Billy Bob Thornton[2][3] (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker, singer and songwriter.

In 2014, he starred as Lorne Malvo in the first season of the FX anthology series Fargo, earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie and winning a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film.

[6] His brother Jimmy Don (April 1958 – October 1988) wrote a number of songs; Thornton recorded two of them ("Island Avenue" and "Emily") on his solo albums.

[11] Thornton lived in numerous places in Arkansas during his childhood, including Alpine, Malvern, and Mount Holly.

[16] In the mid-1980s Thornton settled in Los Angeles to pursue his career as an actor with future writing partner Tom Epperson.

[6] He had a difficult time succeeding as an actor and worked in telemarketing, offshore wind farming,[15] and fast food management between auditioning for acting jobs.

[6] In September 1987, Thornton appeared on stage in a one-act play, "Beethoven Symphonies," as part of the West Coast Theatre Ensemble in Los Angeles.

[17] His first on-screen role was playing a character named Billy Bob in the thriller Hunter's Blood.

Another one of his early screen roles was as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in 1989 he appeared as an angry heckler in Adam Sandler's debut film Going Overboard.

[27] In 2002, Thornton appeared in Travis Tritt's music video for the song "Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde".

[30] He stated that, following the success of Bad Santa, audiences "like to watch him play that kind of guy" and that "casting directors call him up when they need an asshole".

[31] In 2004, Thornton starred as David Crockett in The Alamo, and played Coach Gary Gaines in the football drama film Friday Night Lights.

[33] He played a baseball coach in the 2005 sports comedy Bad News Bears, a remake of the 1976 film of the same name.

[23] Other films include 2007 drama The Astronaut Farmer and the comedy Mr. Woodcock, in which he played a sadistic gym teacher.

[37] He has also expressed an interest in directing another film, possibly a period piece about cave explorer Floyd Collins,[38] based on the book Trapped!

[40] In 2014, he starred as sociopathic hitman Lorne Malvo in the FX miniseries Fargo, inspired by the 1996 film of the same name, for which he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Mini-Series.

[41] Thornton made a guest appearance on The Big Bang Theory in 2014, where he played a middle-aged urologist who gets excited about every woman who touches him.

[44] Goliath, a television series by Amazon Studios, featured Thornton as a formerly brilliant and personable lawyer, who is now washed up and alcoholic.

It received the Best Music Video award from the Toronto Shorts International Film Festival[47] and has had 13 million views on Facebook and counting.

Thornton recorded a cover of the Johnny Cash classic "Ring of Fire" with Earl Scruggs, for the Oxford American magazine's Southern Music CD in 2001.

The appearance was widely criticized and received international attention after Thornton was persistently unintelligible and discourteous to host Jian Ghomeshi.

"[58][59] The following night, opening for Willie Nelson at Toronto's Massey Hall, Thornton said mid-set he liked Canadians but not Ghomeshi, which was greeted with boos and catcalls.

Amanda was freed in 2020 after a deal was reached with prosecutors prior to an evidentiary hearing to provide medical and scientific evidence of her innocence.

[63][66] Thornton dated Laura Dern (despite reports, they were never engaged) from 1997 to 1999, but in 2000, he married actress Angelina Jolie, with whom he starred in Pushing Tin (1999) and who was nearly 20 years his junior.

[74] During his early years in Los Angeles, Thornton was admitted to a hospital and diagnosed with myocarditis, a heart condition thought to be brought on by his diet.

[79] Additionally, he has stated that he has a fear of certain types of silverware, a trait assumed by his character in 2001's Monster's Ball, in which Grotowski insists on a plastic spoon for his daily bowl of ice cream.

[82] He narrated The 2006 World Series Film, the year-end retrospective DVD chronicling the Cardinals' championship season.