Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | T | Texas Monthly

Bill Paxton.

Article Excerpt
Your were in Texas in March for the Texas Film Hall of Fame induction, in Austin, and the AFI Dallas international Film Festival, Do you come back a lot?

No, I really don't. And I have to say I'm sorry I don't, because I really enjoy it. I have no family left down there. They're either dead or have moved on. And I left Fort Worth when I was 18 years old to come out to California to find my way in the movie business. I've come back for certain things, but I haven't spent any length of time in Texas in more than 32 years.

I read on the Dallas Observer's blog that on this trip you visited the Sixth Floor Museum [at Dealey Plaza] for the first time.

It brought so many memories back. It was always a story to tell people, that I'd seen John F. Kennedy that day [in Fort Worth]. But I didn't really think about it in terms of the event. I was eight when it happened. My brother Bob was eleven. He was much more shaken by it; he's always been the most sensitive of the kids. I remember him getting in my bed that night, he was so scared.

Why'd you brave the crowds to see him?

Because Bob was so excited that Kennedy was coming through town. We lived on Indian Creek Drive, bordering Shady Oaks Country Club. You could look across Shady Oaks from my window with a telescope--it was slightly elevated--and see Air Force One parked at Carswell Air Force Base. So Bob woke Dad up and said, "You promised you'd take me and Bill to see the president." Dad looked out the window and saw that it was drizzling. He said that his first thought was "Oh, God, we're going to line up in the rain." He liked Kennedy, but it was the idea of wrangling the kids down there.

Typical father attitude.

Finally he said, "Okay, get your brother ready." So we drove downtown. It took us, like, ten minutes, and we parked near the Hotel Texas. And we became part of the crowd that had gathered in the parking lot. I remember Kennedy walking across the street. He shook some hands and then went up on the podium. I'm not sure if it was [Senator Ralph] Yarborough or [Congressman] Jim Wright who said a few words, but then LBJ went up there and introduced the president. I remember my dad was taking turns putting us up on his shoulders. He...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!