Billy Bob Thornton

Billy Bob Thornton

Billy Bob Thornton is an American screenwriter, actor, occasional director, playwright and singer from Hot Springs, United States. Born in 1955 as William Robert Thornton, he comes to wider attention in the mid-1990s after writing, directing and starring in Sling Blade, the independent film that establishes him as a major Hollywood actor.

Film and writing career

Thornton begins his screen career with television work on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire, and his film profile rises after a role as the villain in One False Move in 1992. During the early 1990s he also appears in smaller roles in Indecent Proposal, On Deadly Ground, Bound by Honor, Grey Knight and Tombstone.

Sling Blade, an expansion of his short film Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade, brings him major critical recognition. The film tells the story of Karl Childers, and Thornton wins the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for it. The screenplay also earns a Writers Guild of America Award and an Edgar Award, while his performance receives Oscar and Screen Actors Guild nominations for Best Actor.

After Sling Blade, he appears in major films including Armageddon, A Simple Plan, Monster's Ball and The Alamo, where he plays Davy Crockett. He also writes and performs in All the Pretty Horses and, with Tom Epperson, The Gift. His role as a malicious mall Santa in Bad Santa helps establish him as a leading comic actor. Later he receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Music

Thornton develops a parallel career in music in the late 1990s, drawing on a lifelong interest in singing and songwriting. He releases the roots rock album Private Radio, followed by The Edge of the World and Hobo. His music is associated with alt-country, country, blues, rock and blues rock.

He sings with the blues rock band Tres Hombres, and guitarist Billy Gibbons describes them as a strong cover band from Texas. Thornton also plays drums and sings with Piet Botha's band Jack Hammer, and records a cover of Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire for a Southern music compilation. He performs Warren Zevon's The Wind on a tribute album to Zevon. He is also a member of The Boxmasters.

Early life and personal life

Thornton is born in Arkansas to Billy Ray Thornton, a high school history teacher and basketball coach, and Virginia R. Faulkner, a psychic. He grows up in Alpine and Malvern, and also spends time with his grandfather Otis Thornton, a forest ranger, in a shack in the woods. He studies psychology at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia but leaves after two semesters.

He has three younger brothers: Jimmy Don, Jim Bean and John David. He is a cousin of professional wrestlers Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk. In the late 1980s he settles in Los Angeles with Tom Epperson and works a range of jobs, including telemarketing, off-shore wind farming and fast food management, while trying to break into acting. He also works as a waiter at an industry event where he meets Billy Wilder, who encourages him to pursue screenwriting.

Thornton says he has obsessive-compulsive disorder, and he has spoken about phobias including antique furniture and certain types of silverware. He has been married five times, and his former marriage to Angelina Jolie attracts considerable public attention. He and Jolie adopt a child from Cambodia named Maddox, and he is also the father of Amanda Spence, William Langston, Harry James and Bella. He lives in Los Angeles.