Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards.

Harrelson first became known for his role as bartender Woody Boyd on the NBC sitcom Cheers (1985–1993), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series from five nominations. He reprised his role in the acclaimed spinoff series Frasier in 1999 for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nomination.

Harrelson received three Academy Award nominations: Best Actor for The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), and Best Supporting Actor for both The Messenger (2009) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017). Other notable films include White Men Can't Jump (1992), Natural Born Killers (1994), The Thin Red Line (1998), No Country for Old Men (2007), Zombieland (2009), Rampart (2011), Seven Psychopaths (2012), Now You See Me (2013), The Edge of Seventeen (2016), LBJ (2016), The Highwaymen (2019), and Triangle of Sadness (2022). He also played Haymitch Abernathy in The Hunger Games film series (2012–2015).

Harrelson received further Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his portrayal of Steve Schmidt in the HBO film Game Change (2012), and for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Marty Hart in the HBO crime anthology series True Detective (2014). He portrayed E. Howard Hunt in the HBO political limited series White House Plumbers (2023) and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film.

Woodrow Tracy Harrelson[1][2] was born in Midland, Texas to secretary Diane (née Oswald)[3] and convicted hitman Charles Voyde Harrelson. He was raised in a Presbyterian household alongside his two brothers, Jordan and Brett, the latter of whom also became an actor.[4] Their father received a life sentence for the 1979 killing of federal judge John H. Wood Jr.[5] Harrelson has stated that his father was rarely around during his childhood.[4] Charles died in the United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility on March 15, 2007.[5] Harrelson's family was poor and relied on his mother's wages.[4] He attended The Briarwood School in Houston, Texas.[6] In 1973, he moved to his mother's native city of Lebanon, Ohio,[7] where he attended Lebanon High School, from which he graduated in 1979.[8] He spent the summer of 1979 working at Kings Island amusement park.[9]

Harrelson attended Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana, where he studied theater and English.[10][11] While there, he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and became friends with future vice president Mike Pence.[11] He graduated in 1983.[11]

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