Brad Pitt Biography

William Bradley Pitt was born December 18, 1963, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The oldest of three children, Pitt was an extremely active child while attending Kickapoo High School. Bill Pitt, a trucking company manager, wanted his children, Brad, Doug and Julie, to attend church regularly, and this is what young Brad did when he wasn't singing in school musicals, playing sports at school, or on the debating team.

Brad attended the university of Missouri, and his majors were journalism and advertising. He was a hard worker in university but "Got into enough trouble to keep things interesting," as he puts it. Leaving college two credit hours short of graduation, Brad hopped in his car named "runaround Sue" and was bound for California. Brad arrived in Los Angeles, and a new life had started for him. He was young and ambitious and had $325 in his wallet.

Before landing a steady role on the '80s primetime soap, Dallas, Brad Pitt took various jobs to get by, including wearing a chicken costume for the El Pollo Loco restaurant chain. From there, Brad Pitt performed a few more small roles and then got his big break as the sexy drifter Geena Davis falls for in Thelma & Louise. After its release people couldn't stop talking about the "sexy hitchhiker."

Brad Pitt's first job of his 'new life' was handing out free cigarette samples in front of a restaurant dressed as a big chicken. With whatever money he could get back went to his community theatre acting lessons. Slowly Brad worked his way into television and soon after the film industry. Brad's first feature film role was as a "cowboy" in the 1991 Thelma and Louise. Although this movie only provided the young star with 14 minutes of screen time Brad made such an impact that you could have guessed that in a few short years he would be one of Hollywood's top actors.

It wasn't too long until Brad started getting good roles. First, he appeared in an episode of Growing Pains, as Jeffrey, in late 1987. Next he was on Dallas for a few episodes, playing Randy. After a few more TV roles, he got his first starring role in 1988 in Dark Side of the Sun. Political reasons in the place of filming caused the film to be released almost a decade later.

In 1992, Brad Pitt's career really began to take off. Pitt landed key Brad Pitt roles in successful cine like A River Runs Through It, Legends of the Fall and Interview With The Vampire. Brad Pitt's deep, dark movie roles didn't hurt his popularity with the female population. People magazine crowned Brad Pitt The Sexiest Man Alive.

Pitt's next major role did not come until 1994, when he was cast as the lead of the magnificently photographed Legends of the Fall. As he did in A River Runs Through It, Pitt traced a free-spirited, strong-willed brother, but this time had greater opportunity to further develop his doubtful character. Following the film's release, People magazine dubbed him the Sexiest Man Alive. That same year, fans watched in anticipation as Pitt exchanged his outdoorsy persona for the brooding, gothic posturing of Anne Rice's tortured vampire Louis in the film adaptation of -Interview With the Vampire. Starring opposite Tom Cruise, Pitt enjoyed the further helping of fame that was served up by the film's success.

Brad Pitt dated and lived with actress Juliette Lewis who starred in the flick Kalifornia with him. Years later, Pitt was involved in a long-term relationship with actress Gwyneth Paltrow. They became engaged in December 1996, but it couldn't tie the knot and the two split up in June 1997. Extensive tabloid coverage surrounded the relationship. Nude photographs of the couple - taken by paparazzi without permission - controversially appeared in magazines. Then, Brad Pitt met Friends' star, Jennifer Aniston. Brad and Jen were married on July 29, 2000.

After uncredited roles in No Man's Land, Less Than Zero and the made-for-TV movie Too Young to Die? (where Pitt met longtime honey Juliette Lewis), Pitt gained recognition in 15 minutes of screen time as lone roamer J.D. in 1991's Thelma and Louise. Obviously Pitt was not sentenced to a mere 15 minutes of fame, as the film roles began to slowly but surely pour in.

That same year Pitt appeared in Johnny Suede, and in 1992 he co-starred with Kim Basinger in Cool World. After starring in Robert Redford's drama A River Runs Through It, Pitt appeared in crime-related films such as True Romance and Kalifornia (again with Juliette Lewis). But it was after his role in the epic Legends of the Fall that Pitt was branded People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1995.

Following a decidedly busy 2001 that also included a lead role opposite Julia Roberts in the romantic crime-comedy The Mexican, Pitt was virtually absent from the big-screen over the next three years. After walking away from the ambitious and proplematic Darren Aronofsky production The Fountain, he popped up for a very brief cameo in pal George Clooney's 2002 directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and lent his voice to the animated adventure Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, but spent the majority of his time working on the historical epic Troy. Directed by Wolfgang Peterson, the film employed a huge cast, crew and budget and premiered in May of 2004. Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide