The biggest news on Sunday going into the Oscars was the sudden death of actor Bill Paxton from complications during surgery. Bill recently told Marc Maron that he suffered from rheumatic fever as a teenager and it damaged the valves of his heart permanently. We still don’t know the exact details of his death but we do know he was having heart surgery when he died. Even more than the loss of a prominent acting talent it sounds like Bill was just the nicest guy in the industry. I could see that, he always seemed so affable and approachable when interviewed. Although he had a very impressive film career, Bill was also known for his TV work. His biggest TV role was as Bill Henrickson in HBOs Big Love but he also appeared as John Garrett in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and mini series like Texas Rising and Hatfields & McCoys. Most recently, he’d been cast in the “corrupt cop” role of the TV series Training Day, the spinoff of the Denzel Washington/Ethan Hawke film. (Just a brief side-note: Bill said the reason he took the CBS drama was because people who can’t afford HBO and other such packages deserve quality entertainment too and he wanted to help bring that to them.)
Training Day had wrapped the first season prior to Bill’s death. The show’s producer, Barry Schindel, and creator, Will Beall, said they will not recast his role but will give him the perfect “send- off” on the season finale. They also hinted that “the perfect send-off” may not, in fact be to kill his character and that we will have to wait and see. The show itself was floundering in the ratings and there was talk that it might be cut. It seems like CBS is committed to honoring Bill so it will likely go full season, although it may not get renewed. The only thing for certain is that saying goodbye will be hard. Bill’s last film, The Circle with Apollo 13 co-star Tom Hanks and Emma Watson, is in post-production so we do have that final performance to look forward to as well.
Tributes to Bill are everywhere. Ginnifer Goodwin, who was one of his wives on Big Love, spoke on The Oscars red carpet about losing him. One of his Big Love daughters, Amanda Seyfried, issued a sweet statement as well. Rob Lowe posted many comments on Sunday. I had no idea how close they were as friends. Rob wrote a nice essay about their friendship for The Hollywood Reporter. One of my favorite tributes was a states-wide coordinated effort of storm chasers who wanted to honor the Twister star. Hundreds of people logged in remotely to chart storms from specific locations so that the initials “BP” would appear on the storm map surrounding the town around which Twister centered. You can read about the effort is took here. It was a lovely gesture and something I imagine he would have gotten a real kick out of.
Storm chaser tribute to Bill Paxton. #RIPBill pic.twitter.com/kxRtGv5f9A
— Jeff Frame (@VORTEXJeff) February 26, 2017
Photo credit: Twitter and Fame/Flynet Photos
I had been saving his interview with Marc Maron since February and finally listened to it this past Sunday. In the first 10 minutes he talked about having had rheumatic fever as a child and how that damaged his heart valves… it’s a fantastic interview and well worth the listen.
He was such a great actor!
I haven’t listened to Marc in a while I have to check that one out.
He is too prolific for me to catch every episode of WTF, so I frequently only keep the ones I really want to hear (although, to be fair, Marc has a way of making even people I’m not curious about become fascinating). The only one I’d been keeping was this Bill Paxton interview. It was just so good.
He was such a great actor and also seemed like such a good guy. Fresh Air just did a repeat of one of his interviews and it was really great, too. He talks about how happy he was to land A Simple Plan and tells a cute story about how his dad got himself cast in the film.
Such a loss.
What a lovely man and a versatile actor. Condolences to his family and friends. But hopefully they’ll be comforted by the widespread outpouring of support and genuine grief at his passing. I love the Storm Chasers’ tribute. RIP Bill Paxton
The storm chaser tribute was so well done. I teared up a little when I saw this on Twitter.
It was really touching.
RIP. A big part of many of the movies I loved. What a character! Also seems to be one of those guys everyone just really enjoyed knowing. Even Charlize Theron (not always known for her public warmth) made a point of commenting how much she liked him. A fine legacy to be well loved.
The storm chasers’ tribute to Bill made me emotional as well as the Agents of SHIELD cast (specifically Chloe, Brett, Ming, and Clark).
I’ve loved him since Twister (which I really want to re-watch) and am still sad he’s gone.
RIP, Mr. Everyman. We will miss you. He died too early but his life was well lived. Such stunning filmography.