John Calley, Bruce Dern, Bruce Willis, Barry Levinson, Cate Blanchett, Mike Newell, Dennis Quaid, John Hurt, Kevin Bacon, Katherine LaNasa, Robert Duvall, Ray Stevenson, Robert Patrick, Frances O’Connor, Shawnee Smith, Marshall Allman, John Patrick Amedori, Ron White and Margo Rey, Michael Blakey, Drew Edwards, Lucy Sabini, Bill Cummisky, John DeChristopher, Ryan Smith, Evan O’Brien, Kim Graham, Tippi Hedren, Irma P. Hall, Sam Raimi, John Lee Hancock, Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, George Lindsay, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Alan & Debra Jenkins, Victoria Pearman, Becca and Bonnie Bramlett, Margarette Marissen, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Fran McDormand, John Curtis, Carl Franklin, Jessie Beaton, Roger Ebert and Charlie “Chaz” Hammel-Smith, Gene and Marlene Siskel, Leonard Maltin and Alice Tlusty, Peter Bogdanovich, John Cusack, Harold Ramis, Matty Simmons and everyone at National Lampoon, Heath Ledger, Mitch Glazer and Kelly Lynch, Jeffrey Lyons, Tony La Russa, Yadier Molina, Bobby Knight, John Loar, Kevin Pollack, Jim Leyland, Bob Gibson, Brooks Robinson, Stan Musial, Marty Henden, Aggie Ceriotti, The Cardinals period, Stanley Kramer and the Kramer family, Phil Walden, Charles Nelson Reilly, Charlie Rose, Ann Curry, Lara Shriftman, Lara Spencer, Richard Harris, Alec Guinness, Taylor Hackford, Martin Landau and family, Ed Solomon, Kurt Russell, Burl Ives, Dani Jansen, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, James Caan, Marlon Brando, Phil, Brent and Roy D. Mercer, Tracy Kirshbaum, the Clintons, Poodie Locke, Joe Buck, Jack Buck, Richard Perry, Jane Fonda, Troy Garity, Penélope Cruz, Lauren Graham, Debbie Carrington, Brett Kelley, Jason Patric, Patrick Wilson, Bridget Fonda, Julio Mechoso, Keisha Kalfin, Ruben Blades, Henry Thomas, Lucas Black, Jimmy Hampton, Carol Doran, Peter Tilden, Rick Linklater, Alli Shearmur, Janet Yang, Carlos Castaneda, Steven Vail, Jeff Lester, Susan Anton, Bill Paxton, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Brian Grazer, Rick Overton, Jay Roach, Sally Menke, Joan Sobel, Dean Parisot, Fred Raskin, Ron Howard, Terry Zwigoff, Lauren Zuckerman, Sergei Bespalov, Alexander Rodnyansky, Ivan Phillipov, Jim Brubaker, Janet Waddles, Gina Warendorp, the cast and crews of all the movies I’ve ever done, Morgan Freeman, Roddy McDowall, Gregory Peck, Elizabeth Taylor, Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn, Julia Roberts, Eric Roberts, Eliza Simons, Gary Busey, Nick Nolte, Powers Booth, Dr. Richard Dwyer, the Arquettes, Mary Cross, Sandra Lucchessi, Ro Diamond, Susie Schwartz, Mary Vernieu, Janet Hirshenson, Jane Jenkins, Cathy Henderson, Barbara Hanley, Fran Bascom, Jerry Bruckheimer, Martin Scorsese, Frederic March, Peter Sellers, Montgomery Clift, John Ritter, Amy Yasbeck, Harry Thomason, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, Burt Reynolds, Hal Holbrook, Charles Durning, Ronnie Yeskel, Liz Larner, Beth McGroarty, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Seth McFarlane and his gang for producing a brilliant world, and Stephen King, and now it’s getting stupid and I’ve left so many people out but for shit’s sake.
Special thanks to my great friends who said words that are too kind. I am humbled. Angelina Jolie, Tom Epperson, Robert Duvall, Dwight Yoakam, Daniel Lanois. And to Adam Korn and Trish Daly and everyone at William Morrow and HarperCollins. And sports, music, movies, Austin, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; and New Orleans, Louisiana; and everyone who has the balls to try to keep swimming up shit creek.
Photo Section
Fattest baby in Clark County, Arkansas. Thirty pounds at seven and a half months.
Jimmy’s second birthday, Hatfield, Arkansas, 1960.
Second-grader in Mount Holly, Arkansas. Just being happy there’s no Internet.
My dad, me, Jimmy, and little brother John David. Probably before or after church, 1968.
My grandparents, Claude David Faulkner and Maude May Faulkner.
Me and my brothers John David and Jimmy, Christmas 1975.
The band Hot ’Lanta in 1974 or ’75. We weren’t from Atlanta, but Arkansas was hot. “Hot ’Rkansas” didn’t sound good.
Onstage around 1975 or ’76 with our band Nothin’ Doin’. That’s old friend Mike Shipp on the left playing bass. I think this was Morrilton, Arkansas.
With old buddy Broderick Collins on a bridge somewhere. Looks like I’m holding something. Probably 1979 or ’80, just before coming to L.A.
Karl Childers, with books and french-fried potaters. Photograph by Michael Yarish. Courtesy of Miramax.
With the late great J. T. Walsh. From Sling Blade. Photograph by Michael Yarish. Courtesy of Miramax.
With Billy Wilder at his office, 1996. Great director. Great man.
With June Carter Cash at the Carter family home in Virginia.
Bridget Fonda, Bill Paxton, and me on the set of A Simple Plan. Bridget didn’t want the watermelon to get too cold. Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
In paradise with Sam Raimi on the set of A Simple Plan. Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
John Cusack and I on the set of Pushing Tin. Looks like a serious conversation. Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
Trout fishing in Canada. Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
With the Cards greats Mark McGwire and Bob Gibson. Photograph by Jim Herren, St. Louis Cardinals.
At Oceanway Studios in Nashville. Great time there doing demos in 2000 or so. Jim Cox and Jim Mitchell.
With Randy Scruggs in some airport. Probably Nashville ’cause we look depressed.
With the great Bruce Dern. We’re pretending to be Dizzy Dean and Paul Dean. We have our own Gashouse Gang.
Holding Dan Lanois’s bird in Silver Lake, California. Hey, not a bad song title.
With great drummer and pal Brady Blade and road crew Jim Mitchell, Micro, and Dirty Don in Stockholm, maybe 2000? Photograph courtesy of Felicia Molinari.
Visiting Eleanor Rigby’s grave. Photograph courtesy of Felicia Molinari.
Shaved my head, went on tour, and acted like a tourist along the way. Strawberry Field, Liverpool. Photograph courtesy of Felicia Molinari.
Actually on “Ferry Cross the Mersey” with Gerry Marsden. Photograph courtesy of Felicia Molinari.
In the Cavern Club with Gerry Marsden, Liverpool. Now that’s history! Photograph courtesy of Felicia Molinari.
Here’s how it looks when a 140-pound guy with arms like noodles cuts sleeves off of an Irish rugby jersey. Photograph courtesy of Felicia Molinari.
No comment. Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
With John Prine on the set of Daddy and Them. This was moments before we got married. Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
With Patricia Arquette on the set of The Badge. Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
Lost in a field with Barry Levinson, one of my favorite directors. Photograph by Richard Cartwright. Courtesy of MGM Media Licensing.
On Bandits, somewhere on the Northern California coast. A rare peaceful moment in my noggin. Photograph by Richard Cartwright. Courtesy of MGM Media Licensing.
Bruce and I once again facing off on Bandits, fighting over Cate Blanchett. We both won. Photograph by Richard Cartwright. Photograph courtesy of MGM Media Licensing.
With my ’67 Chevelle, Beverly Hills. 2001, I think.
Lynne Eagan, Kristin Scott, Joani Yarbrough: make-up, personal assistant, and hair stylist. Respectively, Lynne sixteen years of service, Kristin twelve years, and Joani fourteen years. Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
On the set of Travis Tritt’s video “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde.” Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
Standing by a graveyard during Monster’s Ball. Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
On the set of Monster’s Ball. Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
This is either me on the set of Levity, or my friend Rickey Medlocke, guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
As Davey Crockett on the set of The Alamo. Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
In Austin moments after getting a REMEMBER THE ALAMO tattoo. Think I was also peeing on the floor.
Back when I was an astronaut. I think this was Mars … could’ve been Saturn … Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
With my longtime stunt double Mickey. Thank God for him. Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
Killed by The Rock. P
hotograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
Boxmasters, Continental Club, Austin, Texas. J.D., me, Mike Butler. Photograph © by Van Redin.
Playing drums on “A Fool for Your Stockings,” Fort Worth, Texas. ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard enjoys a break. Photograph courtesy of J.D. Andrew.
Onstage in Salina, Kansas. Photograph courtesy of J.D. Andrew.
Same show. By the second half of shows, the suits come off and we get louder. Photograph courtesy of J.D. Andrew.
Well over a decade ago, I shook a chicken foot at my head and the next morning I’d grown much more hair. Photograph courtesy of Sandrine Lee.
Then just a few years back, I shook an entire chicken at myself and my hair returned to its original color. Even darker. Unfortunately, it also gave Brad Davis hemorrhoids. Photograph courtesy of Aymeric Montouchet.
Me and J.D. at Shannon’s in St. Louis with Bobby Knight, Tony La Russa, and Jim Leyland. These guys are the real thing.
Ritchie “Cat Daddy” Montgomery, me, J.P. Shellnutt, and J.D. Andrew on the set of Baytown Disco. J.D.’s bleeding ulcer evident in this photo. Photograph courtesy of Lynne Eagan.
With Tom Epperson getting lunch packed for work during Tom’s visit to Georgia. Photograph courtesy of Connie Angland.
Coming home from location scout for Jayne Mansfeld’s Car. Photograph courtesy of Connie Angland.
Bella and me. Beauty and the Beast, thank goodness her mom’s pretty. Photograph courtesy of Connie Angland.
Connie and Bella in their ’60s getups in Cedar Town, Georgia, first day of JMC. Photography © by Van Redin.
First assistant director Jim Hensz, me, Duvall, Cedar Town. Here’s how I direct Bobby. “That’s great, Bobby!” Photography © by Van Redin.
Planning a shot in Cedar Town. (Left to right) camera assistant Steve Search, cinematographer Barry Markowitz, me, Jim Hensz, and script supervisor Anne Rapp, headless, holding script. She does very good work regardless of the no-head thing. Photography © by Van Redin.
Two Beauties and the Beast. On the first day of JMC. Photography © by Van Redin.
In director uniform on set of JMC, La Grange, Georgia. Photography © by Van Redin.
Mom with Kevin Bacon on JMC set. They later married. My stepdad’s an actor. Cool.
Bella, proud of a grasshopper on her arm on the set of JMC. Photograph courtesy of Connie Angland.
At endangered frog aquarium with Bobby Duvall. Photograph courtesy of Connie Angland.
One of the great pleasures of my life, a walk with Bella. Photograph courtesy of Connie Angland.
Can’t deny this rascal. Me and my son Willie, I think 2009. Photograph courtesy of Connie Angland.
Christmas at home, 2010. Me, niece Ginny, Mom, Bella, Willie. Photograph courtesy of Connie Angland.
With Dan Lanois at the Cave in mid-interview. Courtesy of Keisha Kalfn.
My boys Willie, eighteen, and Harry, seventeen, at home.
Fourth of July, Georgia. Me and the girls with the great John Hurt.
J.D. and I enjoying an adult beverage in Atlanta.
Bella playing a video game, Connie talking to Tom E. The other two guys are just morons.
About the Authors
BILLY BOB THORNTON is an actor, screenwriter, director, and musician. In the early 1990s, he wrote, directed, and starred in the independent film Sling Blade, for which he won an Academy Award® for best adapted screenplay and was nominated for best actor. Thornton is a three-time Academy Award® nominee and his body of work includes A Simple Plan, Monster’s Ball, The Alamo, Friday Night Lights, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Bandits, and Bad Santa.
Thornton began a career as a singer-songwriter in his early teens and has released seven albums. He is currently a drummer and vocalist in The Boxmasters. He resides in Los Angeles.
KINKY FRIEDMAN is an author, musician, defender of strays, cigar smoker, and the Governor of the Heart of Texas.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
Copyright
All photographs are courtesy of the author and from his personal collection unless otherwise noted.
Excerpts from “‘The Tom Epperson Story’ by Tom Epperson (as told to Tom Epperson)” appear courtesy of Tom Epperson; full text at tomepperson.com, Bio.
THE BILLY BOB TAPES. Copyright © 2012 by Billy Bob Thornton. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
ISBN 978-0-06-210177-8
EPub Edition © MAY 2012 ISBN 9780062101792
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The Billy Bob Tapes Page 23
