Bill Paxton

A wonderful, Emmy-winning but under-regarded actor and filmmaker -- via TMZ. Paxton will be best remembered as the protagonist of the jack-Mormon TV drama, "Big Love," but he did a lot more. He got his start on Demme's "Crazy Mama" in 1975. He studied with Stella Adler around the same time I was nearby at Circle in the Square. (Did you know he directed the silly "Fish Heads" music video for Barnes & Barnes?) He started to make an impression with small but distinctive roles, such as the whiny Hudson in "Aliens" as and as vampire Severen in "Near Dark." He gave an Oscar-worthy performances as the tragic leads of Carl Franklin's brilliant "One False Move" and Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan." More great roles in "Trespass," "Tombstone," "Apollo 13," and "Twister, " even making memorable comic hay out of Coconut Pete, a Jimmy Buffett clone, in the silly slasher comedy "Club Dread." Interestingly, he directed and starred in a very good horror/thriller "Frailty," which deserves another look. He did a great deal of admirable work! I have been buttonholed all day digitally by people who remind me of even more obscure bits he did in "Terminator," "Weird Science," and "Predator 2."