Billy Bob Thornton

Born: 4th August 1955
Where: Hot Springs, Arkansas

The Oscar-winning maverick first came to the notice of critics and audiences when he wrote and starred in the thriller One False Move.

Since then, career highlights have included Sling Blade, for which he landed an Oscar for the screenplay and an Academy Award nomination for lead actor.

However, antics offscreen, including his troubled marriage to actress Angelina Jolie and his bizarre fear of antique furniture, have threatened to overshadow his talents as an actor and writer.

Married and divorced five times, it now appears his movie career is settling down to a more comfortable groove than his private life.

The son of a teacher father and a psychic mother (which may well explain a lot), Bob Thornton began his artistic career as a musician, playing drums and singing in Tres Hombres, which once opened for Hank Williams, Jr.

In 1981 he moved to Los Angeles with childhood friend Tom Epperson to pursue an acting and writing career while drumming and singing on the side.

Times were tough (at one stage he needed hospital treatment for malnutrition) but Bob Thornton landed roles in small movies such as Hunter's Blood and For The Boys.

However, in 1992 his luck changed when his and Epperson's screenplay for One False Move was made into a critically-lauded movie with Bob Thornton in a lead role.

Parts followed in Indecent Proposal, Tombstone and On Deadly Ground before Sling Blade, which he wrote, directed and starred in.

The film landed Bob Thornton an Oscar for the screenplay as well as a nomination for best actor.

His profile raised, subsequent roles included Primary Colours, Armageddon and Sam Raimi's acclaimed A Simple Plan.

Next up was the feted air traffic control drama and a sublime performance in the Coen Brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There.

He wrote and directed Daddy and Them and went on to star opposite Bruce Willis and Cate Blanchett in the underrated Bandits.

In 2001, he starred opposite Halle Barry in the Oscar-winning Monster's Ball and appeared alongside Morgan Freeman in Levity.

Comedic roles include the Coen Brothers' Intolerable Cruelty and Richard Curtis's directorial debut Love Actually with Hugh Grant.

Most recently he plays coach Gary Gaines, a hard but essentially decent man in sporting movie Friday Night Lights.