Actor Bill Paxton dies after complications from surgery

Bill Paxton, 61, who had big roles in movies like Apollo 13, Titanic, A Simple Plan, Weird Science, Twister and True Lies, and in the TV series Big Love, has unexpectedly died at 61.

Paxton died from complications from surgery, according to a statement from a representative of Paxton’s family.

Paxton’s career that began in B-movies, experimental film and music videos. He moved through bit parts in big pictures and then to leading roles. The epitome of a working actor, he described his on-screen presence as that of “a very straight-looking guy, very old-fashioned.”

“I consider myself an everyman, and there will always be an underdog quality to my stuff,” Paxton said in 1995.

Paxton often found a way to make these roles his own. For example, as Private Hudson in James Cameron’s film Aliens, Paxton’s desperate, defeated whine after a spaceship crash became a catchphrase: “Game over, man! Game over!”

Born William Paxton in Fort Worth, Texas, the actor was the son of a hardwood salesman and, he said in a 2009 interview, expected that he’d follow the same path. But after taking theatre classes in high school, Paxton decided to become an actor.