Brad on his BackFlash

Brad Pitt was born in 1963 in Oklahoma and raised in Springfield, Missouri. His mother's name is Jane Etta Hillhouse. His father, William (Bill) Pitt, worked in management at a trucking firm in Springfield. He has a younger brother, Douglas (Doug) Pitt and a younger sister Julie Neal Pitt. At Kickapoo High School, Pitt was involved in sports, debating, student government and school musicals. Pitt attended the University of Missouri, where he majored in journalism with a focus on advertising. He occasionally acted in fraternity shows. He left college two credits short of graduating to move to California. Before he became successful at acting, Pitt supported himself by driving strippers in limos, moving refrigerators and dressing as a giant chicken while working for "el Pollo Loco."
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#23). [1995]
Turned down a role as an astronaut in Apollo 13 (1995) to accept his role in Se7en (1995).
Posed for a campus calendar in college.
A girl went to Pitt's Hollywood-area home shortly after midnight Jan. 7, 1999 and crawled in through an open window, dressed herself in his clothes and stayed for 10 hours before the alarm went off. Athena Rolando, 19, was ordered not to contact the actor and to stay 100 yards away from him for three years. [1999]
Ranked #32 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Mutally agrees to split with Gwyneth Paltrow. [June 1997]
Banned from entering China because of his role in Seven Years in Tibet (1997). [1997]
Chosen by "People" magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. [1997]
Engaged to actress Gwyneth Paltrow. [20 December 1996]
Donated $100,000 to the Discovery Center - a children's learning museum in his hometown of Springfield, Missouri. [June 1996]
Chosen by People (USA) magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. [1996]
His first starring role in a feature film was in The Dark Side of the Sun (1988), shot in pre-war Yugoslavia during the summer of 1988. As editing neared completion, civil war broke out in the region and much of the footage was lost. In 1996, after a five-year search, all of the lost footage was found and returned to producer Andjelo Arandjelovic, who is working on getting a distribution deal. Pitt was paid $1,523 per week for seven weeks. He played a young American taken by his family to the Adriatic Sea to search for a cure for a rare skin disease.
Purchased a mansion is Southern California from the actress who portrays "Elvira" (Cassandra Peterson). He reportedly paid $1.7 million for the house. This mansion is filled with antiques and has a "vampirish" look to it. [1996]
1994: Given title "Sexiest Man Alive" from People Magazine, after making Legends of the Fall (1994).
May 1992: Lived in Southern California with friend Buck Simmonds, who starred with him in A River Runs Through It (1992).
Dated Juliette Lewis. They met on the set of the NBC movie of the week Too Young to Die? (1990) (TV). They also did Kalifornia (1993) together.
He was the third choice for the role of J.D. in Thelma & Louise (1991). William Baldwin, the first choice, left to star in Backdraft (1991).
Had to learn to fly-cast for his role in A River Runs Through It (1992). He practiced on top of buildings in Hollywood. During these practices he frequently hooked himself in the back of his head.
Voted "Best Actor" by viewers of MTV's "The Big Picture" (1988) in 1995.
Was a journalism major in college with an advertising focus.
Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1991" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 43. [1991]
Graduated from Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Mo. [1982]
Dropped out of the University of Missouri School of Journalism (Columbia, Missouri).
In high school was a member of the golf, tennis, and swim teams.
Belonged to the Key Club and the Forensics Club in High School.
Listed in "People Weekly"s "Most Intriguing People" list. (December 25, 1995/January 1, 1996 issue)
He has a brother, Doug, born in 1966 and a sister, Julie Pitt, born in 1969.
Given title "Sexiest Man Alive" from People Magazine, Mr. Pitt was also People's choice in 1995. [2000]
Was considered for the lead in The Matrix (1999).
Has his teeth capped.
Sued Damiani International, the company which created the wedding ring he gave Jennifer Aniston. According to Pitt, the ring was his design and was to be exclusive. The company has since been selling replicas and indicating Pitt/Aniston's endorsement of the ring. [18 July 2001]
He and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston spent $1 million on their wedding. [2000]
He and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston reached a settlement with Damiani International. The pair claimed the company agreed to never reproduce their wedding rings, but it manufactured and sold "Brad and Jennifer" rings in 18 karat white or yellow gold, featuring either 12 or 13 diamonds and costing about $1,000 apiece. Under the settlement, Pitt will now design jewelry for Damiani that Aniston will model in ads, and Damiani will stop selling the Pitt and Aniston copies. [11 January 2002]
For the last couple of years he has been the spokesman for Edwin Jeans ads in Japan. In 2001 he was also the face of the ads for a new Japanese canned coffee which is named Roots. Was replaced in these tv ads (2002) by Kevin Costner.
Studied acting with the late Roy London.
Did TV commercial for Toyota (Altis model) that aired only in Asia. The car became very popular and its sales resulted in Toyota getting an almost 32% share of the passenger car market.
Has a home at Lake Mohawk in Sparta, New Jersey.
Auditioned for the role of "J.D." in the 1988 cult classic film Heathers (1989) and, though he showed talent, casting directors thought him to be "too sweet" for the role, which later went to Christian Slater. He would later go on to a very similar role in the horror film Cutting Class (1989) in 1989.
Is mentioned by name in the Shania Twain hit song, "That Don't Impress Me Much."
He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. The Xi Xi chapter at The University of Missouri - Columbia.
After watching Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), Pitt asked director Guy Ritchie if he could be in his next film. He couldn't master the English accent, so Ritchie gave him the role of Mickey the One Punch Pikey, an Irish fighter, in Snatch. (2000).
With Brad Grey's departure for Paramount and after the divorce settlement with ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, he now solely owns Plan B Entertainment.
Tore his Achilles tendon during the production of Troy (2004), in which he plays, ironically, Achilles. His injury caused the production of Ocean's Twelve (2004) to be pushed back to April 2004. [2003]
Is the first man ever to be named "Sexiest Man Alive" twice by "People Magazine." (1994 and 2000).
He and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston campaigned in the United States to save "EastEnders" (1985) from being axed there [2003].
Showed his parents the "Chemical Burn" scene to convince them not to watch Fight Club (1999).
Got into better shape and eventually gained over 20 pounds of muscle for Troy (2004).