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| Brad Pitt with Jerry Weintraub, George Clooney and Matt Damon |
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| Forecourt Ceremony held on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 |
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Born: December 18, 1963, in Shawnee, Oklahoma
Age at the time of the ceremony: 43 |
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Brad Pitt is perhaps one of the most famous of more recent celebrities. But what most people don't know, is that Pitt is a hard-assed worker. Going from being a boy toy in Thelma and Louise, Pitt has starred in a ton of films, and has become a very busy producer or executive producer on some of the most prominent films of recent times.
Pitt grew up in rural Oklahoma and Missouri in a conservative Baptist household. In high school, Pitt enjoyed golf, swimming and tennis, as well as being in debate club and appearing in the school's musicals. Enrolling in the University of Missouri as a journalism major, Pitt dropped out to follow his interest in movies — he moved to Hollywood.
Studying with Roy London, Pitt found work almost instantly, in such deathless classics as the "Boy at the Beach" in Hunk (released in March 1987) with John Allen Nelson, and No Man's Land (released in October 1987) with Charlie Sheen. He did four episodes of Dallas, aired over CBS in February 1988, guested on 21 Jump Street, aired over the Fox Network in May 1988, and Growing Pains, aired over ABC in February 1989.
After doing a supporting role in
the comedy Happy Together (released in May 1989) with Patrick Dempsey, and six episodes of Glory Days, aired over the Fox Network in September 1990, director Ridley Scott cast Pitt as the small-time crook J.D. in Thelma and Louise (released in May 1991) with Susan Sarandon. His appearance in this film made him a worldwide star.
Now what? He played a musician obessed with Ricky Nelson in Johhny Suede (released in August 1991) with Richard Boes, appeared in Ralph Bakshi's Cool World (released in July 1992) with Gabriel Byrne, and starred for director Robert Redford in A River Runs Through It (released in October 1992) with Craig Sheffer.
By now, Pitt was headlining films such as
True Romance (which played the Chinese in September 1993) with Christian Slater; Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (released in November 1994) with Tom Cruise; and Legends of the Fall (released in December 1994) with Anthony Hopkins.
Pitt seemed to be comfortable in almost anything, whether it was a police story like
Seven (which played the Chinese in September 1995) with Morgan Freeman, or a sci-fi project like 12 Monkeys (which played the Chinese in January 1996) with Bruce Willis (and for which he would receive an Oscar for supporting actor), to a 1950s explorer in Seven Years in Tibet (released in October 1997) with David Thewlis.
Fight Club (released in October 1999) with Edward Norton, is one of Pitt's best-known films. The Mexican (released in March 2001) with Julia Roberts, sorta flopped, but Spy Game (released in November 2001) with Robert Redford, was a big hit, as was Ocean's Eleven (released in December 2001) with George Clooney.
Pitt, like a whole raft of fellow movie stars,
did various voices for Freedom: A History of Us, aired over PBS in 2003, then played Achilles in Troy (released in May 2004) with Eric Bana. He signed on for the sequel Ocean's Twelve (which played the Chinese in December 2004) with George Clooney.
Pitt met his future wife, Angelina Jolie, while making
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (released in June 2005); after spending much time together, they married in August 2014. She filed for divorce in September, 2016.
Pitt became a producer of The Departed (which played the Chinese in October 2006) with Leonardo DiCaprio. That same month saw the release of another film Pitt was a producer on, Running with Scissors (released in October 2006) with Annette Bening.
Pitt was
executive producer of the documentary on Sudanese refugees God Grew Tired of Us (released in January 2007), and was executive producer of Year of the Dog (released in May 2007) with Molly Shannon. He was a produceer for A Mighty Heart (released in June 2007) with Angelina Jolie.
For the opening of Ocean's Thirteen (which played the Chinese in June 2007), Pitt was imprinted in the Chinese Forecourt, along with producer Jerry Weintraub and co-stars George Clooney and Matt Damon.
Returning to starring roles, Pitt played Jesse James and was a producer on The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (released in October 2007), starred in Burn After Reading (released in September 2008) with George Clooney, and co-starred in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (released in December 2008) with Cate Blanchett.
After being executive producer on The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (released in July 2009) with Robin Wright, and The Time Traveler's Wife (released in August 2009) with Eric Bana, Pitt starred for director Quentin Tarantino in Inglorious Basterds (released in August 2009) with Christopher Waltz.
He
produced Kick-Ass (released in April 2010) with Nicolas Cage, was executive producer on Eat Pray Love (released in August 2010) with Julia Roberts, starred in and produced The Tree of Life (which won the Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2011) with Sean Penn. What a dynamo!
Pitt starred in and produced Moneyball (released in September 2011, played the Chinese in November 2011) with Jonah Hill, then was executive producer on a documentary about the penal system The House I Live In (released in October 2012). He was star and a producer on Killing Them Softly (released in November 2012) with Ray Liotta, and swung for the fences by starring and producing World War Z (released in June 2013) with Mireille Enos.
Pitt starred in and was a producer on
12 Years a Slave (released in November 2013), winning an Oscar for Best Picture. He starred in The Counsellor (released in October 2013) with Michael Fassbinder, and was executive producer on the documentary about the oil business in Africa Big Men (released in March 2014).
Continuing to be involved with hot topics, Pitt was executive producer on The Normal Heart starring Mark Ruffalo, aired over HBO in May 2014, was executive producer on Nightingale (released in June 2014) with David Oyelowo, and was executive producer and starred the World War II epic Fury (released in October 2014), with Shia LaBeouf.
He was executive producer on Selma (released in December 2014) with David Oyelowo, and did the same on True Story (released in April 2015) with James Franco. He starred with Angelina Jolie, who also directed, and produced By the Sea (released in December 2015). He starred in and produced The Big Short (released in December 2015) with Christian Bale; the film was nominated for Best Picture.
The romance Allied (released in November 2016) with Marion Cotillard, didn't make much impact, but Moonlight (released in November 2016) with Mahershala Ali, which Pitt was an executive producer on did, winning the Oscar for Best Picture.
He was executive producer on eight episodes of The OA, streaming over Netflix in December 2016 with Brit Marling, was executive producer on The Lost City of Z (released in April 2017) with Charlie Hunnam, and produced and played an Army Genreral on War Machine (streaming over Netflix in May 2017) with Daniel Betts.
Pitt was executive producer on Okja (released in June 2017) with Tilda Swinton, he executive produced six episodes of Sweetbitter with Ella Purnell, aired over Starz in May 2018, and produced Beautiful Boy (released in September 2018) with Steve Carell.
For laughs, Pitt played a weatherman on seven episodes of The Jim Jeffries Show, aired over Comedy Central in November 2018. Pitt also worked on two "Oscar Bait" films released at the end of 2018; he executive produced If Beale Street Could Talk (released in December 2018) with KiKi Lane, and was a producer on Vice (released in December 2018) with Christian Bale playing Dick Cheney.
Pitt won another Oscar for his supporting role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (which played the Chinese in August 2019). Pitt starred in and produced the space drama Ad Astra (which played the Chinese in September 2019) with Tommy Lee Jones. He was a producer on The King with Tom Glynn-Carney (released in November 2019), executive producer on Kajillionaire with Debra Winger (released in September 2020), and executive producer on Irresistable with Steve Carell (released in June 2020).
Pitt serves as executive producer on an astonishing array of projects, including The Underground Railroad, aired over Amazon Prime in May 2021 and the competition show Lego Masters, aired Fox in June 2021.
Pitt has a supporting role in The Lost City with Sandra Bullock (released in March 2022), plays the lead in Bullet Train (which played the Chinese in August 2022), and is co-star in the Hollywood flop (is there any other kind?) Babylon with Margot Robbie (released in December 2022).
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Brad Pitt Forecourt block. Executed by Unknown, Tuesday, June 5, 2007. 36 x 36 inches. |
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Jerry Weintraub, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon Forecourt ceremony, Tuesday, June 5, 2007. Brad Pitt gets help from two unidentified helpers after placing his shoeprints in the wet cement. |
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