Brad Pitt

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Brad Pitt
Birth name	William Bradley Pitt
Born	December 18, 1963 (age 43) Shawnee, Oklahoma United States
Spouse(s)	Jennifer Aniston (2000-2005)
Notable roles	Tyler Durden in Fight Club Richard Jones in Babel David Mills in Se7en Jeffrey Goines in Twelve Monkeys Rusty Ryan in Ocean's Eleven
Golden Globe Awards
Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture 1996 Twelve Monkeys

William Bradley "Brad" Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He became known during the mid 1990s, after starring roles in several major Hollywood films, including Interview with the Vampire in 1994 and the thriller Se7en in 1995. Pitt has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won a Golden Globe Award, both for his role in Twelve Monkeys (1996).

Contents 1 Career 1.1 1991-1993 1.2 1994-2000 1.3 2001-2007 1.4 Other work 2 Personal life 2.1 Marriage To Jennifer Aniston 2.2 Relationship With Angelina Jolie 2.2.1 The Jolie-Pitt Children 3 In popular culture 4 Filmography 5 Awards and nominations 6 Footnotes 7 External links

[edit] Career

On arriving in California, Pitt studied under coach Roy London for six years. He first appeared in the sitcom Head Of The Class, for a while dating the show's star Robin Givens. He also guest starred in two episodes of Growing Pains. Pitt appeared as Chris in the long-running soap Another World. While auditioning for the show Our House, he was asked to read for another part, and found himself playing Shalane McCall's boyfriend Charles in Dallas. He also had a number of roles in prime time series such as thirtysomething, 21 Jump Street, and Freddy's Nightmares. Pitt appeared uncredited in both Less Than Zero and Charlie Sheen's No Man's Land before appearing in Cutting Class, about a maniac stalking cheerleaders. He began dating co-star Jill Schoelen.

In 1988, Pitt had his first starring role, in Dark Side Of The Sun, where he played a young American taken by his family to the Adriatic to find a remedy for a skin condition. The movie was shot in Yugoslavia in the summer of '88 with Brad being paid $1,523 a week for seven weeks. However, with editing nearly complete, war broke out and much of the film was lost. The film was released years later. Pitt won a part in the TV movie Too Young to Die?, about an abused teenager given the death penalty for murder. Pitt played the part of a drug addict, Silly Canton, who took advantage of runaway Juliette Lewis, who Pitt began dating in real life. "It was quite romantic", he later observed dryly "shooting her full of drugs and stuff".^{[citation needed]} The pair would be together for three years.

[edit] 1991-1993

In 1991, Pitt starred as Joe Maloney in Across the Tracks in which he portrayed a high school runner with a difficult criminal brother played by Rick Schroder. Pitt attracted broader public attention from a supporting role in Thelma & Louise where he played a small time criminal drifter in a love scene with Geena Davis. His reputation as a sex symbol may have begun from the moment he walked away from the camera while Thelma commented about his backside, That's him going. I just love watching him go. Brad had in fact been the third choice for the role^{[citation needed]}. The first choice, William Baldwin, chose to do Backdraft instead.

After Thelma and Louise, Pitt starred in the low budget 1991 film Johnny Suede as an awkward dreamer who aspired to be a big-haired rock star alongside Catherine Keener and Nick Cave, directed by Tom DiCillo. Pitt had agreed to play the part before Thelma & Louise was released. After appearing in Cool World, Pitt was in Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It in 1992, for which Pitt learned fly fishing by casting off of Hollywood buildings.^{[citation needed]} Pitt struck up a friendship with co-star Buck Simmonds and following the movie, they moved into an apartment together.^{[citation needed]} Then came Kalifornia in 1993, a road movie in which he played a scruffy serial killer alongside his then girlfriend Juliette Lewis and X-Files actor David Duchovny.

[edit] 1994-2000

In 1994, Pitt played vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac in the movie adaptation of Anne Rice's novel Interview With The Vampire. Pitt played the eighteenth century vampire which required several hours work in make-up on set to achieve the white skin of the character and he had to wear a pair of luminous green eyes, vampire fangs and a shoulder-length hairpiece to complete the appearance. Pitt worked with the eleven-year-old Kirsten Dunst, as well as Tom Cruise, Christian Slater and Antonio Banderas. He then starred in Legends of the Fall and Se7en. In Se7en Pitt starred as the police detective David Mills alongside Morgan Freeman in the hunt for a serial killer played by Kevin Spacey.

Pitt was was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Jeffrey Goines in the 1995 film Twelve Monkeys in which he acted alongside Bruce Willis. In 1997 Pitt played the IRA terrorist Rory Devany in The Devil's Own alongside Harrison Ford, the first of several films where he has acted using an Irish accent. Reportedly Pitt had a difficult time with the making of the film and expressed his unhappiness with the final script which had apparently been rewritten seven times.^{[citation needed]}

That same year he played the main role of Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer in the Jean Jacques Annaud film Seven Years in Tibet. Pitt trained for months for the role which demanded a great deal of trekking and mountain climbing, working out with co-star English actor David Thewlis by rock climbing in California and the Alps. Due to the themes of Tibetan nationalism in the film, the Chinese government banned Pitt and Thewlis from China for life.^[1][2] In 1998, Pitt starred as the main character in the film Meet Joe Black. Pitt starred as a personification of Death inhabiting the body of a young man in order to learn what it is like to be human while informing a billionaire tycoon that his life on Earth is nearly over. The film gave Pitt another chance to work alongside Welsh actor Sir Anthony Hopkins whom he had previously worked with in Legends of the Fall.

In 1999 Brad Pitt starred in Fight Club, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk. Working with his previous director whom he had worked with on Se7en Pitt portrayed the character of Tyler Durden, a highly colorful and complex character.

In 2000 Pitt played the role of Mickey, a gypsy Irish boxer in the gangster movie Snatch alongside Vinnie Jones and Benicio Del Toro. The film was a wild caper involving a diamond heist, Russian and American mafia and the shady underground world , that saw Pitt brought in as a ringer by two failing promoters. The movie saw him moving on from his attempt at the conventional Devil's Own Northern Irish accent, and perhaps inspired by his co-star Benicio Del Toro's recent performance in The Usual Suspects, Pitt created a just-barely-intelligible accent suggesting the Irish Pikeys, itinerant and insular Irish Gypsies. Pitt continued to train for the role, and honed his boxing skills at Ricky English's gym in Watford.

[edit] 2001-2007

After his wedding to Friends actress Jennifer Aniston on July 29, 2000, he immediately began filming for Spy Game, a Cold War thriller in which he starred alongside veteran actor Robert Redford playing the role of his mentor. In 2001 Brad Pitt worked with long-term friend and actress Julia Roberts in the comical road movie The Mexican. At the end of the year, Pitt finished filming Ocean's Eleven with George Clooney and Matt Damon, a remake of the 1960s version which starred Frank Sinatra. The film established a close friendship between the three, particularly between Pitt and Clooney.^{[citation needed]}

Since then, he has starred in numerous films, including Ocean's Twelve and the Greek historical epic Troy in 2004 in which he portrayed the historical character of Achilles. Ironically, during the production of Troy, Pitt tore his Achilles tendon, delaying production for several weeks.^[3] In 2005, Pitt starred in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, in which he and Angelina Jolie starred as husband and wife assassins. There was much speculation in the press at the time that Pitt was embarking on a relationship with Angelina while the film was under production, but Pitt denied there was any intimate involvement with Jolie while he was married to Jennifer Aniston.^{[citation needed]}

In March 2006, it was announced that Paramount had purchased the rights to The Sparrow for Pitt's production company, Plan B, and that Pitt would be playing the lead role of Sandoz.^[4] In June 2006 it was announced that Paramount and Plan B will be working on a new zombie film called World War Z, based on the book of the same name by Max Brooks.^[5]

Pitt made his return to Hollywood, in the fall of 2006, with Alejandro González Iñárritu's critically acclaimed Babel, starring alongside Cate Blanchett. The movie garnered a total of seven Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, one of which was a Golden Globe nomination for Pitt as Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. The movie has since become Pitt's highest grossing drama.

[edit] Other work

Pitt has appeared in television commercials in Asia, such as for Edwin Jeans, the Toyota Altis, and Japanese canned coffee, ROOTS. He also appeared in a Heineken commercial which aired during the 2005 Super Bowl. It was directed by David Fincher, who directed Pitt in the feature films Se7en and Fight Club. Together with Aniston and Paramount Pictures head Brad Grey, Pitt is the co-founder of the production company 'Plan B'. Aniston is no longer a partner in the company, although she is still attached to many projects that were set up before her divorce with Pitt. The company produced the blockbuster Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp.

He has also had a cameo appearance in season 8 of Friends and on an episode of MTV's Jackass, in which he took part in a staged abduction of himself. In a later episode, he and some cast-members run wild through the streets of Los Angeles in gorilla suits.

Pitt has been an active supporter of research into diseases such as AIDS.

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Marriage To Jennifer Aniston

Pitt dated actress Gwyneth Paltrow during the 1990s. He met Friends actress Jennifer Aniston in 1998 and married her at an enclosed wedding ceremony in Malibu on July 29, 2000. The couple were adamant that the ceremony would be a private affair and hired hundreds of guards to block out any attempts of invasion by the paparazzi. Only one media picture was ever released of the wedding. Not long after the wedding, Pitt sued Damiani International, the company which made the wedding ring he gave Jennifer Aniston, for selling replica "Brad and Jennifer" rings. According to Pitt, the ring was his design and was to be exclusive. Under the settlement reached in January 2002, Pitt will design jewelry for Damiani that Aniston will model in ads, and the company will stop selling the copies.

Their separation was announced on January 7, 2005. Aniston filed for a divorce on March 25 the same year amid controversial claims that Pitt had an affair with an undisclosed individual. The divorce was finalized on October 2 2005. The troubled marriage inspired Brad Pitt to cooperate with Steven Klein for a photoshoot entitled "Domestic Bliss" for the July 2005 edition of W magazine. The spread showed Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as a 1963 married couple with children who were experiencing differences in an era where he believed the importance of maintaining a "facade" was becoming complicated.^[6]

[edit] Relationship With Angelina Jolie

After Pitt and Aniston separated on in January 2005, Angelina Jolie was involved in a well-publicized Hollywood scandal in which she was the "other woman" who caused the divorce of actors Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. She and Pitt had started an affair during filming ( 5 January - 22 April 2004, 12 August - 31 October 2004, and reshoots from 14 - 18 March 2005^[7] ) of Mr. & Mrs. Smith; however, she has denied this in several interviews. In an interview with Ann Curry in June 2005, she explained:

"To be intimate with a married man, when my own father cheated on my mother, is not something I could forgive. I could not look at myself in the morning if I did that. I wouldn't be attracted to a man who would cheat on his wife".^[8]

While Jolie and Pitt never publicly commented about the nature of their relationship, speculations continued throughout 2005. The first intimate paparazzi photos emerged 9 April 05( and were reported to have cost $500,000), one month after Aniston had filed for divorce. They show Pitt, Jolie and her son Maddox at a beach in Kenya. During the summer Jolie and Pitt were seen together with increasing frequency and most of the entertainment media considered them a couple, dubbing them "Brangelina". Two months later Brad and Angelina posed as a married couple for the July 2005 W magazine.

Pitt grew close to Jolie during the filming of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. In July 05 he accompanied Jolie^[9] to Ethiopia where Jolie adopted a six-month-old girl from Ethiopia;^[10] later Jolie indicated that she and Pitt made the decision to adopt Zahara together.^[11] In December 2005 it was confirmed that Pitt was seeking to legally adopt Jolie's two children as his (as part of legal requirements), classified advertisements in the Los Angeles paper Daily Commerce announcing the name change request.^[12][13] On January 19, 2006, a judge in California approved this request. The children's legal surnames were formally changed to "Jolie-Pitt".^[14]

On January 11, 2006 Jolie confirmed to People that she was pregnant with Pitt's child and thereby confirmed their relationship for the first time in public.^[15] On May 27, 2006, Jolie gave birth to a daughter named Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, at night at the Cottage Medi-Clinic Hospital in Swakopmund, Namibia. Shiloh was born by a scheduled cesarean section, due to breech presentation, and Pitt was there to cut her umbilical cord. The couple's Los Angeles obstetrician was assisted by local staff. Shiloh, according to a long-standing translation from the Bible, has come to mean "the peaceful one", and is in actuality a masculine noun.

Pitt confirmed that their newborn daughter will have a Namibian passport while speaking to local journalists.^[16] Jolie decided to offer the first pictures of Shiloh through the distributor Getty Images herself, rather than allowing paparazzi to make these extremely valuable snapshots. People paid more than $4.1 million for the North American rights, while British magazine Hello! obtained the international rights for roughly $3.5 million; the total rights sale earned up to $10 million worldwide – the most expensive celebrity image of all time.^[17] All profits were donated to an undisclosed charity by Jolie and Pitt. On July 26, 2006 Madame Tussauds in New York unveiled a wax figure of two-month-old Shiloh; it is the first infant re-created in wax by Madame Tussauds.^[18] In August 2006, 41 percent of all 18- to 24-year-old American adults correctly identified that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie named their baby Shiloh.^[19]

[edit] The Jolie-Pitt Children

Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt (originally Maddox Chivan Thornton Jolie)^[20] adopted at 7 months old on 10 March 2002. He was born on August 5, 2001 as Rath Vibol^[21] in Cambodia and he initially lived in a local orphanage in Battambang. Maddox's name is Celtic in origin, usually translated as "beneficent."^[22] Jolie calls him "Mad". Maddox has gained a considerable celebrity and appears regularly in the tabloid media; he was named the "cutest celebrity kid"^[23] and he is known for this Mohawk hairstyle.

Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt (originally Zahara Marley Jolie), adopted at 6 months old on 6 July 05. She was born an AIDS orphan on January 8, 2005 as Tena Adam^[24] (her mother died from AIDS. Zahara does not have AIDS. Zahara's birth father is not known.) and adopted on Wednesday 6 July 05 from the Wide Horizons For Children orphanage in Addis Ababa. Shortly after they returned to the United States Zahara had to spend time in a hospital for salmonella intestinal infection as well as dehydration and malnutrition.^[25] Jolie stated that she was six months and not nine pounds. Her skin, you could squeeze it, it stuck together.^[26] Zahara's name means "flower" in Swahili;^[27] middle name "Marley" is from late Jamaican reggae superstar Bob Marley. Zahara's nickname is "Zee".

Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt was born at night(Namibian local time) on May 27, 2006 at Cottage Medi-Clinic Hospital in Swakopmund, Namibia. Shiloh was born by a scheduled caesarean section, due to breech presentation, and Pitt was there to cut her umbilical cord. The couple's Los Angeles obstetrician was assisted by local staff. Shiloh, according to a long-standing translation from the Bible, has come to mean "the peaceful one"; middle name Nouvel is named after Jean Nouvel, one of Brad's favourite architects.

Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt was born on November 29, 2003 and on March 2, 2007, Vu Duc Long ( head of Vietnam's international adoption department) confirmed that Jolie has filed papers to adopt a child from Vietnam. The adoption process is expected to "take a few months". On March 16 2007, Jolie went to Vietnam(with Maddox) to get her new son. Since the Vietnam orphanage does not allow non married couples to adopt, Jolie adopted as a single parent. ^[28][29]

The family divide their time between Los Angeles, California and New Orleans, Louisiana.^[30]

[edit] In popular culture

In 1995, Pitt was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 25 sexiest stars in film history. Pitt has also twice been named the Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine.

Pitt is also prominently featured in the December 2006 Art Issue of Vanity Fair. Pitt appears on the cover in nothing but a pair of white boxers. The cover promotes an article on the Robert Wilson video portraits, a production of LAB HD that includes numerous celebrities and noted personalities. This cover has drawn criticism from Pitt because although he had signed a release for the image, he did not expect it to end up on the cover of Vanity Fair more than a year later. The video portrait, which represents Pitt’s first effort in avant-garde cinema, was exhibited at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.

[edit] Filmography

• 1987: No Man's Land
• 1987: Less Than Zero
• 1989: Happy Together
• 1989: Cutting Class
• 1990: Too Young to Die?
• 1991: Across the Tracks
• 1991: Thelma & Louise
• 1991: Johnny Suede
• 1992: Contact (short subject)
• 1992: Cool World
• 1992: A River Runs Through It
• 1993: Kalifornia
• 1993: True Romance
• 1994: The Favor
• 1994: Interview with the Vampire
• 1994: Legends of the Fall
• 1995: Se7en
• 1995: Twelve Monkeys
• 1996: Sleepers
• 1997: The Devil's Own
• 1997: Seven Years in Tibet
• 1997: The Dark Side of the Sun (filmed in 1988)
• 1998: Meet Joe Black
• 1999: Being John Malkovich (cameo)
• 1999: Fight Club
• 2000: Snatch
• 2001: The Mexican
• 2001: Spy Game
• 2001: Ocean's Eleven
• 2002: Full Frontal (cameo)
• 2002: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (cameo)
• 2003: Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (voice)
• 2003: Abby Singer (cameo)
• 2004: Troy
• 2004: Ocean's Twelve
• 2005: Special Thanks to Roy London (documentary)
• 2005: Mr. & Mrs. Smith
• 2006: The Departed (producer)
• 2006: Babel
• 2006: Robert Wilson Video Portrait
• 2007: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
• 2007: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (filming)
• 2007: Ocean's Thirteen (post-production)
• 2008: Shantaram (Co-Producer)
• 2008: State of Play (Co-Producer & Star)

[edit] Awards and nominations

Awards won:

• 1993: ShoWest Convention: Male Star of Tomorrow
• 1995: MTV Movie Awards: Best Male Performance for Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
• 1995: MTV Movie Awards: Most Desirable Male for Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
• 1996: MTV Movie Awards: Most Desirable Male for Se7en
• 1996: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Best Supporting Actor for Twelve Monkeys
• 1996: Golden Globes: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for Twelve Monkeys
• 1996: Sci-Fi Universe Magazine: Best Supporting Actor in a Genre Motion Picture for Twelve Monkeys
• 1997: Blockbuster Entertainment Awards: Favorite Supporting Actor, Science Fiction for Twelve Monkeys
• 1998: Rembrandt Awards: Best Actor for Seven Years in Tibet
• 2004: Teen Choice Awards: Choice Movie Actor, Drama/Action Adventure for Troy
• 2005: People's Choice Awards: Favorite Leading Man
• 2006: MTV Movie Awards: Best Fight Scene for Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Awards nominations:

• 1995: Golden Globes: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for Legends of the Fall
• 1995: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Best Actor for Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
• 1996: Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Twelve Monkeys
• 1995: MTV Movie Awards: Best On-Screen Duo for Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
• 1996: MTV Movie Awards: Best Male Performance for Twelve Monkeys
• 1996: MTV Movie Awards: Best On-Screen Duo for Se7en
• 2000: Blockbuster Entertainment Awards: Favorite Action Team for Fight Club
• 2001: Golden Satellite Awards: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical for Snatch
• 2001: Teen Choice Awards: Choice Chemistry for The Mexican
• 2002: Emmy Awards: Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for Friends ("The One with the Rumor")
• 2002: MTV Movie Awards: Best On-Screen Team for Ocean's Eleven
• 2004: Kids' Choice Awards: Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie for Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
• 2005: Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards: Best Acting Ensemble for Ocean's Twelve
• 2006: MTV Movie Awards: Best On-Screen Kiss for Mr. and Mrs. Smith
• 2007: Golden Globes: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for Babel

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Brad Pitt at the Internet Movie Database
• Brad Pitt at Yahoo! Movies
• WorldCat Identities page for 'Pitt, Brad 1963-'
• Roles turned down by Brad Pitt
• About.com Profile of Brad Pitt, Activist & Actor
• Brad Pitt at TV.com

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Persondata
NAME	Pitt, William Bradley
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Pit, Brad
SHORT DESCRIPTION	English actor
DATE OF BIRTH	December 18, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH	Shawnee, Oklahoma
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH