Actor, Motion Picture Director. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, at age eighteen, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he found work as a set dresser for director Roger Corman's New World Pictures. He made his motion picture debut with an uncredited role in "Crazy Mama" (1975). He then moved to New York City, where he studied acting at New York University (NYU) under Stella Adler before he landed a small part in "Stripes" (1981) followed by other bit parts in "The Lords of Discipline" (1983), "Streets of Fire" (1984) and "The Terminator" (1984). He received attention after his performance as 'Chet Donnelly' in John Hughes' "Weird Science" (1985) and earned a much more noticeable role as 'Private Hudson' in "Aliens" (1986). His other films include: "Near Dark" (1987), "Next of Kin" (1989), "Navy SEALs" (1990), "Predator 2" (1990), "One False Move" (1992), "Trespass" (1992), "Indian Summer" (1993), "Tombstone" (1993), "True Lies" (1994) and "Apollo 13" (1995) before he landed the lead in "Twister" (1996). He also had a role in the 1997 James Cameron blockbuster film "Titanic." His later films include: "A Simple Plan" (1998), "Mighty Joe Young" (1998), "U-571" (2000), "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams" (2002), "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" (2003), "Ghosts of the Abyss" (2003), "Haywire" (2011), "2 Guns" (2013), "Nightcrawler" (2014), "Edge of Tomorrow" (2014), "Million Dollar Arm" (2014) and "The Circle" (2017). As his career evolved, he also took roles in television including the series, "Big Love" (2006 to 2011) for which he received three Golden Globe Award nominations; the 2012 miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys," for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award; a 2014 recurring role in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", and a 2015 mini-series, "Texas Rising." The feature films that he directed include: "Frailty" (2001) and "The Greatest Game Ever Played" (2005), a Disney sports drama about amateur golfer, Francis Ouimet winning the 1913 U.S. Open. He passed unexpectedly at age 61 due to complications following surgery. At the time of his death, he was working on the first season of the television series "Training Day." In a career spanning some forty years, he had appeared in almost 100 projects including music videos, video games, television programs, and feature films. He was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in 2007 for his career achievements in the motion picture film industry.