The late, great Bill Paxton had a long and varied film career, beginning with his directing of the “Fish Heads” music video for Barnes & Barnes. He also appeared in the duo’s videos for “Love Tap,” “Soak It Up,” and “Ah Ā,” as well as in Pat Benatar’s “Shadows of the Night.” During this stretch, Paxton also moved into feature films, turning up in genre films like “Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker,” and “Mortuary,” as well as the cult comedy “Stripes” and the glorious Walter Hill rock musical “Streets of Fire.” 1984 saw Paxton’s first collaboration with director James Cameron, when the actor appeared in “The Terminator” as a punker that was murdered by a vicious, nameless robot from the future (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Paxton was the punk who had blue spiked hair and a tire-tread tattoo on his face.
“The Terminator,” made for an uncharacteristically modest $6.4 million, would go on to earn over $78 million at the box office, becoming a pop culture phenomenon that would spawn sequels, video games, theme park attractions, and many, many crossover comics. It also assured that Cameron would never “work small” again, allowing the filmmaker to expand into more and more complex special effects bonanzas.
Indeed, Cameron and Paxton would collaborate again in 1986 with the release of “Aliens,” an action-forward follow-up to Ridley Scott’s 1978 horror movie “Alien.” And, wouldn’t you know it, Cameron murdered Paxton again, this time at hands (talons?) of a monstrous, cockroach-like Xenomorph.
Then, to make sure his deathly dance card was full, Paxton appeared in Stephen Hopkins’ 1990 sci-fi thriller “Predator 2,” wherein he had to face the title creature face-to-face on a subway car. Despite his use of a gun and a machete, Paxton’s character didn’t make it out alive.
Sci-fi fans now hold Paxton in high esteem as the only actor to have been murdered by a Terminator, an Alien, and a Predator.
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