Billy Bob Thornton Biography

Billy Bob Thornton was a character actor and sometime screenwriter who took Hollywood by storm in 1996 with Sling Blade, a movie he wrote, directed and starred in.

After a long career mostly in feature films, Thornton has most recently been known for his TV roles, in Fargo (2014) and Goliath (2016-2020).

Thornton had appeared in several television shows and low budget movies in the 1980s, and in 1991 earned critical praise for the script of the movie One False Move (co-written with his partner, Tom Epperson).

After the success of Sling Blade, Thornton moved into roles in bigger movies such as Primary Colors (1998, with John Travolta) and Armageddon (1998, with Bruce Willis), and stayed busy on both sides of the camera.

Thornton was nominated for an Oscar for his role in A Simple Plan (1998, directed by Sam Raimi), he co-wrote the screenplay for The Gift (2000, with Cate Blanchett) and he directed Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz in the 2000 feature All The Pretty Horses.

His other films include Bandits (2001), Bad Santa and its sequel (2003 and 2005), Friday Night Lights (2004) and The Judge (2014).