About
| Birth Name: | Harrelson, Woodrow Tracy |
| Birth Notes: | 23 July 1961, Midland, Texas, USA |
| Height: | 5' 10" |
| Family: | * Nancy Simon (29 June 1985 - 20 January 1986) (divorced) * 'Laura Louie' (28 December 2008 - present); 3 children |
| Biography: | Woody Harrelson grew up in Lebanon, Ohio. He received degrees in theatre arts and English from Hanover College, Indiana. His career began in New York theatre as an understudy in Neil Simon 's "Biloxi Blues". Within months, he was cast as Woody on the hit TV series, "Cheers" (1982). Due to conflicts with his TV schedule, Harrelson found it difficult to cross-over to films. His first appearance was in Wildcats (1986) with Goldie Hawn. His next movie, Cool Blue (1990) (V), was releases directly to video. He followed with two cameos, which went uncredited. Meanwhile, he continued to be active in theatre in L.A.: "Zoo Story", "2 on 2" (his own basketball drama), "Brooklyn Laundry" (with Glenn Close and Laura Dern). In 1991, Doc Hollywood (1991) gave him his first widely-seen movie role. The following year, White Men Can't Jump (1992), with Wesley Snipes established him as a box-office draw. He followed immediatly with two hits, Indecent Proposal (1993) and Natural Born Killers (1994). Harrelson lives with his former assistant, Laura Louie, and their 3 daughters. Woody Harrelson was born in Midland, Texas and spent his teen years in Lebanon, Ohio. He attended Hanover College in Indiana, majoring in theater arts and English. He never graduated but was later given honorary degrees. After dropping out he moved to New York to pursue an acting career. His first job was as an understudy in "Biloxi Blues" on Broadway, followed by a role in his first feature film, Wildcats (1986), starring Goldie Hawn. Additional theater credits include the Off-Broadway production of "The Boys Next Door". In Los Angeles in 1989, he wrote, produced and acted in his original one-act production, "2 on 2", and produced and performed in Edward Albee's "The Zoo Story". "Cheers" (1982) marked his television debut, for which he was honored with the 1989-90 Emmy Award for best supporting actor in a comedy series. |
Filmography
| 2012 (2009) as Charlie Frost |
| A Prairie Home Companion (2006) as Dusty |
| A Scanner Darkly (2006) as Ernie Luckman |
| After the Sunset (2004) as Stan Lloyd |
| Anger Management (2003) as Galaxia/Security Guard Gary |
| Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) as Himself |
| Defendor (2009) as Arthur Poppington/Defendor |
| Edtv (1999) as Ray Pekurny |
| Grass (1999) as Narrator |
| Indecent Proposal (1993) as David Murphy |
| Kingpin (1996) as Roy Munson |
| L.A. Story (1991) as Harris' Boss |
| Management (2008) as Jango |
| Nanking (2007) as Bob Wilson |
| Natural Born Killers (1994) as Mickey Knox |
| No Country for Old Men (2007) as Carson Wells |
| North Country (2005) as Bill White |
| Palmetto (1998) as Harry Barber |
| Play It to the Bone (1999) as Vince Boudreau |
| Semi-Pro (2008) as Monix |
| Seven Pounds (2008) as Ezra Turner |
| She Hate Me (2004) as Leland Powell |
| Sleepwalking (2008) as Randall |
| Surfer, Dude (2008) as Jack Mayweather |
| The Cowboy Way (1994) as Pepper Lewis |
| The Grand (2007) as One Eyed Jack Faro |
| The Hi-Lo Country (1998) as Big Boy Matson |
| The Messenger (2009) as Captain Tony Stone |
| The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) as Larry Flynt |
| The Thin Red Line (1998) as Sgt. Keck |
| This So-Called Disaster: Sam Shepard Directs the Late Henry Moss (2003) as Himself/taxi |
| Transsiberian (2008) as Roy |
| Zombieland (2009) as Tallahassee |
| American Saint (2001) as Himself |
| Battle in Seattle (2007) as Dale |
| Bunraku (2010) as The Bartender |
| Doc Hollywood (1991) as Hank Gordon |
| Every Twenty One Seconds (2005) as Narrator |
| Fields of Fuel (2008) as Himself - Actor/Environmentalist |
| Friends with Benefits (2011) |
| Fuel (2008) as Himself - Actor/Environmentalist |
| Go Further (2003) as Himself |
| Harper Valley P.T.A. (1978) as Extra |
| Hempsters: Plant the Seed (2008) as Himself |
| How to Make Money Selling Drugs (2011) as Himself |
| I Think I Cannes (1997) as Himself |
| I'll Do Anything (1994) as Ground Zero Hero |
| Jack Tucker, Trucker (2006) |
| Larry Flynt: The Right to Be Left Alone (2007) as Himself |
| M (2011) as Marston the First & Second |
| Milos Forman: Co te nezabije... (2009) as Himself |
| Money Train (1995) as Charlie |
| Rampart (2011) |
| Scorched (2003) as Jason 'Woods' Valley |
| She's Having a Baby (1988) as Himself |
| Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days. (2009) as Himself |
| Slipp Jimmy fri (2006) as Roy Arnie |
| Sp!t (2006) as Himself |
| Sundance Skippy (2009) as Himself |
| Ted & Venus (1991) as Homeless Vietnam Veteran |
| The Big White (2005) as Raymond Barnell |
| The Dry Gulch Kid (2011) |
| The Outsider (2005) as Himself |
| The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005) as Kelly Ryan |
| The Sunchaser (1996) as Dr. Michael Reynolds |
| The Walker (2007) as Carter Page III |
| Turkeys (2011) as Brock |
| Wag the Dog (1997) as Sergeant William Schumann |
| Welcome to Hollywood (1998) as Himself |
| Welcome to Sarajevo (1997) as Flynn |
| White Men Can't Jump (1992) as Billy Hoyle |
| Wildcats (1986) as Krushinski |
| Zombieland 2 (2011) as Tallahassee |
Trivia
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* Is a vegan. * Moonlights as the lead singer in the band Manly Moondog and the Three Kool Hats. * Graduated from Hanover College in 1983 with a degree in theater arts & English. Member Sigma Chi fraternity. * Was married to Neil Simon 's daughter, Nancy Simon. Has had relationships with: Carol Kane , Ally Sheedy and Moon Unit Zappa. * Was arrested in Columbus (Ohio) in June 1983, charged of disorderly conduct - he was dancing in the street, halting traffic; he later jumped out of a moving police van laughing maniacally and finally punched one of the two arresting officers to the ground. * Brother of Brett Harrelson and Jordan Harrelson. * Father Charles Harrelson was sentenced to two life sentences for the murder of Federal Judge John Howland Wood on the orders of drug dealer Jimmy Chagra, who reportedly paid him $250,000. Harrelson has claimed to be one of the "hobos" taken away from "the grassy knoll" right after the shooting of John F. Kennedy. * Admits to having been a sex addict. * Claims to have had 17 jobs in one year. * (1990) Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People. * Activist for the legalization of marijuana. * (25 August 2000) A jury in Beattyville, Kentucky dismissed a marijuana possession charge against him. He was arrested in 1996 for planting 4 marijuana hemp seeds in rural Kentucky and in his defence he said he was challenging a state law that makes no distinction between marijuana and hemp, even though hemp contains little of the drug found in marijuana and can be used to make a variety of industrial products. * (April-May 2001) Woody and approximately a dozen other hemp activists and environmentalists took a bicycle tour down the west coast of America, starting in Seattle, Washington and 1000 miles later ending at the University of Santa Barbara in California. The tour was escorted by the Mothership, a Chicago city transit bus fueled by hemp oil and powered by solar panels. * The ex-son-in-law of playwright Neil Simon , one of Woody's first plays was Simon's "Biloxi Blues" in 1984. * He is on the board of the directors for the Ex'pression Center For New Media, an art school in Emeryville, California. * (2001) Is the owner of an oxygen bar in West Hollywood, California. * (2004) Lives with Laura Louie and their children in Costa Rica * Was set to star in the Danny Boyle's firefighter drama "Worcester Cold Storage" with Ed Harris , but the project never came to fruition. * He is the first and, as of 2005, only regular cast member from "Cheers" (1982) to receive a nomination for an Academy Award. * Wanted to play Jake Brigance in A Time to Kill (1996), but author John Grisham objected to his casting. * Good friends with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. * Lovingly refers to his three daughters as the "Goddess trilogy". * Woody and his wife, Laura, became the parents of their third daughter, Makani Ravello, on Maui on June 3, 2006. * Although he is a vegan, he is a raw foodist (which means he only eats raw and dried foods). * He climbed the Golden Gate Bridge and put up a sign that read, "Hurwitz. Aren't ancient redwoods more precious than gold?" in protest of MAXXAM/Pacific Lumber CEO Charles Hurwitz, who once stated, "He who has the gold, makes the rules". * He and Nancy Simon were married in Tijuana, Mexico. * Daughters: Deni Montana Harrelson (born March 5, 1994), Zoe Giordano Harrelson (born September 22, 1996) and Makani Ravello Harrelson (born June 3, 2006). * Lives in Hawaii [2006]. * His father, convicted murderer Charles Harrelson died on March 15th, 2007 in a federal super-maximum prison in Colorado. * Friend of Owen Wilson . * His friends Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan , Dean Felber and Jim 'Soni' Sonefeld of the rock band Hootie and the Blowfish wrote the song "Woody" about him. The number can be found on the group's eponymous 2003 album. * Close friend of Michael J. Fox . * In 1991 he went to Nairobi, Kenya and lived in a tent on the outskirts of town for a few weeks to experience Africa and get away from it all. * He was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in March 2003 in Austin, Texas. * Was considered for the role of Lester Burnham in American Beauty (1999). * Maintains his residence on Hana in Maui, and his neighbors include Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson. The three have been known to play poker together. |
Quotes
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* When I let up from the weed, and the drinking too, I cried every day. And I liked that. I like crying. And now I not only wanna cry and show my crying to other people, I wanna just split myself down the middle and open my guts and just throw everything out! * Well for six years during "Cheers" (1982), I couldn't get another job. So I was getting to the mindset of, 'Wow, so this is it. I thought the career was just starting and apparently it's just over.' Fortunately then, I got a role in Doc Hollywood (1991) and then White Men Can't Jump (1992). Those I was doing during my hiatus from "Cheers" (1982), and then I did Indecent Proposal (1993) during my last hiatus. And then Indecent Proposal (1993) came out literally the day after we wrapped "Cheers" (1982). And then I started work on Natural Born Killers (1994). So I was fortunately able to segue, but for awhile I thought, 'Jeez, this is it'. And I felt that I could do so much more. I really wanted to express myself a little more. Not to say that "Woody Boyd" was not a great role! * It was very interesting. I read that book and I honestly had no idea what the hell was going on. Then I did the movie because I just wanted to do it. I wanted to work with Richard Linklater, Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr.' and 'Winona Ryder. I wanted to do it, but I really still don't know what the hell that film is about. But I just know it's really interesting (On A Scanner Darkly (2006)). * I never was disillusioned with acting because I love acting. But I just felt at one point that I was on a hamster wheel, you know? Just doing movie after movie and thinking so much about career related things and I think missing out on hanging with my friends and family as much I needed to. So I just took some time off. I was maybe going to do two or three years and it turned into five years. But certainly, I'd say it was the best thing I ever did. And now I come back to this whole thing really energized about it. (2005 quote) * Most people take it pretty badly and just go crazy - I was no exception. But I feel like I've come out of it with my spirit still intact. (2002 quote on fame) * I've found that every time you stand up for something and open your mouth, you alienate someone. I spent a lot of time wanting to become rich and famous, then when I got there, I found it was hollow. What is important to me is my connection with family and friends, and to nature, and to stand up for what I believe in. It really makes you feel good to follow through with your convictions. Granted, between opening my mouth and some of the movies I've chosen to do, I've alienated a lot of my fans, I'm sure. Hopefully I'll make better movies, but I'll never stop opening my large, prominent mouth. (1997 quote) * (On environmental issues) I've been concerned for years. When I was in the seventh grade, I did a report about the environment and the loss of species. It was supposed to be only a few pages, but ended up being nearly 50. I've always had an intense relationship with nature, something which I think all of us have somewhere inside of us. Getting involved environmentally, really stepping out there, happened when I was doing "Cheers" (1982). Ted Danson couldn't make it to a couple of his meetings with the American Oceans Campaign, and he asked me if I would step in for him. * I don't think anybody watches a two-hour movie and decides they're going to become a serial killer. (On the furor over whether or not Natural Born Killers provoked a couple of teenagers to commit murder) * [On a scary moment in Dubrovnik] These guys were coming down from the hillside. They were the toughest-looking motherf***ers you ever saw - some kind of Croatian judo gang or something - and they were coming down basically to kill me for being with these red-hot girls. They were ready to tear me apart, and it got mind-blowingly tense. But then one of these f***ing guys recognises me from American TV, so we end up going out for drinks with them. I swear if I had not been on "Cheers" (1982), I'd have died right there on that beach in Croatia. * [On how Paul McCartney got him out of trouble when he attacked a photographer] I was feeling awful about it (the attack), and I ran into Sir Paul McCartney. We've been friends for a long time through our shared passion for veganism and many other issues. He's got such a great capacity for happiness. I told him what happened and also that I'd just finished this movie called Zombieland (2009), and Paul said, 'That's it, man. Just tell the press you thought the cameraman was a zombie.' So that's what we went with. * I was about 24 years old and I had tons of acne and mucus. I met some random girl on a bus who told me to quit dairy and all those symptoms would go away three days later. By God, she was right! * I personally get freaked out watching horror films. I liked Shaun of the Dead (2004) because I like horror comedies. But 28 Days Later... (2002)? I was sleepless, man. * I am not loving Obama - he made this statement when they were talking about trying to accomplish with the new legislation about global warming and he said "Let's not let great be the enemy of good." That just stayed with me and haunted me. "Great be the enemy of good" - let's not make great, firm international legislation and try to settle for what we can get. Lyndon Johnson probably would have said that. * [On the arrest of Roman Polanski] I have a daughter who is 13 and the thought of some guy giving her a Quaalude...then I was torn over the fact that it had been 32 years and the girl had forgiven him, so I don't know. I do think that what he did was wrong. |
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