# Bill Paxton died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828 "2017-02-26T15:45:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/61 "2017-02-27T01:23:55Z")
We’ve been enjoying his new show. It’s not really great, but not really bad, either. My wife visibly startled when she turned on the news this afternoon. Way too young to go. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/62 "2017-02-27T03:23:24Z")
He was iconic in _Aliens_, yes, but I’ll always remember him for _[Indian Summer](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107212)_. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/63 "2017-02-27T04:14:42Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > You’re supposed to confuse him with Bill Pullman. I do wonder if Bill Pullman’s wife has been getting mournful phone calls all day. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/64 "2017-02-27T20:41:53Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Even Wyatt is sad at the passing of his asshole older brother, Chet (“You two donkey-dicks couldn’t get laid in a morgue.”) > > That said, best known for _Big Love_? Seriously, with the career Mr. Paxton had long before and continued to have after _Big Love_? When I personally think of his career, _Big Love_, which I never watched, doesn’t even flit at the corners of my mind. I wonder what this does for his current series, _Training Day_? Much like Keanu will always and forever be Ted Theodore Logan to me, Bill Paxton was always Chet. Every time he’d come on screen for the first time, I’d go “Chet!” and think about his offering of a greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ashtray. I loved him most in A Simple Plan. Man. What a bummer. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/65 "2017-02-27T22:08:11Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > One neglected performance was as a hayseed cop in “One False Move”. RIP. I didn’t key on this when I first read this thread, but reading an obituary today it suddenly clicked. Great, great performance from Paxton in a superior film. The more I remember, the more of a loss this seems. He really was a fine actor. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/66 "2017-02-27T22:27:56Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I do not like this “complications from surgery” cause, that’s too scarily non-specific that could happen to anyone. [According to Wikipedia,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Paxton#Death) it was a post-surgical stroke. Which I suppose is a known risk, when the surgeon is tinkering with plaqued-up arteries in the heart; it sounds like a chunk of plaque came loose and traveled to his brain. I understand this is an important part of why some patients are kept in the hospital for observation after such surgeries, so that hospital staff can respond quickly in the event of a stroke - but if it’s a real big/bad one, then there may not be much recourse. Paxton always seemed to me like he was best suited for goofball roles. He was perfect as the asshole older brother in Weird Science, and as the scammy used car salesman in True lies. Fit well in Aliens, too. But A Simple Plan? Twister? Titanic? I just couldn’t take him seriously. ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/67 "2017-02-27T22:34:05Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I do not like this “complications from surgery” cause, that’s too scarily non-specific that could happen to anyone. Subject, Merricheck, John J., died during the procedure … they killed him taking it off. I can’t _believe_ Hudson is dead! I have thoroughly enjoyed every movie I’ve ever seen Bill Paxton in. In addition to the roles we discussed above, he has a bit part as a radio operator in _Commando_ with Arnold Schwarzenegger, he’s Dane, the sniper in _Navy SEALs_ with Charlie Sheen and fellow _Aliens_ cast member Michael Biehn, and Sergeant Ferrell in [del]_All You Need Is Kill_[/del] [del]_Edge of Tomorrow_[/del] _Live. Die. Repeat._ with Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. RIP ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/68 "2017-02-27T22:35:38Z")
Even as a young kid it struck me how his voice had unsual projection. Maybe it’s just me? Regardless, RIP, dude. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/69 "2017-02-27T23:04:19Z")
Damn, I see he was set to direct an adaptation of Joe Lansdale’s novel _The Bottoms_. The “Edgar Award winning, racially-themed novel is set in East Texas and follows an adolescent boy, his little sister, and their father who stumble across the body of a black woman who has been savagely mutilated and left to die in the bottom of the Sabine River. The townsfolk cover up the crime until the body of a white woman is found in similar circumstances and it falls to the family to unearth the truth.” From [Deadline Hollywood.](http://deadline.com/2014/02/berlin-bill-paxton-to-direct-adaptation-of-joe-lansdale-novel-the-bottoms-678916/) (The article dates from 2014 but a check with Bill Paxton’s filmography on IMDB confirms that the movie was still in the pipeline.) I think he would have done a brilliant job. It would have been his third time out directing apart from a short. Haven’t seen the second (a golf movie) but his work on _Frailty_ was superb. If he’d been blessed with Clint Eastwood’s longevity I think he would only have grown as a director and may well have turned out a couple of Oscar-winners. Now we’ll never know. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/70 "2017-02-27T23:15:35Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Paxton always seemed to me like he was best suited for goofball roles. He was perfect as the asshole older brother in Weird Science, and as the scammy used car salesman in True lies. Fit well in Aliens, too. But A Simple Plan? Twister? Titanic? I just couldn’t take him seriously. I saw an article that described his specialty as “cocky macho doofus.” He was so great in Edge of Tomorrow because that is exactly what that role was: > [@](#): > > I see everyone is having a productive morning. You know it gives me a swell of pride knowing soldiers of your _caliber_ will be leading the charge tomorrow. Tip of the spear. Edge of the knife. Crack of…my ass ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/71 "2017-02-27T23:15:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’ve always thought it was a real dick move on Rose’s part to drop the necklace into the ocean, considering the effort and money spent on the Keldysh Expedition. The least she could have done was keep it in her baggage for them to find, or (even better) willed it to her granddaughter. :mad: > > RIP, Bill. ☹ I agree with you. Rose seemed to me to be a selfish person. I don’t disagree with her running away, but even if her mother was bitchy Rose could have dropped a note saying she was doing well, and not to worry. ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/72 "2017-02-28T01:36:44Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > My favourite role of his is in _True Lies_, as the car salesman who claims he’s a spy so he can seduce Jamie Lee Curtis. > > I do not like this “complications from surgery” cause, that’s too scarily non-specific that could happen to anyone. In other words, the doctor fucked up. :rolleyes: RIP Bill, loved ya man. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/73 "2017-02-28T04:22:21Z")
Today I was listening to the replay of a 2002 interview with Paxton on NPR and they were discussing A Simple Plan. Bill said that it was his most personal performance, and that he leaned heavily, in building his relationship with Billy Bob Thorton, on his real life relationship with his own brother, whom he was very close to and whom had had a troubled life. He took it to the point of arranging for Thorton to have several phone calls with his brother to help capture the character. Yeah, I got some dust in my eye, just about then. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/74 "2017-02-28T04:42:34Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Can someone explain how he was in some many movies? Looking at his filmography, he was usually in more than 1 per year, often 3. It’s called “being a character actor”. They don’t rake in the big bucks, they’re never the headliner, they’re not part of the red carpet openings for the movies they’re in, but they get steady work. Voice actors, the same, with the plus that for some people (such as David Bowie) the possible anonimity of not being on screen can be a plus. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/75 "2017-02-28T05:46:47Z")
One time SDMB poster Jim Beaver wrote this on his Facebook page: “When you’re a guest actor on someone else’s series, you’re like a guest in their home, and you can only hope they treat you like a guest and not an interloper. Rarely does one get to make a connection in those brief encounters, even more rarely does a friendship grow out of it. I only had three episodes with Bill Paxton on BIG LOVE, yet the connection was strong. I saw him rarely – actors are always on the move, on the road, on the lam – but the connection stayed. The last time I saw Bill, I accidentally ran into him as I, a mere pedestrian at the time, walked past the red carpet at a premiere he was attending and he grabbed me and pulled me into the photo line with him. He was a joyous, dedicated, talented, friendly, deeply human man. I loved him.” ---
**Author:** ![Santelia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Santelia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santelia)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/76 "2017-02-28T13:22:00Z")
…Shit Kicker Heaven! (that was him, right?) rip ---
**Author:** ![The\_Pork-Chop\_Express](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@The\_Pork-Chop\_Express](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Pork-Chop_Express)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/77 "2017-02-28T14:05:57Z")
Loved him in True Lies as a used car salesman/lothario/fake spy. Always thought they could’ve made a great spin-off with him. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/78 "2017-02-28T18:00:53Z")
[Bill Paxton honored by hundreds of storm chasers.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/02/27/the-special-way-hundreds-of-storm-chasers-honored-twister-star-bill-paxton/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.8ab658277c25) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/79 "2017-02-28T23:27:33Z")
> [@The\_Pork-Chop\_Express](#): > > Loved him in True Lies as a used car salesman/lothario/fake spy. > > Always thought they could’ve made a great spin-off with him. Ambivalent about True Lies. The first half, with Arnold paranoid about Jamie Lee and Bill Paxton, is creepy and stupid. The second half, where Arnold and Jamie Lee are fighting the terrorists, is totally awesome. I get the feeling that at some point James Cameron said to Bill Paxton, “As long as I’m working, you’re working.” Terminator, True Lies, Aliens, Titanic…I’m probably missing some. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828/80 "2018-02-14T13:51:58Z")
Bumped. Paxton’s family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against his surgeon and hospital: [https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/13/entertainment/bill-paxton-death-lawsuit/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/13/entertainment/bill-paxton-death-lawsuit/index.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-paxton-died/780828.md?page=5)