Woodrow Tracy Harrelson was born on July 23, 1961, in Midland, Texas. He is an American actor who first became known for his role as Woody Boyd on the NBC sitcom Cheers (1985โ1993).
๐ฌ Early Life and Education
Harrelson was born to secretary Diane Lou and convicted contract killer Charles Voyde Harrelson. He was raised in a Presbyterian household alongside his two brothers, Jordan and Brett.
His father received a life sentence for the 1979 killing of federal judge John H. Wood Jr. Harrelson has stated he had little contact with his father during childhood.
Harrelson’s family was poor and relied on his mother’s wages. He attended The Briarwood School in Houston, Texas, and later Lebanon High School in Ohio, graduating in 1979.
He attended Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana, where he studied theater and English. While there, he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and became friends with future vice president Mike Pence.
๐ Career Highlights
Harrelson won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Cheers from five nominations. He has received three Academy Award nominations: Best Actor for The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), and Best Supporting Actor for The Messenger (2009) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).
He played Haymitch Abernathy in The Hunger Games film series (2012โ2015). He also portrayed Tobias Beckett in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).
Harrelson received further Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his portrayal of Steve Schmidt in the HBO film Game Change (2012) and detective Marty Hart in the HBO crime anthology series True Detective (2014). He also portrayed E. Howard Hunt in the HBO political limited series White House Plumbers (2023).
๐ฅ Film Career
His first movie was Wildcats, a 1986 football comedy with Goldie Hawn. He reunited with Wesley Snipes in the box-office hit White Men Can’t Jump (1992) and the action movie Money Train (1995).
In 1993, Harrelson starred opposite Robert Redford and Demi Moore in Indecent Proposal, which earned a worldwide total of over $265,000,000. He then played Mickey Knox in Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers.
In 2017, he played police chief Bill Willoughby in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 2018, he appeared in a cameo at the end of Venom, portraying Cletus Kasady, and reprised the role in the 2021 sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
๐จโ๐ฉโ๐ง Personal Life
In 1985, Harrelson married Nancy Simon in Tijuana, Mexico. The union was not intended to be serious, and they remained married for another ten months.
In 2008, he married Laura Louie, a co-founder of the organic food delivery service Yoganics. They reside in Maui, Hawaii, and have three daughters.
Harrelson follows a raw vegan diet and does not eat meat, dairy, sugar, or flour. He was named PETA’s Sexiest Vegetarian in 2012.
โ๏ธ Other Interests
Harrelson is a fan of chess. In November 2018, he attended the first game of the World Chess Championship in London and made the ceremonial first move.
In 1999 in Prague, Harrelson, playing White, employed the Parham Attack to draw World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. He was aided by several chess Grandmasters.
In 2020, Harrelson was seen practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu while filming, having received the first stripe on his white belt.
| Category | Detail | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | Midland, Texas | 1961 | July 23 |
| Breakout Role | Woody Boyd on Cheers | 1985โ1993 | Won Primetime Emmy Award |
| Academy Award Nominations | 3 total | 1996, 2009, 2017 | Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor |
| Spouse | Laura Louie | 2008 | Three daughters |