Bill Paxton, star of a variety of popular films in the 1980s and 90s, has died at the age of 61.

The prolific actor’s death was confirmed by a family representative earlier today having suffered from complications during a surgery.

Born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1955, Paxton moved to Los Angeles when he was 18 and initially started his career as a set dresser.

But after making his on-screen debut in the Roger Corman film Crazy Mama (1975), he soon began to land roles in various films during the 1980s. One of those was as the Punk Leader who crossed paths with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s sinister Terminator in the sci-fi classic The Terminator (1984). He then played Chet Donnelly, the bullying brother of Ilan Mitchell-Smith in the John Hughes comedy Weird Science (1985).

Having worked on Terminator with director James Cameron, Paxton would land one of his most memorable roles as Private Hudson, the witty combat technician who goes up against the terrifying Xenomorphs in the sci-fi blockbuster Aliens (1986). The character was famed for his terrified line “That’s it, man. Game over, man. Game over!”

His other renowned 80s credits included Commando (1985), Near Dark (1987) and Riding Fast (1988). However the following decade would prove to be his most productive as he began to take on a mixture of lead and supporting roles.

After appearing in the likes of Predator 2 (1990), One False Move (1992), Boxing Helena (1993) and Tombstone (1993), Paxton would collaborate again with James Cameron by playing Jamie Lee Curtis’s lover in the action thriller True Lies (1994).

The next year saw him portray real-life astronaut Fred Haise in the acclaimed biopic drama Apollo 13 and that was then followed by a leading role as storm chaser Bill Harding in the hit blockbuster Twister (1996).

In 1997, Paxton worked on a fourth film with James Cameron in the form of the multi-Oscar winning epic Titanic for which he played underwater explorer Brock Lovett.

One of his most acclaimed roles came in 1998 when he portrayed real-life army man John Paul Vann in the television biopic A Bright Shining Light. The performance landed him the first of four Golden Globe nominations. The 90s then ended with Paxton appearing as blue collar sociopath Hank in A Simple Plan (1998) and as zoologist Gregg O’Hara in the Disney adventure Mighty Joe Young (1998).

Into the Millennium, he then featured in the lines of U-571 (2000), Vertical Limit (2000), Frailty (2001) and even played Jeff Tracy in the disappointing cinematic adaptation of Thunderbirds (2004). He also played Dinky Winks in Spy Kids: Island of Lost Dreams (2002) and its sequel Game Over (2003).

Paxton then landed one of his best roles as Bill Henrickson, a suburban man trying to juggle his relationship with three wives in the drama series Big Love (2006-11). His performance earned him three Golden Globe nominations yet he failed to win.

Towards the end of his life, Paxton went on to star in Haywire (2011), 2 Guns (2013), Million Dollar Arm (2014), Edge of Tomorrow (2015) and Nightcrawler (2015). He also contributed television appearances in Hatfields & McCoys (2012), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (2014) and Texas Rising (2015).

His last on-screen role was as corrupt detective Frank Roarke in the television adaptation of the crime drama Training Day (2017). The series was four episodes into its ten run schedule but Paxton’s death is likely to lead to its cancellation.

Bill is survived by his second wife and two children.