster's Ball)
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Russian Guild of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Actor
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—American Film Institute Award AFI Actor of the Year
Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Waking Up in Reno 2002 Lonnie Earl Dodd
The Badge 2002 Sheriff Darl Hardwick
Bad Santa 2003 Willie T. Stokes Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Love Actually 2003 The US President
Intolerable Cruelty 2003 Howard D. Doyle
Levity 2003 Manuel Jordan
Friday Night Lights 2004 Coach Gary Gaines
The Alamo 2004 Davy Crockett
Chrystal 2004 Joe
The Ice Harvest 2005 Vic Cavanaugh
Bad News Bears 2005 Morris Buttermaker
School for Scoundrels 2006 Dr. P/Dennis Sherman
The Astronaut Farmer 2007 Charles Farmer
Mr. Woodcock 2007 Jasper Woodcock
Eagle Eye 2008 Thomas Morgan
The Informers 2009 William
My Run 2009 Narrator
The Smell of Success 2009 Patrick
Faster 2010 Cop
Nashville Rises 2011 Narrator
Puss in Boots 2011 Jack (Voice) post-production
Peace Like a River 2011 pre-production
Zero Theorem 2011 Qohen Leth pre-production
The Baytown Disco 2011 currently filming
Personal life
Relationships and children
Thornton has been married five times, with each marriage ending in divorce, and he has four children by three women. From 1978 to 1980, he was married to Melissa Lee Gatlin, with whom he had a daughter, Amanda Spence (born June 30, 1979), who in 2011 was convicted of the 2008 aggravated manslaughter of her best friend's young daughter. Thornton married actress Toni Lawrence in 1986; they separated the following year and divorced in 1988. From 1990 to 1992, he was married to actress Cynda Williams, whom he cast in his writing debut, One False Move (1992). In 1993, Thornton married Playboy model Pietra Dawn Cherniak, with whom he had two sons, William Langston (born June 27, 1993) and Henry James (born June 19, 1994); the marriage ended in 1997, with Cherniak accusing Thornton of spousal abuse.
Thornton was engaged to be married to actress Laura Dern, whom he dated from 1997 to 1999, but in 2000, he married actress Angelina Jolie, with whom he starred in Pushing Tin (1999). The marriage became known for the couple's eccentric displays of affection, which reportedly included wearing vials of each other's blood around their necks; Thornton later clarified that the "vials" were, instead, two small lockets, each containing only a single drop of blood. Thornton and Jolie announced the adoption of a child from Cambodia in March 2002, but it was later revealed that Jolie had adopted the child, Maddox, as a single parent. They separated in June 2002 and divorced the following year.
Since 2003, Thornton has been in a relationship with seamstress Connie Angland, with whom he had a daughter, Bella (born September 22, 2004). The family resides in Los Angeles, California. Thornton has stated that he will likely not marry again, specifying that he believes marriage "doesn't work" for him.
Health issues
During his early years in Los Angeles, Thornton couldn't afford to eat properly and lived on a diet of potatoes. When his health began to suffer, he was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with myocarditis, a heart condition brought on by malnutrition.
Thornton has obsessive-compulsive disorder. Various idiosyncratic behaviors have been well documented in interviews with Thornton; among these is a phobia of antique furniture—a disorder shared by Dwight Yoakam's character Doyle Hargraves in the Thornton-penned Sling Blade, and by Thornton's own character in the 2001 film Bandits. Additionally, he has stated that he has a fear of certain types of silverware, a trait assumed by his character Hank Grotowski in 2001's Monster's Ball, in which Grotowski insists on a plastic spoon for his daily bowl of chocolate ice cream. In a 2004 interview with The Independent, Thornton explained: "It's just that I won't use real silver. You know, like the big, old, heavy-ass forks and knives, I can't do that. It's the same thing as the antique furniture. I just don't like old stuff. I'm creeped out by it, and I have no explanation why...I don't have a phobia about American antiques, it's mostly French—you know, like the big, old, gold-carved chairs with the velvet cushions. The Louis XIV type. That's what creeps me out. I can spot the imitation antiques a mile off. They have a different vibe. Not as much dust."
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