William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. One of the most influential celebrities, Pitt appeared on Forbes’ annual Celebrity 100 list from 2006 to 2008, and the Time 100 list in 2007.
Pitt first gained recognition as a cowboy hitchhiker in the Ridley Scott road film Thelma & Louise (1991). Pitt emerged as a star taking on leading man roles in films such as the drama A River Runs Through It (1992), the western Legends of the Fall (1994), the horror film Interview with the Vampire (1994), and the crime thriller Seven (1995). Pitt found greater commercial success starring in Steven Soderbergh’s heist film Ocean’s Eleven (2001), and reprised his role in its sequels. He cemented his leading man status starring in blockbusters such as the historical epic Troy (2004), the romantic crime film Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), the horror film World War Z (2013), and the action film Bullet Train (2022).
Pitt won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing a stuntman in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). He was Oscar-nominated for his roles in the science fiction drama 12 Monkeys (1995), the fantasy romance The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and the sports drama Moneyball (2011). He also starred in acclaimed films such as Fight Club (1999), Babel (2006), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), Burn After Reading (2008), Inglourious Basterds (2009), The Tree of Life (2011), and The Big Short (2015).
In 2001, Pitt co-founded the production company Plan B Entertainment.[3] As a producer he won the Academy Award for Best Picture for 12 Years a Slave (2013) and was nominated for Moneyball (2011) and The Big Short (2015). Pitt was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive in 1995 and 2000.
Early life
William Bradley Pitt was born on December 18, 1963, in Shawnee, Oklahoma, to William Alvin Pitt, the proprietor of a trucking company, and Jane Etta (née Hillhouse), a school counselor.[4] The family soon moved to Springfield, Missouri, where he lived together with his younger siblings, Douglas Pitt (b. 1966) and Julie (née Pitt) Neal (b. 1969).[5] Born into a conservative Christian household,[6][7] he was raised as Southern Baptist and later «oscillate[d] between agnosticism and atheism.»[8] He later reconciled his belief in spirituality.[9] Pitt has described Springfield as «Mark Twain country, Jesse James country,» having grown up with «a lot of hills, a lot of lakes.»[10]
Pitt attended Kickapoo High School, where he was a member of the golf, swimming, and tennis teams.[11] He participated in the school’s Key and Forensics clubs, in school debates, and in musicals.[12] Following his graduation from high school, Pitt enrolled in the University of Missouri in 1982, majoring in journalism with a focus on advertising.[13] As graduation approached, Pitt did not feel ready to settle down. He loved films—»a portal into different worlds for me»—and, since films were not made in Missouri, he decided to go to where they were made.[14][15] Two weeks short of completing the coursework for a degree, Pitt left the university and moved to Los Angeles, where he took acting lessons and worked odd jobs.[14] He has named Gary Oldman, Sean Penn, and Mickey Rourke
