#2407 - Billy Bob Thornton

Billy Bob Thornton is an American actor, filmmaker, singer, and songwriter born on August 4, 1955, in Hot Springs, Arkansas . Known for his versatile and often intense portrayals of complex characters, he has built a multifaceted career spanning film, television, and music, earning critical acclaim and major awards including an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards , and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Raised in poverty in Malvern, Arkansas , as the oldest son of high school basketball coach Billy Ray Thornton and psychic Virginia Roberta Faulkner, Thornton experienced a challenging childhood without electricity or indoor plumbing. He graduated from Malvern High School in 1973 and briefly attended Henderson State University to study psychology before dropping out to pursue music and acting . Thornton worked odd jobs such as a roadie and sawmill operator while playing in bands like Nothin' Doin' and Tres Hombres ; he moved to Los Angeles in 1981 to focus on acting , initially appearing in small roles in films like Hunter's Blood (1986) and South of Reno (1988). His breakthrough came with the 1996 independent film Sling Blade , which he wrote, directed, and starred in as the mentally disabled Karl Childers, earning him the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Thornton's film career expanded with notable supporting roles in A Simple Plan (1998), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Armageddon (1998), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), Monster's Ball (2001), and the holiday comedy Bad Santa (2003), where he played the irreverent Willie Soke. In television, he portrayed the manipulative criminal Lorne Malvo in the first season of Fargo (2014), winning a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film, and starred as washed-up lawyer Billy McBride in the Amazon series Goliath (2016–2021), securing another Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama Series in 2017. His recent projects include the role of oil industry fixer Tommy Norris in Taylor Sheridan's Landman (2024–present), with season 2 which premiered on November 16, 2025, as well as films like The Gray Man (2022) and Devil's Peak (2023). As a musician , Thornton has released four solo albums, including Private Radio (2001) and Beautiful Door (2007), and fronts the country rock band The Boxmasters , with whom he completed the Pepper Tree Hill Tour in 2025. Personally, Thornton has been married six times—to Melissa Lee Gatlin (1978–1980), Toni Lawrence (1986–1988), Cynda Williams (1990–1992), Pietra Dawn Cherniak (1993–1998), Angelina Jolie (2000–2003), and currently puppeteer Connie Angland (2014–present)—and is the father of four children: daughter Amanda Brumfield from his first marriage, sons William and Harry from his third marriage, and daughter Bella with Angland. He has been open about living with obsessive-compulsive disorder and has authored the memoir The Billy Bob Tapes: A Caveful of Ghosts (2012). Billy Bob Thornton was born on August 4, 1955, in Hot Springs, Arkansas , to Virginia Roberta Faulkner Thornton, who worked as a psychic and school cafeteria worker, and William Raymond "Billy Ray" Thornton, a high school basketball coach. The family endured significant economic hardship, often living in modest conditions that reflected their working-class roots in rural Arkansas ; for instance, early in Thornton's life, the household shared a shack with over a dozen relatives, lacking electricity and plumbing, and relied on game hunted by Virginia's father for sustenance. Thornton grew up with two younger brothers, Jimmy Don Thornton (born April 1958) and John David Thornton (born 1969), both of whom were part of the close-knit but challenging family environment shaped by frequent relocations tied to their father's coaching positions.