He is an American actor, filmmaker and singer born on August 4, 1955 in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He attended Henderson University, but did not complete his studies. In the mid-1980s, Thornton moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. He wrote, directed, and starred in Sling Blade (1996), which won him the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Regarding the field of music, he released a number of albums, including "Private Radio", "The Edge of the World", and "Hobo". He is known for the TV series Fargo (2014) and Goliath (2016), for which he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor for both works.