Woody Harrelson

Birthday: 23 July 1961, Midland, Texas, USA

Birth Name: Woodrow Tracy Harrelson

Height: 177 cm

Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actor Woodrow Tracy Harrelson was born on July 23, 1961 in Midland, Texas, to Diane Lou (Oswald) and Charles Harrelson. He grew up in Lebanon, Ohio, and, after receiving degrees in theater arts and English from Hanover College, had a brief stint in New York theater. He was soon cast as Woody on TV series Cheers (1982), which wound up being one of the most-popular TV shows ever and also earned Harrelson an Emmy for his performance in 1989.While he dabbled in film during his time on Cheers (1982), that area of his career didn't fully take off until towards the end of the show's run. In 1991, Doc Hollywood (1991) gave him his first widely-seen movie role, and he followed that up with White Men Can't Jump (1992), Indecent Proposal (1993) and Natural Born Killers (1994). More recently, Harrelson was seen in No Country for Old Men (2007), Zombieland (2009), 2012 (2009), and Friends with Benefits (2011), along with the acclaimed HBO movie Game Change (2012).In 2011, Harrelson snagged the coveted role of fan-favorite drunk Haymitch Abernathy in the big-screen adaptation of The Hunger Games (2012), which ended up being one of the highest-grossing movies ever at the domestic box office. Harrelson is set to reprise that role for the sequels, which are scheduled for release in November 2013, 2014 and 2015. Harrelson has received two Academy Award nominations, first for his role as controversial Hustler founder Larry Flynt in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) and then for a role in The Messenger (2009). He also received Golden Globe nominations for both of these parts. In 2016, he had a stand-out role as a wise teacher in the teen drama The Edge of Seventeen (2016).Harrelson was briefly married to Nancy Simon in the 80s, and later married his former assistant, Laura Louie, with whom he has three daughters. Show less «

[on a scary moment in Dubrovnik] These guys were coming down from the hillside. They were the toughe...Show more »

[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. Show less «

I was in a taxi the other night, and we started talking about life and the taxi driver goes, "Chaos ...Show more »

I was in a taxi the other night, and we started talking about life and the taxi driver goes, "Chaos and creativity go together. If you lose one per cent of your chaos, you lose your creativity." I said that's the most brilliant thing I've heard. I needed to hear that years ago. Show less «

I never was disillusioned with acting because I love acting. But I just felt at one point that I was...Show more »

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) Show less «

It was very interesting. I read that book and I honestly had no idea what the hell was going on. The...Show more »

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)). Show less «

Most people take it pretty badly and just go crazy - I was no exception. But I feel like I've come o...Show more »

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) Show less «

[on his daughter going to college] It was one of the single most difficult experiences of my life wh...Show more »

[on his daughter going to college] It was one of the single most difficult experiences of my life when it was time to separate and she walked off to the dorm and we drove away. I bawled my eyes out. Show less «

I was about 24 years old and I had tons of acne and mucus. I met some random girl on a bus who told ...Show more »

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! Show less «

When I let up from the weed, and the drinking too, I cried every day. And I liked that. I like cryin...Show more »

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! Show less «

[on Peope vs. Larry Flynt] You can't ignore it when Milos Forman wants to make a movie, it's a prett...Show more »

[on Peope vs. Larry Flynt] You can't ignore it when Milos Forman wants to make a movie, it's a pretty big deal. Show less «

I am not loving Obama - he made this statement when they were talking about trying to accomplish wit...Show more »

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. Show less «

[on how Paul McCartney got him out of trouble when he attacked a photographer] I was feeling awful a...Show more »

[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. Show less «

I don't think anybody watches a two-hour movie and decides they're going to become a serial killer. ...Show more »

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) Show less «

I personally get freaked out watching horror films. I liked Shaun of the Dead (2004) because I like ...Show more »

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. Show less «

[on the arrest of Roman Polanski] I have a daughter who is 13 and the thought of some guy giving her...Show more »

[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. Show less «

I've always believed the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.

(On environmental issues) I've been concerned for years. When I was in the seventh grade, I did a re...Show more »

(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. Show less «

Well for six years during Cheers (1982), I couldn't get another job. So I was getting to the mindset...Show more »

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! Show less «

I've found that every time you stand up for something and open your mouth, you alienate someone. I s...Show more »

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) Show less «

Woody Harrelson

Woody Harrelson's FILMOGRAPHY

Woody Harrelson'S roles

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