Billy Bob Thornton

Father of four children: Amanda (born late 1970s), William (born 1993), Harry James (born 1994), and Bella (born September 2004).

His mother, a psychic, predicted he would work with Burt Reynolds. That prediction came true when, beginning in 1990, he did three episodes of Reynolds' CBS series "Evening Shade" (1990).

Was considered for the title role in Forrest Gump (1994).

He and Dwight Yoakam have their own production company and are looking at producing movies and records together. Yoakam appeared opposite Thornton in Sling Blade (1996).

Once was told by director Billy Wilder that he was too ugly to be an actor and he should write a screenplay for himself in which he could exploit his less-than-perfect features. Thornton later collected an Oscar for his Sling Blade (1996) screenplay.

Gained about 50 pounds for his role as the auto mechanic in U Turn (1997).

Ex-son-in-law of Jon Voight, whom he co-starred with in U Turn (1997).

In Armageddon (1998) he was the NASA flight director. In The Astronaut Farmer (2006) he was a former astronaut who went up against NASA.

When Thornton and Angelina Jolie first married, the couple moved into the Beverly Hills home formerly owned by Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash (2000).

Claimed in a "USA Today" interview that he has an intense phobia of antique furniture. This fear has been seen on screen in both Bandits (2001) and Sling Blade (1996).

Gave up smoking after completing The Man Who Wasn't There (2001).

Agreed to Ethan Coen and Joel Coen's The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) without reading the script, out of respect for the Coen brothers' talent.

His character Willie from Bad Santa (2003) is reenacted by Eminem in the music video for Eminem's hit song "Just Lose It".

3/10/02: Angelina Jolie and Thornton adopted a Cambodian baby boy. Jolie took custody of the baby in Africa, where she was shooting Beyond Borders (2003). Her father, Jon Voight, told reporters at the 3/11/02 Academy Awards luncheon. Voight said he didn't know whether the couple had picked a name for the child. Brad Pitt is now the adoptive father of Maddox, and Maddox's last name is Jolie-Pitt and Thornton is no longer involved in raising the child.

Has stated that, of all the characters he has played, the one he enjoyed playing the most was Davy Crockett in The Alamo (2004).

2006: Narrated the St. Louis Cardinals World Series DVD.

December 2007 - According to Forbes, for each dollar he got paid, Thornton's movies averaged $10 of gross income.

His daughter, Amanda Brumfield, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for manslaughter [October 6, 2011].

His daughter, Amanda Brumfield, 32, was convicted of aggravated manslaughter in the death of a neighbor's baby daughter she was babysitting [June 2, 2011].