Brad Pitt Biography

Date of Birth
18 December 1963, Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA

Birth Name
William Bradley Pitt

Height
5' 11" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography

Brad Pitt was born in 1963 in Oklahoma and raised in Springfield, Missouri. His mother's name is Jane Etta Hillhouse. His father, William (Bill) Pitt, worked in management at a trucking firm in Springfield. He has a younger brother, Douglas (Doug) Pitt and a younger sister Julie Neal Pitt. At Kickapoo High School, Pitt was involved in sports, debating, student government and school musicals. Pitt attended the University of Missouri, where he majored in journalism with a focus on advertising. He occasionally acted in fraternity shows. He left college two credits short of graduating to move to California. Before he became successful at acting, Pitt supported himself by driving strippers in limos, moving refrigerators and dressing as a giant chicken while working for "el Pollo Loco."
IMDb Mini Biography By: JJH

Spouse
Jennifer Aniston (29 July 2000 - 2 October 2005) (divorced)

Trade Mark

His laugh

Trivia

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#23). [1995]

Turned down a role as an astronaut in Apollo 13 (1995) to accept his role in Se7en (1995).

Posed for a campus calendar in college.

A girl went to Pitt's Hollywood-area home shortly after midnight Jan. 7, 1999 and crawled in through an open window, dressed herself in his clothes and stayed for 10 hours before the alarm went off. Athena Rolando, 19, was ordered not to contact the actor and to stay 100 yards away from him for three years. [1999]

Ranked #32 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]

Mutally agrees to split with Gwyneth Paltrow. [June 1997]

Banned from entering China because of his role in Seven Years in Tibet (1997). [1997]

Chosen by "People" magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. [1997]

Engaged to actress Gwyneth Paltrow. [20 December 1996]

Donated $100,000 to the Discovery Center - a children's learning museum in his hometown of Springfield, Missouri. [June 1996]

Chosen by People (USA) magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. [1996]

His first starring role in a feature film was in The Dark Side of the Sun (1997), shot in pre-war Yugoslavia during the summer of 1988. As editing neared completion, civil war broke out in the region and much of the footage was lost. In 1996, after a five-year search, all of the lost footage was found and returned to producer Andjelo Arandjelovic, who is working on getting a distribution deal. Pitt was paid $1,523 per week for seven weeks. He played a young American taken by his family to the Adriatic Sea to search for a cure for a rare skin disease.

Purchased a mansion is Southern California from the actress who portrays "Elvira" (Cassandra Peterson). He reportedly paid $1.7 million for the house. This mansion is filled with antiques and has a "vampirish" look to it. [1996]

1994: Given title "Sexiest Man Alive" from People Magazine, after making Legends of the Fall (1994).

May 1992: Lived in Southern California with friend Buck Simmonds, who starred with him in A River Runs Through It (1992).

Dated Juliette Lewis. They met on the set of the NBC movie of the week Too Young to Die? (1990) (TV). They also did Kalifornia (1993) together.

He was the third choice for the role of J.D. in Thelma & Louise (1991). William Baldwin, the first choice, left to star in Backdraft (1991).

Had to learn to fly-cast for his role in A River Runs Through It (1992). He practiced on top of buildings in Hollywood. During these practices he frequently hooked himself in the back of his head.

Voted "Best Actor" by viewers of MTV's "The Big Picture" (1988) in 1995.

Was a journalism major in college with an advertising focus.

Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1991" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 43. [1991]

Graduated from Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Mo. [1982]

Dropped out of the University of Missouri School of Journalism (Columbia, Missouri).

In high school was a member of the golf, tennis, and swim teams.

Belonged to the Key Club and the Forensics Club in High School.

Listed in "People Weekly"s "Most Intriguing People" list. (December 25, 1995/January 1, 1996 issue)

He has a brother Doug, born in 1966 and a sister Julie, born in 1969.

Given title "Sexiest Man Alive" from People Magazine, Mr. Pitt was also People's choice in 1995. [2000]

Was considered for the lead in The Matrix (1999).

Has his teeth capped.

Sued Damiani International, the company which created the wedding ring he gave Jennifer Aniston. According to Pitt, the ring was his design and was to be exclusive. The company has since been selling replicas and indicating Pitt/Aniston's endorsement of the ring. [18 July 2001]

He and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston spent $1 million on their wedding. [2000]

He and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston reached a settlement with Damiani International. The pair claimed the company agreed to never reproduce their wedding rings, but it manufactured and sold "Brad and Jennifer" rings in 18 karat white or yellow gold, featuring either 12 or 13 diamonds and costing about $1,000 apiece. Under the settlement, Pitt will now design jewelry for Damiani that Aniston will model in ads, and Damiani will stop selling the Pitt and Aniston copies. [11 January 2002]

For the last couple of years he has been the spokesman for Edwin Jeans ads in Japan. In 2001 he was also the face of the ads for a new Japanese canned coffee which is named Roots. Was replaced in these tv ads (2002) by Kevin Costner.

Studied acting with the late Roy London.

Did TV commercial for Toyota (Altis model) that aired only in Asia. The car became very popular and its sales resulted in Toyota getting an almost 32% share of the passenger car market.

Has a home at Lake Mohawk in Sparta, New Jersey.

Auditioned for the role of "J.D." in the 1988 cult classic film Heathers (1988) and, though he showed talent, casting directors thought him to be "too sweet" for the role, which later went to Christian Slater. He would later go on to a very similar role in the horror film Cutting Class (1989) in 1989.

Is mentioned by name in the Shania Twain hit song, "That Don't Impress Me Much."

He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. The Xi Xi chapter at The University of Missouri - Columbia.

After watching Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), Pitt asked director Guy Ritchie if he could be in his next film. He couldn't master the English accent, so Ritchie gave him the role of Mickey the One Punch Pikey, an Irish fighter, in Snatch. (2000).

With Brad Grey's departure for Paramount and after the divorce settlement with ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, he now solely owns Plan B Entertainment.

Tore his Achilles tendon during the production of Troy (2004), in which he plays, ironically, Achilles. His injury caused the production of Ocean's Twelve (2004) to be pushed back to April 2004. [2003]

Is the first man ever to be named "Sexiest Man Alive" twice by "People Magazine." (1994 and 2000).

He and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston campaigned in the United States to save "EastEnders" (1985) from being axed there [2003].

Showed his parents the "Chemical Burn" scene to convince them not to watch Fight Club (1999).

Got into better shape and eventually gained over 20 pounds of muscle for Troy (2004).

He has appeared in three movies with the number seven in the title (Se7en (1995), Seven Years in Tibet (1997), and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)). He has also appeared in two movies with the number twelve in the title (Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Twelve Monkeys (1995)).

He was ranked #6 on VH1's "100 Hottest Hotties."

His high school nickname was Brad the "Pitt-bull."

He took Greek language lessons in secret to surprise his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston who is of Greek ancestry.

Voted #1 in Company magazine's annual "100 Sexiest Men" poll, 2004.

His favorite movies are Planet of the Apes (1968) and Saturday Night Fever (1977).

Announced on January 7, 2005 that he and Jennifer Aniston are separating after 4 1/2 years of marriage.

Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2005 Razzie Award nominating ballot. He was listed as a suggestion in the Worst Actor category for his performance in the film Troy (2004). He did not receive a nomination, however.

Dianne Wiest is his favorite actress.

Premiere Magazine ranked him as #50 on a list of the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature (2005).

A short while after completing A River Runs Through It (1992), he fled to Amsterdam where he briefly lived for three months by himself in a small basement apartment before returning to the USA to film Kalifornia (1993).

He and his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston met on a blind date, which was arranged by their agent

He and his Ocean's Eleven (2001) / Ocean's Twelve (2004) co- stars, Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Elliott Gould, all have guest-starred on the TV show "Friends" (1994), though not in the same episodes

Owns and plays Taylor Guitars

In 2001 renowned architect Frank O. Gehry renovated the wine cellar in the home in which Pitt and wife Jennifer Aniston lived. Pitt subsequently did an informal apprenticeship in Gehry's Los Angeles office.

Owns the rights to the Hong Kong thriller Mou gaan dou (2002). He wanted it to be remade with he and Tom Cruise in the leading roles.

Visited over 100 orphans affected by HIV at a facility run by The Salvation Army in South Africa.

Is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

Has appeared in eight movies with a number in the title - and only one of them uses an actual number rather than spelling the word out. That is Se7en (1995), which is a combination of the two, He has appeared in 1 movie with the number Zero in the title, 1 with the number Two in the title, 3 with the number Seven in the title, 1 with the number Eleven and 2 with the Twelve.

Without being asked to, he made an appearance on MTV's "Jackass" (2000) where he did stunts with the cast, dressed in an ape outfit.

Raised in Springfield, Missouri, and is an alumni of Kickapoo High School. Other alumni include Adrienne Wilkinson and Jay Kenneth Johnson.

Broke his arm during the filming of Se7en (1995). The injury was written into the movie.

Adoptive father of Maddox Jolie-Pitt and Zahara Jolie-Pitt with Angelina Jolie.

Wanted to play Darcy in Bride & Prejudice (2004), but wasn't able to work out the filming dates.

Daughter (with girlfriend Angelina Jolie) Shiloh Jolie-Pitt was born 27 May 2006 in Namibia, Africa.

Ranked #15 on Premiere's 2006 "Power 50" list. Had ranked #31 in 2005.

Was considered for two roles which went to Johnny Depp: Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow (1999) and Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). Both were directed by Tim Burton.

The first commercial that Brad Pitt ever booked was through Matrix Talent Agency, Los Angeles. His agent was Linda Olhava, sister of film director Jody Lee Olhava.

Has Single Engine Land pilot license.

Occasionally flies a Cessna 208B Caravan belonging to Chivan Productions.

Initially didn't want to appear in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), although it was he who gave the script to director Doug Liman.

Originally cast as Colin Sullivan in The Departed (2006), but later dropped out. He continued to produce the film under his (and his then wife Jennifer Aniston's) production company, Plan B.

His first job was dancing in a chicken suit to draw in customers at an El Pollo Loco restaurant on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood.

March 2007 - he and girlfriend Angelina Jolie adopted a 3-year-old boy named Pax Thien from Vietnam (born November 29th 2003).

Made a cameo appearance with Matt Damon for free in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) as a favor to Ocean's Eleven (2001) costar and close friend George Clooney - the film was Clooney's directorial debut.

Has been in 7 movies where the title contains the name of the character he plays: Johnny Suede (1991), Meet Joe Black (1998), Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Chad Schmidt (2010).

Considered for the role in Crimson Tide (1995) that eventually went to 'Denzel Washington'.

Voted #6 in Elle (France) Magazine's "15 Sexiest Men" poll (June 2007).

Mentioned in the song High School Never Ends by Bowling for Soup, as "the quarterback".

Was trained to handle weapons by renowned Hollywood gun coach Thell Reed, who has also trained such actors as Val Kilmer, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Sam Elliot, Girard Swan, Ben Foster and Kurt Russell.

He and Russell Crowe were director Ridley Scott's first two choices for the lead in American Gangster (2007). Crowe was eventually cast.

Used to act at the Vandevort Theater in Springfield, Missouri. He still visits and donates to the theater.

Donated 5 million dollars of his own money to rebuild homes in Katrina-ravaged New Orleans.

In 2005, he earned $4,500,000 for a Heineken commercial that aired during the 2005 Super Bowl.

In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated his earnings for the year to be $35 million.

He is a Patron of the Mineseeker Foundation and the Sole of Africa, a campaign dedicated to detecting and removing land mines in Africa. The Foundation's patrons include Nelson Mandela, Sir Richard Branson, Queen Noor, Graca Machel and John Paul de Joria.

Ranked #10 in the 2008 Forbes The Celebrity 100 list. His girlfriend, Angelina Jolie, ranked #3.

On July 12th 2008, his longtime girlfriend Angelina Jolie gave birth to twins - a boy, Knox Leon, and a girl, Vivienne Marcheline.

Is a Vegetarian.

In Nov. 2005 he visited Pakistan with Angelina Jolie to see the impact of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. In 2006, Jolie and Pitt also went to Haiti where they visited a school supported by Yéle Haïti, a charity founded by Haitian-born hip hop musician Wyclef Jean.

Was officially in the BAFTA longlist for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in Babel (2006), however he did not get the nomination.

Considers Fitzcarraldo (1982), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) among his personal favorite movies.

Personal Quotes

[US Weekly, 9/18/00] Being married means I can break wind and eat ice cream in bed.

I'm gonna design my own fleet of trailers. No! I'm gonna record an album like Jennifer Lopez. It'll be an acoustic version of KC & The Sunshine Band. Then maybe I'll design a line of clothes like [Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs] but all in synthetic fur.

I'd like to design something like a city or a museum. I want to do something hands on rather than just play golf which is the sport of the religious right.

[Viasat magazine, 5/01] Fame is a bitch, man.

[on what keeps him humble] You know, I telephoned my grandparents the other day, and my grandfather said to me, "We saw your movie." "Which one?" I said, and he shouted, "Betty, what was the name of that movie I didn't like?" I thought that was just classic. I mean, if that doesn't keep your feet on the ground, what would?

I'm one of those people you hate because of genetics. It's the truth.

Success is a beast. And it actually puts the emphasis on the wrong thing. You get away with more instead of looking within.

[Time magazine, 10/13/97] You shouldn't speak until you know what you're talking about. That's why I get uncomfortable with interviews. Reporters ask me what I feel China should do about Tibet. Who cares what I think China should do? I'm a f---ing actor! They hand me a script. I act. I'm here for entertainment. Basically, when you whittle everything away, I'm a grown man who puts on makeup.

When you see a person, do you just concentrate on their looks? It's just a first impression. Then there's someone who doesn't catch your eye immediately, but you talk to them and they become the most beautiful thing in the world. The greatest actors aren't what you would call beautiful sex symbols. I'll tell you who my favorite actress is, Dianne Wiest, and you wouldn't call her a sex symbol. Dianne Wiest is, to me, the most beautiful woman on the screen.

[when asked by Conan O'Brien how he got into character as stoner Floyd in True Romance (1993)] I'm a method actor.

[In May, 2005, on his impending divorce to Jennifer Aniston] The thing I don't understand is looking at this as a failure. It's talked about like it failed, I guess because it wasn't flawless. Me, I embrace the messiness of life. I find it so beautiful, actually.

[2003] It's amazing what an impending midlife crisis will do for you, really. It got me motivated, having turned 40 in December.

[on having children] It really changes your perspective on the world. You know, I've had my day. I made some films, and I've really had a very fortunate life, and it's time for me to share that a little bit. Having children takes the focus off yourself, which I'm really grateful for. I'm so tired of thinking about myself. I'm sick of myself. You feel you want to be there and not miss out on anything. It's a true joy and a very profound love. You can write a book, you can make a movie, you can paint a painting, but having kids is the most extraordinary thing I've ever taken on.

[On how his children will influence his future roles] My thoughts these days are, "Oh, my God, what did I do? What are they going to see from the past?" It definitely colors what I'll approach in the future. I'll try to be a little bit more mature about my decisions.

[On how his earlier, lesser film roles ultimately improved him as an actor]: I believe I'm quite capable and we, as people, can learn to do anything, and that's proof of it! And my education is on film, on record! Now I can take on anything that comes my way and find truth in it an do a pretty good job.

Salary
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) $20,000,000
Troy (2004) $17,500,000
Ocean's Eleven (2001) $30,000,000 ($10m salary + backend participations)
Spy Game (2001) $17,500,000
The Mexican (2001) $10,000,000
Fight Club (1999) $17,500,000
Meet Joe Black (1998) $17,500,000
Seven Years in Tibet (1997) $10,000,000
The Devil's Own (1997) $10,000,000
Sleepers (1996) $10,000,000
Se7en (1995) $4,000,000
Kalifornia (1993) $500,000
Thelma & Louise (1991) $6,000
Cutting Class (1989) $12,000

Where Are They Now

(May 2003) Filming Troy (2004) in Malta.

(May 2004) The cast of Ocean's Twelve (2004) are currently filming in Amsterdam.

(January 2006) His girlfriend Angelina Jolie is expecting their first biological child.

(May 2006) Girlfriend Angelina Jolie gave birth to the couple's second daughter, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, on May 27, 2006 in Namibia, Africa.

(October 2006) In India with girlfriend Angelina Jolie, who is shooting for A Mighty Heart (2007).

(July 2008) Angelina Jolie gives birth to the couple's fifth and sixth children, son Knox Leon and daughter Vivienne Marcheline, in Nice, France.

(May 2009) in Mato Grosso, Brazil, filming The Lost City of Z.