Part of Titanic featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, and Frances Fisher.
Rise to Fame
He spent the better part of a decade as Hollywood's most reliable supporting player in disaster films and sci-fi blockbusters. James Cameron cast him four times: The Terminator, Aliens, True Lies, Titanic. In Aliens he played Private Hudson, whose panicked breakdown under pressure became the film's emotional center. 'Game over, man!' became a sci-fi shorthand for imminent doom. Through Apollo 13 and Twister, he kept collecting credits in films that defined the 90s without ever carrying one alone. The industry trusted him with the second row, and he made the most of every seat.
In the Spotlight
Big Love was the pivot. Playing polygamist patriarch Bill Henrickson on HBO from 2006 to 2011, he earned three Golden Globe nominations and proved he could anchor a prestige drama as well as he could panic in a firefight. It was the most sustained run of critical attention his career ever got. He died in February 2017, 11 days after heart valve surgery at Cedars-Sinai. His family sued, alleging the surgeon used an unnecessary high-risk approach that caused cardiogenic shock and a compromised coronary artery. It took more than five years to settle, and the final terms with the hospital were never disclosed.
Side Notes
At eight years old, he was in the crowd outside the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth on the morning of November 22, 1963, when President Kennedy stepped out for the last time. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza still has those photos on display. The 1980s found him playing in a new wave band called Martini Ranch, which released one album, Holy Cow, in 1988, because apparently being in two James Cameron films wasn't enough. His great-great-grandfather commanded the Stonewall Brigade at Chancellorsville.
Final Chapter
His family sued Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and surgeon Dr. Ali Khoynezhad, alleging the procedure caused excessive bleeding, cardiogenic shock, and a compromised coronary artery. The family settled with the anesthesiologist group for $1 million. Cedars-Sinai and the surgeon agreed to a separate confidential settlement in August 2022, just weeks before the case was scheduled to go to trial.