American actor Bill Paxton, who rose to stardom in such Hollywood blockbusters as “Titanic” and inspired budding meteorologists as a tornado chaser in “Twister,” has died at age 61, his family said on Sunday.
A family representative said Paxton died of complications after surgery. It was not immediately known what procedure the Fort Worth, Texas, native had undergone.
Paxton, who appeared in more than 90 films or television shows over four decades, had recently starred in the HBO television series “Big Love” about a polygamous Mormon family, and acted alongside Tom Cruise in the 2014 film “Edge of Tomorrow.”
For his role in “Apollo 13,” Paxton won a Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture in 1996.
He was a familiar face in movies directed by James Cameron, appearing as a knife-wielding punk in “Terminator” (1984) and a treasure hunter in “Titanic” (1997). Paxton also was a space marine in Cameron’s “Aliens” (1986) who memorably yelps, “Game over, man!” when threatened by the title creatures.
Paxton leaves behind his wife, Louise Newberry, and two children, James and Lydia. (Reuters)