American actor Bill Paxton, who rose to stardom with roles in Hollywood blockbusters such as Aliens, Twister and Titanic, has died at age 61 after complications from surgery, his family said in a statement.

Paxton, who appeared in dozens of films over some four decades, had recently starred in the HBO television series Big Love, about a polygamous Mormon family, and acted alongside Tom Cruise in the film Edge of Tomorrow.

For his role in Apollo 13, Paxton won a Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture in 1996.

He was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards in the best actor category for his work in Big Love and the 1990s miniseries A Bright Shining Lie.

Paxton brought a reliably human dimension to big-budget action adventures and science fiction.

He was, sci-fi fans like to point out, the only actor killed by a Predator, a Terminator and an Alien.

__________________
Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating