Brad Pitt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Brad Pitt
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Pitt in 2024
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William Bradley Pitt
December 18, 1963 Shawnee, Oklahoma, U.S.
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| Years active | 1987–present |
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Works
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Full list |
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| Children | 6 |
| Relatives | Doug Pitt (brother) |
| Awards | Full list |
William Bradley Pitt, born on December 18, 1963, is a well-known American actor and film producer. Over more than thirty years in movies, Brad Pitt has won many awards, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. His films have earned billions of dollars worldwide.
He first became widely recognized as a cowboy hitchhiker in the film Thelma & Louise (1991). Brad Pitt then starred in many popular movies like A River Runs Through It (1992), Legends of the Fall (1994), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Seven (1995), Fight Club (1999), and Snatch (2000). He continued to star in big movies such as the Ocean's film trilogy (2001–2007), Troy (2004), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), World War Z (2013), Bullet Train (2022), and F1 (2025).
Brad Pitt has been nominated for Academy Awards for his roles in 12 Monkeys (1995), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), and Moneyball (2011). He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a stuntman in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). He also appeared in other acclaimed films like Babel (2006), Inglourious Basterds (2009), and The Tree of Life (2011).
In 2001, Brad Pitt co-founded a film production company called Plan B Entertainment. As a producer, he won an Academy Award for Best Picture for 12 Years a Slave (2013).
Contents
Early Life and Dreams
William Bradley Pitt was born on December 18, 1963, in Shawnee, Oklahoma, U.S. His father, William Alvin Pitt, owned a trucking company, and his mother, Jane Etta (Hillhouse), was a school counselor. The family soon moved to Springfield, Missouri, where Brad grew up with his younger siblings, Doug Pitt and Julie Neal.
Brad Pitt attended Kickapoo High School. He was active in sports like golf, swimming, and tennis. He also joined school clubs, participated in debates, and performed in musicals. After high school, in 1982, Pitt enrolled in the University of Missouri. He studied journalism, focusing on advertising.
As graduation neared, Brad Pitt realized he wasn't ready to settle down. He loved movies and saw them as "a portal into different worlds." Since movies weren't made in Missouri, he decided to move to where they were created. Just two weeks before finishing his degree, Pitt left college and moved to Los Angeles. There, he took acting lessons and worked various part-time jobs to support himself.
Becoming an Actor
Early Roles and First Steps
Brad Pitt began his acting career in 1987, taking lessons from acting coach Roy London in Los Angeles. He appeared in small roles in films like No Way Out and Less than Zero. He also made his television debut in the soap opera Another World. Later that year, he had guest appearances on sitcoms like Trial and Error and Growing Pains. He also appeared in four episodes of the TV series Dallas.
In 1988, Pitt had his first main film role in the Yugoslavian–American movie The Dark Side of the Sun. He played a young American seeking a cure for a skin condition. This film was released later, in 1997. In 1989, he appeared in the comedy Happy Together and the horror film Cutting Class, which was his first movie to be shown in theaters. He also made guest appearances on TV shows like Freddy's Nightmares.
In 1990, Brad Pitt co-starred in the TV movie Too Young to Die?. He played a character who took advantage of a young runaway. He also appeared in the drama Glory Days. In 1991, he played a high school runner in Across the Tracks.
Gaining Recognition
Brad Pitt became widely known after his supporting role in Ridley Scott's 1991 road film Thelma & Louise. He played J.D., a small-time criminal. After this, Pitt starred in Johnny Suede (1991) and Cool World (1992), though these films did not boost his career much.
Pitt took on the role of Paul Maclean in the 1992 biographical film A River Runs Through It, directed by Robert Redford. Many people saw this as a very important performance for his career. Pitt felt a lot of pressure during filming but learned a lot from the talented cast and crew. In 1993, he reunited with Juliette Lewis for the film Kalifornia, where he played a character who was charming but also menacing. He also had a brief, funny role in the movie True Romance. That year, he won a ShoWest Award for Male Star of Tomorrow.
Becoming a Star
In 1994, Brad Pitt played the vampire Louis in the horror film Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles. He starred alongside Tom Cruise and Kirsten Dunst. While the film was popular, some critics felt his performance was not his strongest.
Later in 1994, Pitt starred in Legends of the Fall, set in the American West. He played Tristan Ludlow and received his first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor. Critics praised his performance, saying it helped establish him as a leading actor.
In 1995, Pitt starred with Morgan Freeman in the crime thriller Seven. Pitt wanted to play characters with more depth, moving beyond just "pretty boy" roles. His performance was well-received, and Seven was a big success, earning $327 million worldwide. After this, Pitt played Jeffrey Goines, a character with unusual ideas, in the science fiction film 12 Monkeys (1995). He won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role and received his first Academy Award nomination.
In 1996, he appeared in the legal drama Sleepers. In 1997, Pitt starred opposite Harrison Ford in The Devil's Own, playing an Irish Republican Army character. He also played Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer in Seven Years in Tibet. Pitt trained for months, including rock climbing, for this role. In 1998, he had the main role in the fantasy romance film Meet Joe Black, playing a personification of death.
Major Film Roles
In 1999, Brad Pitt played Tyler Durden in Fight Club, directed by David Fincher. Pitt prepared for the role by learning boxing and other fighting styles. He even changed his appearance for the part. While promoting the film, Pitt explained that it explored how people deal with their feelings. Fight Club became a very popular movie after its DVD release.
In 2000, Pitt played an Irish Traveller boxer with a hard-to-understand accent in Guy Ritchie's gangster film Snatch. Many critics praised Pitt's funny performance in this role. The next year, he starred with Julia Roberts in the romantic comedy The Mexican. He also appeared in the Cold War thriller Spy Game (2001) as a CIA operative mentored by Robert Redford's character.
In November 2001, Brad Pitt made a guest appearance on the TV series Friends, playing a character who had a grudge against Rachel Green, played by Jennifer Aniston, who was his wife at the time. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for this role. In December 2001, Pitt played Rusty Ryan in the heist film Ocean's Eleven. He joined a famous cast including George Clooney and Matt Damon. This film was very successful, earning $450 million worldwide.
In 2003, Pitt took on his first voice-acting roles. He voiced the main character in the animated film Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and played Boomhauer's brother, Patch, in an episode of King of the Hill.
Global Recognition
In 2004, Brad Pitt had two big film roles. He played Achilles in Troy and returned as Rusty Ryan in the sequel Ocean's Twelve. He trained with swords for six months for Troy. Troy was the first film produced by Plan B Entertainment, a company he co-founded. Ocean's Twelve earned $362 million worldwide.
In 2005, Pitt starred as John Smith in the action comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith. He played a married man who discovers his wife is also a secret agent. The film was praised for the strong connection between Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who played his character's wife. Mr. & Mrs. Smith was a huge hit, earning $478 million worldwide.
For his next film, Pitt starred with Cate Blanchett in the drama Babel (2006). His performance was well-received, and he later said it was one of his best career decisions. Babel received many awards nominations, and Pitt was nominated for a Golden Globe. That same year, his company Plan B Entertainment produced The Departed, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
In 2007, Pitt returned as Rusty Ryan in Ocean's Thirteen. He also played American outlaw Jesse James in the Western drama The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. For this role, he won the Volpi Cup award for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival.
Pitt's next film was the 2008 comedy Burn After Reading, his first time working with the Coen brothers. Critics praised his funny performance. He then starred as Benjamin Button in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). In this story, a man ages in reverse. Pitt's performance earned him nominations for a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Golden Globe, and his second Academy Award. The film received 13 Academy Award nominations.
Continued Success and Producing
In 2009, Brad Pitt starred in the Quentin Tarantino-directed war film Inglourious Basterds, which premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Pitt played Lieutenant Aldo Raine, an American resistance fighter battling Nazis. The film was a box office hit and received many awards and nominations. He then voiced the superhero Metro Man in the 2010 animated movie Megamind.
Pitt produced and appeared in Terrence Malick's drama The Tree of Life, which won the Palme d'Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. In 2011, he played Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane in the drama Moneyball. This performance earned him nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor at the Academy Awards.
His next role was as mob hitman Jackie Cogan in Killing Them Softly (2012). In 2013, Pitt starred in and produced World War Z, a thriller about a zombie apocalypse. This film grossed $540 million worldwide, becoming one of his highest-grossing pictures. Also in 2013, he produced and had a small role in 12 Years a Slave, a historical drama that won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
In 2014, Pitt starred in Fury, a World War II film. It was a commercial and critical success, earning $211 million worldwide. In 2015, Pitt starred with his then-wife, Jolie, in By the Sea, a romantic drama. He also produced and co-starred in the comedy-drama The Big Short, which was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. In 2016, Pitt starred in the romantic thriller Allied. In 2017, he starred in and produced the Netflix satirical war comedy War Machine.
Recent Work
In 2019, Brad Pitt starred as veteran stunt double Cliff Booth in Quentin Tarantino's film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. For this role, he won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. This was his second Oscar, and his first for acting. In 2019, he also starred in James Gray's space film Ad Astra, playing Roy McBride, an engineer searching for his father.
In 2021, Pitt started a recording business with French record producer Damien Quintard. Their Miraval Studios, located in France, re-opened in 2022 after being inactive for two decades. This studio was famous for producing records for bands like Pink Floyd and AC/DC. In 2022, Pitt starred in Bullet Train and reunited with Margot Robbie in Babylon. He teamed up with George Clooney again in Wolfs, a comedy-thriller released in September 2024. In 2025, Pitt produced and starred in the Formula One racing film F1, which became Apple's biggest hit at the box office and Pitt's highest-grossing film.
Awards and Recognition
Over his career, Brad Pitt has received many awards, including two Academy Awards (as a producer and actor), two BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Pitt has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
- 68th Academy Awards (1995): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, 12 Monkeys
- 81st Academy Awards (2008): Best Actor, nomination, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- 84th Academy Awards (2011): Best Actor, nomination, Moneyball
- 92nd Academy Awards (2019): Best Supporting Actor, win, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Helping Others: Philanthropy
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Brad Pitt has used his fame to support many important causes. In October 2004, he visited the University of Missouri to encourage students to vote in the U.S. presidential election. He also supported public funding for embryonic stem-cell research, believing it could help find cures for diseases.
Pitt supports One Campaign, an organization that works to fight AIDS and poverty around the world. He narrated a 2005 PBS television series called Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge, which discussed global health issues. In 2006, Pitt and Angelina Jolie visited a school in Haiti supported by a charity. In May 2007, they donated $1 million to organizations helping people affected by the crisis in the Darfur region of Chad and Sudan. Along with other actors, Pitt is a founder of Not On Our Watch, an organization that works to stop "mass atrocities."
Pitt is also very interested in architecture. He narrated e2 design, a PBS series about building environmentally friendly structures. In 2006, he founded the Make It Right Foundation. This organization helped finance and build 150 sustainable, affordable new houses in New Orleans's Ninth Ward after Hurricane Katrina. In September 2009, Pitt received an award for this project from the U.S. Green Building Council. He even met with U.S. President Barack Obama in March 2009 to discuss his ideas for green housing.
In September 2006, Pitt and Jolie created the Jolie-Pitt Foundation to help humanitarian causes worldwide. The foundation made large donations to groups like Global Action for Children and Doctors Without Borders. In January 2010, the foundation donated $1 million to Doctors Without Borders for emergency medical assistance after the Haiti earthquake.
Pitt supports same-sex marriage. In September 2008, he donated $100,000 to the campaign against California's Proposition 8, which aimed to overturn the legalization of same-sex marriage. In March 2012, Pitt participated in a play that reenacted the trial that overturned California's ban on same-sex marriage. He has also publicly supported Barack Obama and Joe Biden in their presidential campaigns.
Family Life
From the late 1980s to early 1990s, Brad Pitt dated some of his co-stars. He later had a well-known relationship and engagement with his Seven co-star, Gwyneth Paltrow, from 1994 to 1997.
Pitt met actress Jennifer Aniston in 1998, and they married in Malibu, California, on July 29, 2000. In January 2005, they announced their separation, and their divorce was finalized in October 2005.
During his divorce, Pitt's involvement with his Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star Angelina Jolie gained media attention. They stated they fell in love while working on the film. In April 2005, photos of Pitt, Jolie, and her son Maddox in Kenya appeared in the press. On January 11, 2006, Jolie confirmed she was expecting Pitt's child, publicly acknowledging their relationship. They announced their engagement in April 2012 and married in France on August 23, 2014. On September 19, 2016, Jolie filed for divorce, which became legal on April 12, 2019.
In 2022, he began dating Ines de Ramon, a jewelry executive.
Children
In July 2005, Pitt accompanied Jolie to Ethiopia, where she adopted her second child, a girl named Zahara. On December 3, 2005, Pitt began the process of adopting Jolie's daughter Zahara and her first adopted child, a boy named Maddox. In January 2006, a judge granted Jolie's request to change the children's surnames to "Jolie-Pitt."
Jolie gave birth to their daughter Shiloh in Namibia on May 27, 2006. The couple sold the first pictures of their daughter to magazines, and the money was donated to charities helping African children.
On March 15, 2007, Jolie adopted a 3-year-old boy, Pax, from Vietnam. Pitt adopted Pax in the United States in February 2008. In May 2008, Jolie confirmed she was expecting twins. She gave birth to a son and daughter, Knox and Vivienne, on July 12, 2008, in France. The rights for the first images of the twins were sold for $14 million, which was donated to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation.
Since Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, they have been involved in discussions about their children's custody. In May 2021, Pitt was granted joint custody. However, due to legal reasons, the custody arrangement reverted to an earlier agreement where Jolie has primary physical custody, and Pitt has "custodial time" with their minor children.
In 2025, Pitt's second-eldest daughter with Jolie, Shiloh, legally changed her name to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie. Zahara and Vivienne are also reported to have dropped "-Pitt" from their surnames.
Interesting Facts
Spiritual Beliefs
Brad Pitt was raised in the Southern Baptist tradition in Springfield, Missouri. As an adult, he explored different spiritual beliefs. He has described his spirituality as personal and not tied to any organized religion.
Pitt has shown interest in spiritual and philosophical traditions, including Buddhism. His role in the film Seven Years in Tibet (1997) helped bring attention to Tibetan Buddhism in popular culture. In 2022, Pitt visited a Buddhist temple in Tokyo during the promotion of his film Bullet Train.
Face Blindness
In 2022, Pitt shared that he has struggled for years to recognize people's faces. This condition is called prosopagnosia, or face blindness, though he has not been formally diagnosed. He mentioned in a 2013 interview that this difficulty sometimes made him want to stay home.
Artworks
Pitt has a strong interest in art. He learned pottery and has created sculptures. Nine of his sculptures were shown alongside works by musician Nick Cave and artist Thomas Houseago at the Sara Hildén Art Museum in Tampere, Finland, in 2022 and 2023.
Images for kids
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Pitt with Losang Thonden in Argentina on the set of Seven Years in Tibet in 1997
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Pitt in 2001
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Pitt at the premiere of Burn After Reading in 2008
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Pitt at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival
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Pitt at the Japan premiere of War Machine in 2017
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See also
In Spanish: Brad Pitt para niños
