Brad Pitt as a Role Model

Real Name: Brad Pitt

Profile: Actor

Birthdate: December 18, 1963

Birthplace: Shawnee, Oklahoma

Childhood Home: Springfield, Missouri. Brad grew up in a solid, Midwestern church-going family. Brad was a choirboy.

Family: Oldest of three children. Younger brother Doug, sister Julie. His dad, Bill, was a former manager of a trucking company. His mom, Jane was a high school counselor.

Brief Profile of a Role Model: Brad started out as a heart-throb type as a shoe-in for the title of "Sexiest Man Alive." But he challenges his stud image because, as he puts it, "One, it's boring, two, it's stupid, three, it's death. Heartthrobs are a dime a dozen."

Most defining event of his life: With $325 in his pocket, he drove out to California in an old Datsun to try to make a go in the film industry.

As a Role Model: Brad listens to his "voice within." It told him to leave college early. It told him to try acting. It told him to let Gwyneth Paltrow free of their engagement, that she would never be his wife. Brad has strong family values. A fellow-classmate described him as a guy who sent her flowers after borrowing her notes. She said he was very family-oriented. "He would sit in class and write letters to his mom and his grandma. One of the things I liked best about Brad was the value he placed on family."

High School Education: Brad graduated from Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Missouri.

College Education: He attended the University of Missouri at Columbia. He was a journalism major with a focus on advertising. He was a member of the fraternity Sigma Chi. He had planned to be an art director. He left college, one paper short of graduation. As he said it, "In my head, I was done with college. I was on to the next thing."

Early Acting Career: When he left college, he had almost no experience acting. As he put it, "I loved movies so much... I loved movies the most -- next to music, that is. It's the simplest notion in the world, but the hardest thing to learn. I thought, "Ah, I'll just leave and go do it."

Acting History: One of his first "on camera" roles was in a television commercial for Levi's. After that came a few TV roles such as on Dallas the the boyfriend of Priscilla Presley's daughter. In his first film appearance as the sexy hitchhiker in Thelma and Louise, he was only on camera for 15 minutes but it made a significant impression on the viewing audience. From that came his role in Johnny Suede, followed by his role in Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It in 1992. That was followed by Kalifornia in 1993, and Interview with the Vampire and Legends of the Fall in 1994. The next year he did Seven and Twelve Monkeys in 1995. Then in 1996 he appeared in Sleepers and The Devil's Own. He has since starred in many more blockbuster movies.

His Style: Careful and guarded about his personal life and his philosophy. As he puts it: "Where I grew up, you deal. You get through it, power through it, straight up the middle. And you don't complain." In school, he was known to get in enough trouble to keep things interesting, but he usually came out fine.

His love life: Brad was known was known as "quite the flirt" in college.

Brad's food passion: Strawberry Twizzlers. He has a nervous stomach and actually thanked Kaopectate in his Golden Globe Award acceptance speech.

Other Interests: His passion is architecture. He is crazy about dogs. He has two mutts, Todd Potter and Saudi. And a Weimaraner named Purty.

Current home: Brad lives in a Craftsman-style house in Hollywood Hills.

Quote about Brad by Actor Dustin Hoffman: "Next to that kid we all look like onions."

Quote from Brad about what he sees when he looks at himself in the mirror: "I say to myself, "You shoulda got more sleep last night. You should floss more."

Pictures of Brad Pitt