Bill Paxton

After receiving his start playing larger than life goofs in the 1980s, actor Bill Paxton transformed himself from oddball character parts to a dramatic performer with considerable gravitas in acclaimed features and on television series. Paxton first gained significant notice as the bullying Chet in "Weird Science" (1985), before famously playing loud-mouthed Private Hudson for James Cameron in "Aliens" (1986). In the following decade, he was …