Imagesize | 215px |
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Caption | Pitt at 2008 premiere of Burn After Reading |
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Alt | A Caucasian with light brown hair, blue eyes and a short brown beard, in front of a turquoise background. He is wearing a white shirt and white hat. |
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Birth name | William Bradley Pitt |
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Occupation | Actor, producer |
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Birth date | December 18, 1963 |
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Birth place | Shawnee, Oklahoma, United States |
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Years active | 1987–present |
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Spouse | Jennifer Aniston (2000–2005, divorced) |
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Partner | Angelina Jolie (2005–present) |
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Children | 3 sons, 3 daughters |
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Nationality | American |
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Alma mater | University of Missouri |
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William Bradley "
Brad"
Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and
film producer. Pitt has received two
Academy Award nominations and four
Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. He has been described as one of the world's most attractive men, a label for which he has received substantial media attention. Along with his siblings Doug (born 1966) and Julie Neal (born 1969),
Pitt attended Kickapoo High School, where he was a member of the golf, tennis and swimming teams. He participated in the school's Key and Forensics clubs, in school debates, and in musicals. Following his graduation from high school, Pitt enrolled in the University of Missouri in 1982, majoring in journalism, with a focus on advertising. Two weeks before earning his degree, Pitt left the university and moved to Los Angeles where he took acting lessons and worked odd jobs.
Career
Early work
While struggling to establish himself in Los Angeles, Pitt took lessons from acting coach
Roy London. He took on various occasional jobs, spending some time as a chauffeur His television debut came in November of the same year with a guest appearance on the
ABC sitcom
Growing Pains. Pitt described his character as "an idiot boyfriend who gets caught in the hay." Later in 1988, Pitt made a guest appearance on the
Fox police drama
21 Jump Street. Pitt made two motion picture appearances in 1989: the first in a supporting role in the comedy
Happy Together; the second a featured role in the horror film
Cutting Class, the first of Pitt's films to reach theaters. He made guest appearances on television series
Head of the Class,
Freddy's Nightmares,
Thirtysomething, and (for a second time)
Growing Pains. The same year, Pitt co-starred in six episodes of the short-lived Fox drama
Glory Days, and took a supporting role in the
HBO television movie
The Image. His next appearance came in the 1991 film
Across the Tracks; Pitt portrayed Joe Maloney, a high school runner with a criminal brother, played by
Ricky Schroder. although neither furthered his career in light of their poor reviews and box office performance. Pitt believed that he benefited from working with such a talented cast and crew, going on to compare working with Redford to playing tennis, saying "when you play with somebody better than you, your game gets better."
In 1993, Pitt reunited with Juliette Lewis, co-star from Too Young to Die?, for the road film Kalifornia. He played Early Grayce, a serial killer and the boyfriend of Lewis's character in a performance Peter Travers of Rolling Stone described as "outstanding, all boyish charm and then a snort that exudes pure menace". Despite winning two MTV Movie Awards at the 1995 ceremony,
Following the success of Seven, Pitt took a supporting role as Jeffrey Goines in Terry Gilliam's 1995 science-fiction film 12 Monkeys. The movie received predominantly positive reviews, with Pitt praised in particular. Janet Maslin of the New York Times called Twelve Monkeys "fierce and disturbing" and remarked on Pitt's "startlingly frenzied performance", concluding that he "electrifies Jeffrey with a weird magnetism that becomes important later in the film." and received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. but was a critical failure. Later that year he led as Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer in the Jean-Jacques Annaud film Seven Years in Tibet. Pitt's next role, in 2001's $143 million-grossing Cold War thriller Spy Game, was as Tom Bishop, an operative of the CIA's Special Activities Division, mentored by Robert Redford's character.
Pitt appeared in two episodes of MTV's reality series Jackass in February 2002, first running through the streets of Los Angeles with several cast members in gorilla suits,
Reprising his role as Rusty Ryan in a third picture, Pitt starred in 2007's Ocean's Thirteen. Pitt's next film role was as American outlaw Jesse James in the 2007 Western drama The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same name. He was later cast as Benjamin Button, the lead in David Fincher's 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a loosely adapted version of a 1921 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story follows a man who is born an octogenarian and ages in reverse,
Since 2008, Pitt's work has included a leading role in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, released in August 2009 at a special presentation at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. and garnering generally favorable reviews.
Pitt has appeared in several television commercials: one for the U.S. market, a Heineken commercial aired during the 2005 Super Bowl; it was directed by David Fincher, who had directed Pitt in Seven, Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. followed by an October 2006 donation of $100,000 to the Daniel Pearl Foundation, an organization created in memory of the late American journalist Daniel Pearl. The same year, Pitt won People's Sexiest Man Alive, an accolade he won again in 2000. The magazine credited Pitt with using "his star power to get people to look [to where] cameras don't usually catch". To avoid media attention the couple flew to Namibia for the birth of their daughter Shiloh, "the most anticipated baby since Jesus Christ." Jill Schoelen (Cutting Class), and Juliette Lewis (Too Young to Die? and Kalifornia), who, at the age of sixteen, was ten years his junior when they started dating. In addition, Pitt had a much-publicized romance and engagement to Seven co-star Gwyneth Paltrow, whom he dated from 1994 to 1997. For years their marriage was considered a rare Hollywood success; On January 11, 2006, Jolie confirmed to People that she was pregnant with Pitt's child, thereby publicly confirming their relationship for the first time. a decision which Jolie later stated she and Pitt had made together.MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable MaleNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Tom CruiseNominated–Saturn Award for Best Actor
|-
| 1994
| Legends of the Fall
| Tristan Ludlow
| Nominated–Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
|-
| 1995
| Seven
| David Mills
| MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable MaleNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Morgan FreemanNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Performance - Male
|-
| 1995
| 12 Monkeys
| Jeffrey Goines
| Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion PictureSaturn Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated–Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance
|-
| 1996
| Sleepers
| Michael Sullivan
|
|-
| 1997
|
| Francis "Frankie" Austin McQuire/Rory Devaney
|
|-
| 1997
| Seven Years in Tibet
| Heinrich Harrer
|
|-
| 1997
|
| Rick
|
|-
| 1998
| Meet Joe Black
| Joe Black/Man in the Coffee Shop
|
|-
| 1999
| Fight Club
| Tyler Durden
|
|-
| 1999
| Being John Malkovich
| Himself
| Cameo
|-
| 2000
| Snatch
| Mickey O'Neil
| Nominated–Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
|-
| 2001
|
| Jerry Welbach
|
|-
| 2001
| Spy Game
| Tom Bishop
|
|-
| 2001
|
| Rusty Ryan
| Nominated–MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen TeamNominated–Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
|-
| 2001
| Friends
| Will Colbert
| TV series (one episode: "The One with the Rumor")Nominated–Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
|-
| 2002
| Full Frontal
| Himself
|
|-
| 2002
| Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
| Brad, Bachelor #1
|
|-
| 2003
|
| Sinbad
| Voice actor
|-
| 2003
| Abby Singer
| Himself
| Cameo
|-
| 2004
| Troy
| Achilles
| Teen Choice Award for Best Action ActorNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Fight shared with Eric BanaNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Performance - Male
|-
| 2004
|
| Rusty Ryan
| Nominated–Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
|-
| 2005
| Mr. & Mrs. Smith
| John Smith
| MTV Movie Award for Best Fight shared with Angelina JolieNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss shared with Angelina Jolie
|-
| 2006
| Babel
| Richard
| Gotham Award for Best Ensemble CastPalm Springs International Film Festival for Best CastSan Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best CastNominated–Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated–Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion PictureNominated–Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion PictureNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
|-
| 2007
|
| Rusty Ryan
|
|-
| 2007
|
| Jesse James
| Venice Film Festival – Volpi Cup for Best Actor
|-
| 2008
| Burn After Reading
| Chad Feldheimer
| Nominated–BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated–Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best CastNominated–Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
|-
| 2008
|
| Benjamin Button
| Nominated–Academy Award for Best ActorNominated–BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated–Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated–Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best CastNominated-Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated–Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated–Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated–Saturn Award for Best ActorNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
|-
| 2009
| Inglourious Basterds
| Lt. Aldo Raine
| Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best CastPhoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best CastSan Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best CastScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureNominated–Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best CastNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Performance
|-
| 2010
| Megamind
| Metro-Man
|
|-
| 2011
|
| Mr. O'Brien
| completed
|-
| 2011
| Moneyball
| Billy Beane
| filming
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Producer
|-
! Year
! Film
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 2006
| God Grew Tired of Us
| Executive producer
|-
| 2006
|
| Academy Award for Best PictureNominated–BAFTA Award for Best Film
|-
| 2006
| Running with Scissors
|
|-
| 2007
|
| Executive producer
|-
| 2007
| Year of the Dog
| Executive producer
|-
| 2007
|
| Co-producerNominated–Independent Spirit Award for Best Film
|-
| 2007
|
|
|-
| 2008
| Pretty/Handsome
| Executive producer (TV)
|-
| 2009
|
| Executive producer
|-
| 2009
|
| Executive producer
|-
| 2010
| Kick-Ass
|
|-
| 2010
| Eat Pray Love
|
|-
| 2011
|
|
|}
References
External links
Not On Our Watch – Founded by: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Jerry Weintraub
Category:1963 births
Category:Living people
Category:20th-century actors
Category:21st-century actors
Category:Actors from Oklahoma
Category:American agnostics
Category:American atheists
Category:American film actors
Category:American film producers
Category:American television actors
Category:Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Category:Former Baptists
Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Category:People from Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma
Category:University of Missouri alumni