Billy Bob Thornton

Season 8, Episode 810

Original Airdate: August 18, 2002

Billy Bob Thornton has seen success as an actor, director, and screenwriter. Born August 4, 1955 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Thornton was raised by his mother, a psychic, and his father, a high school teacher and basketball coach, in rural Alpine, Arkansas.

In 1981, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of becoming a musician. Struggling to make ends meet, he was hospitalized for malnutrition-induced heart failure in the early 80s.

In 1987, Thornton landed his first film roles, in Hunter's Blood and HBO's The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains, starring Val Kilmer, Sonia Braga, and Kyra Sedgwick. During the filming of the latter, he began to work on the character of Karl Childers, which would soon make Thornton a household name with the release of the career-making Sling Blade (1996). After perfecting the character on-stage as a dramatic monologue, Thornton played Karl Childers in a short film called Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade (1993).

Thornton continued to write and act, co-writing and appearing in One False Move (1991), For the Boys (1991), and Indecent Proposal (1993), among other films. But his big break came with some help from Karl Childers, when he scored a deal to write, direct, and act in a feature version of Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade. The resulting film, Sling Blade, was an indie film phenomenon and earned Thornton a Best Screenplay Oscar.

Now well-regarded by audiences and critics alike, Thornton began to appear in larger Hollywood productions including Oliver Stone's U-Turn (1997) and the Jerry Bruckheimer extravaganza Armageddon (1998). Other film credits include 1998's Primary Colors, A Simple Plan (1998), for which he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar Nomination, and Pushing Tin (1999).

In 2001, his performances in The Man Who Wasn't There and Bandits both earned him Golden Globe nods, in the categories of Best Actor, Drama and Best Actor, Musical or Comedy, respectively. He also starred with Halle Berry in Monster's Ball.

Thornton has been married five times, most recently to fellow actor and Academy Award-winner Angelina Jolie. He has a daughter and two sons, all from previous marriages.