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William Bradley Pitt (b. December 18, 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning American actor and international celebrity. Pitt is celebrated for his good looks and has been elevated to A-list status with thousands of fans who are as interested in his personal life and relationships as they are in his film appearances. Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans, Pitt used his celebrity status to promote ecologically friendly reconstruction in the city.
Early Life
Pitt was born to Bill and Jane Pitt and raised in Springfield, Missouri with brother Doug and sister, Julie. He attended Kickapoo High School where he displayed a range of interests in musicals, debating, school government and a variety of sports including swimming, tennis, and golf. He moved on to the University of Missouri where majored in journalism and also studied advertising. Pitt did not graduate despite being only two credits short of the requirement and surprised friends and family by leaving for California to pursue an acting career.
Career
Pitt did not meet with instantaneous success and worked a series of unglamorous jobs to make ends meet, including a stint in a chicken suit for el Pollo Loco. He also sold cigarettes, delivered refrigerators and drove strippers. He focused on studying acting with coach Roy London. He worked with London for six years and his budding skills earned him roles in television which included appearances on Another World, Dallas, 21 Jump Street and Head of the Class where he met girlfriend, Robin Givens.
Pitt made his genre debut on the series Freddy's Nightmares, He followed up with guest appearances in Growing Pains. He appeared in the film Cutting Class with Jill Schoelen whom he dated for a while. He followed up with Too Young to Die costarring Juliette Lewis. Pitt and Lewis hit it off and dated for three years. He transitioned from television roles to film after the end of the series Glory Days and his breakout performance came in the 1991 film Thelma & Louise alongside Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon. Pitt's appearance in the film won him legions of female fans and a career boost.
Not wanting become known merely for his physical attributes, Pitt chose his roles carefully. His next role was that of rock star Johnny Suede in the film of the same name. He followed up with Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It, True Romance with Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette and The Favor with Elizabeth McGovern. Pitt may be best remembered by genre and Anne Rice fans for his role as Louis de Pointe du Lac in the film version of Anne Rice's novel, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles opposite Tom Cruise as Lestat de Lioncourt. The film was a moderate success and he followed up with a string of memorable films beginning with Legends of the Falls which converted more female fans to his worship. The dark crime thriller, Se7en with Morgan Freeman followed and again, having broken up with Juliette Lewis, he dated costar Gwyneth Paltrow becoming Hollywood's golden couple.
Pitt's next appearance was the Scifi thriller Twelve Monkeys which earned him a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for his performance as the crazed Jeffrey Goines opposite Bruce Willis. His winning streak ended after the controversial Sleepers. His follow up films The Devil's Own, Seven Years in Tibet and The Dark Side of the Sun were not big financial successes. He proposed to Paltrow on the set of Seven Years in Tibet but the two split a few months later. In 1998, he appeared in his second major genre film, the remake of the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday, Meet Joe Black. He followed up with the hit psychological thriller, Fight Club co-starring Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter and later, the Guy Ritchie comedy Snatch in which he played the incomprehensible Mickey O'Neil. He won over critics but the film was not a success. Of far more interest to the media was his wedding to Friends star Jennifer Aniston.
After Snatch came The Mexican with Julia Roberts and James Gandolfini. Despite the popular cast, the film was also not a success. and he followed up with Spy Game working with Redford again. His next film proved enormously popular. An all star male cast which included George Clooney and Matt Damon remade the 1960 film Ocean's Eleven. Two sequels with an ever expanding cast followed. Pitt then took a break from film. He voiced roles in Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and King of the Hill but made no major films until 2004's Troy. Pitt intended to star in in Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain but his work on Troy prevented his appearance in that film.
In 2004 Pitt and wife Aniston were constant tabloid fodder with rumors of marital difficulties. Rumors suggested an affair with Mr and Mrs. Smith costar Angelina Jolie. Pitt and Aniston's marriage eventually came to an end and he struck up a relationship with Jolie. The couple was dubbed "Brangelina". Pitt adopted Jolies two adopted children, Maddox and Zahara. Pitt also joined her in her work for the United Nations. The two had a child of their own, Shiloh Nouvelle Jolie Pitt born in Namibia, and adopted another son, Pax. Despite the ever intrusive press, Both Pitt and Jolie saw the success of Mr. & Mrs. Smith and he followed up with award-nominated Babel.
Pitt recently completed The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward. Upcoming films include Burn After Reading, Dirty Tricks, Chad Schmidt, The Fighter, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Dallas Buyer's Club.
Pitt owns a home in New Orleans shared with Jolie and their children. He is focused on having ecologically friendly housing rebuilt for the local population. In July, 2008, Jolie gave birth to their fifth and six children, twins, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline in France where the family resides.
Quotes
"Let us be the ones who say we do not accept that a child dies every three seconds simply because he does not have the drugs you and I have. Let us be the ones to say we are not satisfied that your place of birth determines your right to life. Let us be outraged, let us be loud, let us be bold."
"You shouldn't speak until you know what you're talking about. That's why I get uncomfortable with interviews. Reporters ask me what I feel China should do about Tibet. Who cares what I think China should do? They hand me a script. I'm a grown man who puts on makeup."
"Success is a beast. And it actually puts the emphasis on the wrong thing. You get away with more instead of looking within."
External Links
To see specific information, such as individual movies, please click the Brad Pitt category link at the bottom of this article. To see other articles that reference Brad Pitt, please click the What Links Here tool in the toolbox at the bottom of this page.
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