Sci-fi fans hold the late Bill Paxton in high esteem, but not just because of his undeniable acting chops—he's also the only actor to play characters killed by a Terminator, an Alien, and a Predator.
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00:00Sci-fi fans hold the late Bill Paxton in high esteem, but not just because of his undeniable
00:06acting chops.
00:07He's also the only actor to play characters killed by a Terminator, an alien, and a predator.
00:13You're dead meat, Pilgrim.
00:16Paxton doesn't have a big role in James Cameron's The Terminator.
00:19He's just a street tough who has the bad luck of encountering the time-traveling assassin
00:23shortly after he arrived in 1984.
00:26Hey, I think this guy's a couple cans short of a six-pack.
00:30According to the mythology of the film, only organic compounds can use a time machine,
00:34so the Terminator robot, wrapped in living, human skin, arrives in the nude.
00:39When the naked Terminator approaches a random gang of punks, they are amused by his nudity.
00:47Nice night for a walk, eh?
00:49The emotionless cyborg kills them and takes their clothes, wearing his iconic leather
00:53jacket for the rest of the movie.
00:56Paxton wasn't even the central, leader punk, but he was the most striking with his blue
01:00hair and facial tattoo.
01:02RIP blue-haired punk.
01:04Two years later, Paxton's role was larger in Cameron's Aliens, a film about blustery
01:08violent space marines who travel to a distant planet infested by alien creatures, hoping
01:13to rescue any survivors and kill all the monsters.
01:17Paxton plays Hudson, one of the loudest and most boastful of the marines, a man who brags
01:21about his efficiency as a killing machine.
01:23I am the ultimate badass!
01:28The aliens, however, prove to be more than he can handle, and he quickly sinks into a
01:31whiny panic when several members of his team are killed.
01:35Hudson eventually gets to have his final face-off moment against the creatures in a medical
01:39bay.
01:40As the monsters close in, Hudson fires his useless machine gun into multiple creatures.
01:45One of them, however, bursts up from under the floorboards and snatches him from below.
01:49RIP Hudson.
01:501990's Predator 2, directed by Stephen Hopkins, transposed the original film's action from
01:55the jungles of Central America to a crime-ridden near-future Los Angeles, allowing the title
02:00creature to stalk its victims in alleyways and apartment buildings.
02:05Paxton plays a supporting character, Detective Lambert, a cop operating under the command
02:08of Danny Glover's Detective Harrigan.
02:11Metro Command is a war zone.
02:13Lieutenant, I paid my dues.
02:16Lambert is attacked by the Predator in a subway while traveling to an investigation site.
02:21He tries to fight off the monster, but is overwhelmed.
02:24RIP Detective Lambert.
02:26Paxton went on to appear in a wider variety of projects, including crime thrillers, heady
02:31dramas, and Hollywood prestige pictures.
02:33He worked with James Cameron again on Titanic, and appeared as a slimy used car salesman
02:38in True Lies, reuniting with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
02:41Absolutely.
02:42Absolutely.
02:45In 2017, Paxton underwent heart surgery to repair a damaged aortic valve, and there were
02:50complications during surgery that ultimately led to the death of one of Hollywood's, and
02:54science fiction's, most beloved character actors.