Woody Harrelson Biography Quotes 20 Report mistakes

Early Life and Family
Woodrow Tracy Harrelson was born on July 23, 1961, in Midland, Texas, and spent much of his childhood in Lebanon, Ohio. His mother, Diane Lou, raised Woody and his brothers, Brett and Jordan, with a steady focus on family and work after their father, Charles Harrelson, was incarcerated for crimes that would later become widely reported. The complicated legacy of his father, a convicted contract killer, cast a long shadow, and Woody has spoken about how visits to see him shaped his awareness of personal responsibility and redemption. Brett Harrelson would also become an actor, and the brothers remained close, while their mother provided the grounding influence in a life that would soon take Woody to the center of American entertainment.

Education and Early Steps
Harrelson attended Hanover College in Indiana, where he studied theater and English and graduated in 1983. He moved to New York City soon after, finding work in theater and honing his craft in stage productions and understudy roles. The combination of a quick comic sensibility and grounded sincerity made him a natural fit for character work. That mix of humor and heart would become his calling card and set the stage for a rapid rise on television.

Breakthrough on Cheers
In 1985, Harrelson joined the hit NBC sitcom Cheers as the affable bartender Woody Boyd, stepping into a beloved ensemble alongside Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, George Wendt, John Ratzenberger, Shelley Long, and later Kirstie Alley. His timing, warmth, and physical comedy quickly turned him into a standout, and he won a Primetime Emmy Award for the role. Cheers provided both national recognition and an industry foothold, creating opportunities that would expand his career far beyond sitcom fame.

Film Ascendancy in the 1990s
Harrelson parlayed television success into a dynamic film career. He headlined White Men Can't Jump (1992) opposite Wesley Snipes and Rosie Perez, a streetball comedy that showcased his athleticism and kinetic banter. He followed with Indecent Proposal (1993) with Demi Moore and Robert Redford, then shocked audiences with Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers (1994) alongside Juliette Lewis, playing a notorious outlaw in a polarizing cultural commentary. Kingpin (1996), with Bill Murray and Randy Quaid, leaned again into comedy, while The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) marked a dramatic milestone. Directed by Milos Forman and co-starring Courtney Love and Edward Norton, the film earned Harrelson an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, cementing his credibility as a leading man capable of spanning controversy, humor, and poignancy.

Range and Reinvention
By the late 1990s and early 2000s, Harrelson embraced a reputation for versatility, working with directors known for distinctive visions. He appeared in Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line (1998) and, later, in the Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men (2007), sharing scenes with Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin. In North Country (2005), he supported Charlize Theron in a drama about workplace justice. He also anchored the cult favorite Zombieland (2009) with Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin, balancing horror and comedy with a swaggering, oddly tender presence. The Messenger (2009), directed by Oren Moverman and co-starring Ben Foster and Samantha Morton, brought Harrelson another Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Supporting Actor, recognizing his empathetic portrayal of a casualty notification officer. He continued collaborating with Moverman on the gritty character study Rampart (2011).

Franchises, Prestige TV, and Awards
Harrelson's profile soared in the 2010s through a combination of blockbuster franchises and acclaimed television. He joined The Hunger Games series (2012, 2015) as Haymitch Abernathy, mentoring characters played by Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson alongside colleagues including Liam Hemsworth, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, and Stanley Tucci. He co-led the caper hit Now You See Me (2013) and its sequel with Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher (and later Lizzy Caplan), Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine. On television, he starred with Matthew McConaughey in True Detective (2014), directed in its first season by Cary Joji Fukunaga; both actors earned wide acclaim and major award nominations. He portrayed political strategist Steve Schmidt in the HBO film Game Change (2012), reuniting with Julianne Moore and Ed Harris in a sharp, behind-the-scenes political drama.

Harrelson also took on roles that challenged his range and deepened his critical standing. In Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), directed by Martin McDonagh and co-starring Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell, he earned another Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He portrayed President Lyndon B. Johnson in LBJ (2016) for director Rob Reiner, and then entered major franchises with War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), directed by Matt Reeves, and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), directed by Ron Howard.

Experimentation and Later Career
Harrelson has pursued creative experiments while maintaining mainstream appeal. He wrote, directed, and starred in Lost in London (2017), a one-take feature performed live and broadcast in real time, with friends Owen Wilson and Willie Nelson appearing alongside him. He reunited with Kevin Costner in The Highwaymen (2019) under director John Lee Hancock, played Admiral Chester W. Nimitz in Roland Emmerich's Midway (2019), and stepped into comic-book territory as Cletus Kasady/Carnage opposite Tom Hardy in Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021). He also appeared in Ruben Ostlund's Cannes-winning satire Triangle of Sadness (2022) as a ship's captain, demonstrating his appetite for auteur-driven projects. Additional contemporary work includes the action-comedy The Man from Toronto (2022) with Kevin Hart and the sports comedy Champions (2023), directed by Bobby Farrelly and co-starring Kaitlin Olson. On television, he led the Watergate limited series White House Plumbers (2023) as E. Howard Hunt, opposite Justin Theroux.

Personal Life and Advocacy
Harrelson married Nancy Simon, daughter of playwright Neil Simon, in the mid-1980s; the brief union ended amicably. He later married Laura Louie, a former assistant who became his long-term partner, in 2008. Together they have three daughters: Deni, Zoe, and Makani. Harrelson's personal life reflects his public commitments: he has been an outspoken environmental advocate and a prominent supporter of hemp and cannabis reform, serving on advisory efforts for organizations such as NORML. With Laura Louie he has backed eco-conscious ventures, including the platform Voice Yourself and organic initiatives, aligning lifestyle choices with environmental causes. His longstanding friendship with musician Willie Nelson underscores a shared commitment to sustainable agriculture and legalization efforts, and he has also partnered with friends and collaborators in ventures connected to these values.

Craft, Reputation, and Legacy
Across decades, Harrelson has cultivated a reputation for fearlessness, moving between comedy, social satire, psychological drama, prestige television, and large-scale franchises. Colleagues such as Oliver Stone, Milos Forman, Martin McDonagh, the Coen brothers, Terrence Malick, Ruben Ostlund, and Ron Howard have enlisted him for roles that exploit his agility and depth, while frequent collaborators like Jesse Eisenberg, Matthew McConaughey, Ben Foster, and Kevin Costner have met him on equal footing in ensembles that often earn awards recognition. The contrast between his humble Midwestern upbringing, the notoriety surrounding his father, and his own disciplined artistry has given his work a distinctive emotional texture: empathetic, curious, and unafraid of moral ambiguity. In a career that began behind a bar on Cheers and expanded onto some of the world's biggest stages and screens, Woody Harrelson has remained a singular presence, defined as much by his range as by his integrity and the enduring relationships he has built with family, friends, and collaborators.

Our collection contains 20 quotes who is written by Woody, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Writing - Dark Humor - Live in the Moment - Nature.

Other people realated to Woody: Richard Linklater (Director), Jeffrey Wright (Actor), Courtney Love (Musician), Adrian Lyne (Director), Peter Farrelly (Director), Jennifer Lawrence (Actress), Jenna Elfman (Actress), Bobby Farrelly (Director), Demi Moore (Actress), Jay Roach (Director)