Brett Voyde Harrelson (born June 4, 1963) is an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He is the younger brother of actor

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor. He 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 ...

and son of hitman Charles Harrelson.

Early life

Brett Harrelson was born in

Midland, Texas Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Midland County with small portions extending into Martin County. The population was 132,524 as of the 2020 census. Located in the Permian Basin in West Texas, Midland is a ...

, the son of Diane Lou (née Oswald) and Charles Voyde Harrelson, who divorced in 1964. He has two brothers, Jordan and

. Harrelson's father, who was a

contract killer Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

, was arrested for the killing of Judge John H. Wood Jr. by rifle fire in 1979 in San Antonio. His father was convicted and eventually died during his life sentence in United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility. In 1973, Harrelson moved with his mother to her native city,

Lebanon, Ohio Lebanon is a city in Warren County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 20,841 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. History Lebanon is in the Symmes Purchase. Th ...

, where he was raised. Harrelson attended Lebanon High School but dropped out at 17 to join the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, and spent two years in Germany. Afterward, he returned to Lebanon and worked as a legal clerk.

Career

At 22, Harrelson followed his brother Woody to California. "I came to L.A. to starify," he says. But finding nothing like Woody's success, he gave up acting for a while to become a motorcycle racer, rising to #8 in the 1992 professional national rankings. "After seeing a few people killed," says Brett, he became Woody's assistant and began to pursue his acting career again. His current activities include TV ads for "Harrelson's Own CBD". In 2020, Harrelson co-produced ''Son of a Hitman'', a podcast series. The show was released by

Spotify Studios Spotify (; ) is a Swedish audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services, with over 678 million monthly active users comprisi ...

and High Five Content.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* Living people 1963 births People from Midland, Texas Male actors from Texas 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors People from Lebanon, Ohio Male actors from Ohio American male film actors {{US-film-actor-1960s-stub