Woody Harrelson Biography
Summary
"Woodrow Tracy 'Woody' Harrelson" (born July 23, 1961) is an American Emmy Award winning and Academy Award nominated actor.
Although best known for his role as Woody Boyd in the 1980s sitcom "Cheers", he has also earned acclaim for his roles in films such as "Natural Born Killers", "The People vs. Larry Flynt", and "A Prairie Home Companion".
Early life
Harrelson was born in Midland, Texas, to Charles Voyde Harrelson and Diane Lou Oswald, who divorced in 1964; he has two brothers, Jordan and Brett, the latter of whom is a professional motorcycle racer. Harrelson grew up in Lebanon, Ohio, with his mother. Harrelson attended Lebanon High School and later Hanover College in Indiana, becoming a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Arts and English in 1983.
Career
After graduation, Harrelson moved to New York City. In 1985, he was cast as the naive but genial Midwestern bartender Woody Boyd on the television series "Cheers", and won an Emmy for the role. His first film was 1986's "Wildcats" with Goldie Hawn. Harrelson became friends with Wesley Snipes and starred with him in the box-office hits "Money Train" and "White Men Can't Jump". He appeared in mostly minor roles until he starred in Robert Redford's "Indecent Proposal" in 1993, a role which helped open doors for Harrelson in the film industry.
In 1994 Harrelson starred in his best known role to date, Mickey Knox in Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers". During this time he also starred in the Farrelly brothers cult classic "Kingpin".
In 1996, he starred in the title role of the controversial film "The People vs. Larry Flynt", for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Following this performance Harrelson went to star in films such as "Wag the Dog", "Edtv", "The Thin Red Line" and "Palmetto".
More recently, he had a fairly long run on the NBC sitcom "Will & Grace" as Grace's love interest Nathan and played FBI agent Stan in 2004's "After the Sunset". His most recent films are "A Prairie Home Companion" and "A Scanner Darkly", which were released in June and July of 2006, respectively.
Personal life
In 1985, Harrelson married Nancy Simon, daughter of playwright Neil Simon, in Tijuana. The two intended to divorce the following day, but the storefront marriage/divorce parlor was closed when they had returned to it, and the two remained married for ten months On January 11, 1998, Harrelson married Laura Louie, his former assistant of two years and a co-founder of Yoganics, an organic food delivery service. The couple, who have been together since 1990, have three daughters, Deni Montana (born March 5, 1993), Zoe Giordano (born September 22, 1996), and Makani Ravello (born June 3, 2006). When announcing Makani's birth, the couple referred to the three as their 'goddess trilogy.'
Harrelson's father, Charles Harrelson, was a freelance hitman. He was accused of murdering a Texas businessman when Woody was just seven years old and was convicted of the crime six years later. When Harrelson was in college, his father received two life term sentences for the killing of a federal judge. His father died in prison of a heart attack on March 15, 2007.
Activist work
Harrelson is a supporter and activist for the legalization of marijuana and hemp in the US. On June 1, 1996, he was arrested in Kentucky after he symbolically planted four hemp seeds to challenge state law that failed to distinguish between industrial hemp and marijuana. Harrelson won the case.
Harrelson is also an environmental activist. He once climbed the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with members of North Coast Earth First! group to unfurl a banner that said, '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'. Harrelson, an ethical vegan and raw foodist, has also denounced animal experiments in the cosmetics industry.
He has travelled the American West Coast on a bike and domino caravan with a hemp oil-fueled biodiesel bus (the subject of the independent documentary, "Go Further") and has narrated the documentary "Grass". Harrelson briefly owned an oxygen bar in West Hollywood called 'O2'. He is also a peace activist and has often spoken publicly against the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
References
==External links==* * (VoiceYourself) (Harrelson established this site)** (Woody Harrelson myspace.com) * (No Country for Old Men) Official Canadian site
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Woody Harrelson.
