'''William Bradley "Brad" Pitt''' (born December 18, 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor.
Early life
Pitt was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, to Southern Baptist parents William A. Pitt and Jane Etta Hillhouse. The Pitt family is mainly of English descent. He and his two siblings, Doug Pitt and Julie Neal (Pitt), grew up in Springfield, Missouri, where the family moved soon after his birth. Pitt's parents and siblings still live in Springfield, attending James River Assembly in Ozark, Missouri.
At Kickapoo High School, Pitt was involved in sports, debating, student government, and school musicals. He attended the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri - Columbia where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He was two credits shy of graduating with a journalism degree when he left to try his luck in Hollywood.
Career
thumb|right|200px|Brad Pitt as Achilles, hero from Trojan War story in Troy (film)|Troy.
Before he became successful at acting, Pitt supported himself as a chauffeur, a furniture mover and a costumed mascot for the restaurant chain El Pollo Loco. In the late 1980s, Pitt started landing acting gigs on primetime series such as ''Dallas'', ''thirtysomething'', ''21 Jump Street'', ''Freddy's Nightmares'', ''Another World'', ''Growing Pains'', and ''Head of the Class''. In 1988, he finally landed his first starring role in ''
The Dark Side of the Sun''. However, as the film was being edited, civil war tore apart Yugoslavia, where location shooting was taking place. Most of the footage remained lost until 1998, when the film was finally released. In 1991, Pitt finally got his big break in one of that year's biggest hits: ''
Thelma & Louise'' as J.D., Thelma (Geena Davis)'s one-night stand who gives her tips on robbing 7-Eleven stores. The role that may have truly catapulted Pitt to stardom was that of Louis de Pointe du Lac in the movie adaptation of Anne Rice's novel, ''
Interview With The Vampire''. He followed up that success with ''
Legends of the Fall'' and ''
Se7en''. He was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1995 film ''
Twelve Monkeys''. In 1999 he starred in one of his most recognizable roles in the cult classic ''
Fight Club'', based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk. Since then he has done numerous films, including ''
Mr. & Mrs. Smith'', in which he and his current partner, Angelina Jolie, starred as the title roles. In March 2006 it was announced that Paramount had purchased the rights to ''The Sparrow'' for Pitt's production company, Plan B, and
