William Bradley "Brad" Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He has been cited as one of the world's most attractive men, a label that entices the media to report on his off-screen life.
Pitt has received two
Academy Award nominations and four
Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one.
Pitt began his acting career with television guest appearances, which included a role on the CBS soap opera
Dallas in 1987. He gained recognition as the cowboy hitchhiker who seduces
Geena Davis's character in the 1991 road movie
Thelma & Louise. Pitt's first leading roles in big-budget productions came with
A River Runs Through It (1992) and
Interview with the Vampire (1994). He was cast opposite
Anthony Hopkins in the 1994 drama
Legends of the Fall, which earned him his first Golden Globe nomination. In 1995, he gave critically acclaimed performances in the crime thriller
Seven and the science fiction film
Twelve Monkeys, the latter earning him a
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and an Academy Award nomination. Four years later in 1999, Pitt starred in the cult hit
Fight Club. Subsequently in 2001, he starred in the major international hit
Ocean's Eleven and its sequels
Ocean's Twelve (2004) and
Ocean's Thirteen (2007). He has had his biggest commercial successes with
Troy (2004) and
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). Pitt received his second Academy Award nomination for his performance in the title role in the 2008 film
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Following a high-profile relationship with actress
Gwyneth Paltrow, Pitt was married to actress
Jennifer Aniston for five years. As of 2009, he lives with actress
Angelina Jolie in a
relationship that has attracted worldwide media attention.
He and Jolie have three adopted children, Maddox, Zahara, and Pax, and have also given birth to three biological children, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne. Pitt owns a production company named
Plan B Entertainment, which produced the 2007 Academy Award winner for
Best Picture,
The Departed, among other films. Since beginning his relationship with Jolie, he has become increasingly involved in social issues, both in the United States and internationally.
