Born in Hornell, New York, Bill Pullman is one of seven children. He attended the State University of New York at Delhi and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He worked with various theater companies, most notably the Folger Theater Groupe and the Los Angeles Theater Center. He made his big-screen debut in the Danny DeVito/Bette Midler comedy Ruthless People and followed that with lead roles in Spaceballs and The Serpent and the Rainbow. He is married to Tamara Hurwitz and they have three children.


When promoting Independence Day (1996) in South America, some people actually thought he was the President of the United States, While teaching at Montana State University one of his students was director John Dahl. Later Dahl gave him a role in his film The Last Seduction (1994). Currently co-owns a ranch in Montana with his brother. Children: Maesa (b. 1988), Jack (b. 1989), Lewis (b. 1993) Appeared in both Cold Feet (1989) and Bright Angel (1990) during the time he was teaching at Montana State University in Bozeman. "Bright Angel" is one of the few films in which he played a bad guy. "Cold Feet" was shot in Livingston, MT, only 30 miles or so from Bozeman, and "Bright Angel" was shot entirely in and around Billings, MT.