Snakkle Celebrates Brad Pitt’s 48th with a Look at His Life So Far!

William Bradley Pitt, 8th Grade, Cherokee Junior High School, Springfield, MO (1978)

Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library

William Bradley Pitt, 8th Grade, Cherokee Junior High School, Springfield, Missouri (1978)

Towheaded William Bradley Pitt, the eldest of William and Jane Pitt’s three kids, was born in Oklahoma but raised in Missouri. His parents were conservative Southern Baptists, which might explain Brad’s hairstyle in eighth grade. You could level a 2x4 with those bangs!

Brad Pitt, Sophomore Year, Kickapoo High School, Springfield, MO (1980)

Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library

Brad Pitt, Sophomore Year, Kickapoo High School, Springfield, Missouri (1980)

By high school, Brad got more fashion-forward as he spent time in the popular social circles. Pitt was that rare kid that managed to participate in the athletic world as well as the academic side as part of the debate team and musical productions.

Brad Pitt, Junior Year, Kickapoo High School, Springfield, MO (1981)

Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library

Brad Pitt, Junior Year, Kickapoo High School (1981)

Brad loved tennis and was a member of the high school tennis team. Check out that swing!

Brad Pitt, Senior Year, Kickapoo High School, Springfield, MO (1982)

Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library

Brad Pitt, Senior Year, Kickapoo High School (1982)

In this yearbook candid, Pitt looks like a brooding thespian-in-training, but he’s really just handling the heavy issues of student council government, of which he was a part.

Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library

Brad Pitt, Senior Year, Kickapoo High School (1982)

By his senior year of high school, Brad was already showing off those good looks that would get him noticed in Hollywood.

1986 Savitar/University Archives

Brad Pitt, University of Missouri (1986)

After graduation, Pitt stayed in state to attend the University of Missouri, where he pursued a degree in journalism. However, acting gradually consumed Pitt’s focus, and just two weeks before graduation he packed up for Los Angeles to try acting for a living.

ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images

Brad Pitt on Growing Pains (1987)

After working lousy minimum-wage jobs to pay for acting lessons, Pitt landed his first guest role on network television on Growing Pains as Carol Seaver’s new crush.

Brad Pitt on Dallas (1987)

Not long after, Pitt played a teen suitor to character Jenna Wade’s daughter on the prime-time soap Dallas. Brad showed he was a true master at playing a teen suck-up.
Here's a great video of Brad on Dallas playing a "hot cowboy," which couldn't have been too challenging!

Brad Pitt in The Dark Side of the Sun (1988)

Brad Pitt in The Dark Side of the Sun (1988)

Pitt’s first film role was a joint Yugoslavian–U.S. venture called The Dark Side of the Sun. He played a teen on a journey to cure his skin disease, but filming was interrupted by the Croatian War of Independence. Eventually the completed footage was put together for a release 10 years later.

Brad Pitt in Too Young to Die (1990)

In 1990, Brad was cast alongside actress Juliette Lewis in the NBC TV movie Too Young to Die. Based on the true story of two Mississippi youths accused of murder, the film earned Pitt some of his best professional reviews.

Ron Galella/WireImage

Brad Pitt with Juliette Lewis

Brad started dating his costar Juliette Lewis when she was just 16 years old. Their 10-year age difference and her wild-child pursuits meant they didn’t last long as a couple.

Brad Pitt in Thelma & Louise (1991)

Pitt’s breakout role came in Thelma & Louise playing J.D., a road hustler with drool-worthy six-pack abs who seduces Thelma (Geena Davis) in a cheap motel room. Their room-destroying love scene made Brad the new hunk du jour.

Brad Pitt in Cool World (1992)

Instead of just going for the stud roles, Pitt started veering toward more interesting choices, including playing Detective Frank Harris, a human who patrols a toon reality. It was famed adult animation director Ralph Bakshi’s first film in nine years, but alas was a box-office bomb.

Brad Pitt in A River Runs Through It (1992)

Brad Pitt in A River Runs Through It (1992)

Often called a young Robert Redford, Pitt was actually hired by the legendary actor/director in 1991 to appear in his adaptation of A River Runs Through It. Pitt played rebellious journalist Paul Maclean and received critical acclaim for his part in the period film.

Brad Pitt in Interview with a Vampire (1994)

Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire (1994)

In another career turning point, Pitt was cast as vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac in the much-anticipated film adaptation of Anne Rice’s seminal novel Interview with the Vampire. While Tom Cruise proved to be the casting lightning rod as Lestat, Pitt won plenty of fans in the less showy but equally pale role.

Kevin Mazur Archive/WireImage

Brad Pitt with Gwyneth Paltrow

Not long after Vampire, Pitt started dating fellow actor Gwyneth Paltrow. They became one of Hollywood’s hottest young power couples and even played husband and wife in the modern classic thriller Seven. They dated from 1994 to 1997.
Check out this gallery to read about other fashionable Hollywood trendsetters!

Brad Pitt in Twelve Monkeys (1995)

After a string of strong critical reviews, Pitt landed his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor playing mental patient Jeffrey Goines in Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys.

Brad Pitt in Fight Club (1999)

Four years after Seven, Pitt reteamed with director David Fincher for the nihilistic, violent urban fantasy Fight Club. Pitt’s charismatic turn as Tyler Durden made the character a cult icon and the poster boy for disenfranchised males around the world.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Brad Pitt with Jennifer Aniston

A year after his breakup with Paltrow, Pitt met Friends actress Jennifer Aniston and they began dating. The paparazzi dogged the couple throughout their relationship, including their high-security 2000 wedding in Malibu.
Jennifer Aniston immortalized "The Rachel" haircut on Friends. Click through this gallery for more iconic hairdos!

Brad Pitt in Ocean's Eleven (2001)

Not a fan of sequels, Pitt’s made the exception for his character Rusty Ryan, the always-eating sidekick to George Clooney’s Danny Ocean in the remake heist film Ocean’s 11. Pitt and the entire cast have reprised their roles for all three films in the successful series.

Brad Pitt Appearing as a Guest Star on Friends (2001)

Brad Pitt Appearing as a Guest Star on Friends (2001)

In one of his few TV appearances, Pitt turned up on his wife’s show to play Will, the formerly fat friend of Ross and Monica who nurses a long-standing hate for Rachel in the now classic Thanksgiving episode.

Brad Pitt in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

Pitt was cast opposite Angelina Jolie in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in which a married couple on the rocks find out that they are both secret spies hired to kill one another. Their chemistry, as evidenced in their spicy tango, was palpable both on-screen and eventually off-screen. Pitt admits he and Jolie fell in love on the movie, which led to his divorce from Aniston after five years of marriage.

Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Merrick Morton/Paramount

Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Pitt circled back to director David Fincher once more to play an old man who reverse-ages to infancy in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Once again bucking his good looks, Pitt wore full body makeup and prosthetics to credibly (and creepily) age backwards.

Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Brad Pitt with Angeline Jolie

Soon after his divorce, Pitt was seen publicly with Jolie, but neither would confirm or deny a relationship. The paparazzi stalked the pair around the globe and the tabloid media eventually dubbed them Brangelina.
Remember when Angie was dating Billy Bob Thornton? Find out who made Snakkle's roundup of Hollywood's most unusual couples!

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie with Daughter Shiloh

In 2006, Jolie announced she was carrying Brad Pitt’s child, which was the first public confirmation from the pair that they were indeed a couple. In the meantime, it was revealed that Pitt had legally adopted Jolie’s two children, Maddox and Zahara. Their daughter Shiloh Nouvel was born in Namibia, Africa.

Brad Pitt in Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Brad Pitt in Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Brad took the lead role of American resistance fighter Lieutenant Aldo Raine in Quentin Tarantino’s Nazi-hunting fantasy Inglourious Basterds. Pitt earned an MTV Movie award for his Southern-accented standout role.

Fox Searchlight

Brad Pitt in The Tree of Life (2011)

In The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick’s existential film about life, family, and whatever else you can figure out, Pitt plays Mr. O'Brien, a tough, angry, and emotionally distant father who messes up his son’s life. The polarizing film won the Cannes Palme d'Or and earned Pitt more kudos from critics around the globe.

Melinda Sue Gordon/Columbia Pictures

Brad Pitt in Moneyball (2011)

In Moneyball, Pitt plays real-life Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, one of the most accessible and contemporary characters on his resume in a decade. Pitt’s charming and engaging performance is gathering serious Academy Awards buzz for a Best Actor nomination.