Affectionately called “The Hillbilly Orson Welles” by actor Robert Duvall, screenwriter, director, and actor Billy Bob Thornton (1955–) was born on this day in rural Alpine, Arkansas.

Thornton grew up poor and credited his mother for his success. “She encouraged me to become whatever I wanted to be,” he said.

A self-confessed eccentric who once sang and played drums in a Rock and Roll band, he has even claimed to be the reincarnation of Benjamin Franklin.

He is best known for the film Sling Blade (1996), which he wrote, directed, and starred in. The morality tale earned him an Academy Award for Best Screenplay.

“The theme of this movie is selling some part of yourself in order to save someone else,” he explained. “It's really about love between outcast kinds of people, and the compassion, the love they have for each other.”

Thornton makes it a habit to phone the people he loves daily. “If you love somebody, let them know every day. My brother died in 1988, and you never get over it. There were so many things I could have said and done every day, so I think—just say it. Don’t keep it inside.”