Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. His breakout role came in 1985 as bartender Woody Boyd in the television sitcom Cheers. He later became known for his portrayals of Billy Hoyle in White Men Can\'t Jump (1992), Mickey Knox in Natural Born Killers (1994), Larry Flynt in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), Tallahassee in Zombieland (2009), Capt. Tony Stone in The Messenger (2009), Dave Brown in Rampart (2011), Haymitch Abernathy in The Hunger Games film series (2012–2015), Merritt McKinney in the Now You See Me film series (2013–2016), the Colonel in War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), Bill Willoughby in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), and Tobias Beckett in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)\n', '

Harrelson has been nominated for an Academy Award three times; he was nominated for Best Actor for The People vs. Larry Flynt and Best Supporting Actor for The Messenger and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. For his role in Cheers, he earned five Emmy Award nominations and won one in 1989.\n', '

Woodrow Tracy Harrelson was born in Midland, Texas, on July 23, 1961, the son of Diane (née Oswald) and Charles Voyde Harrelson. He and his two brothers, Jordan and Brett, were raised in a Presbyterian household. Their father was a convicted hitman who received a life sentence for the 1979 killing of Federal Judge John H. Wood Jr. Harrelson has stated that his father was rarely around during his childhood. Charles died in the United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility on March 15, 2007. Harrelson\'s family was poor and relied on his mother\'s secretary wage. In 1973, he moved to his mother\'s native city of Lebanon, Ohio, where he attended Lebanon High School. He spent the summer of 1979 working at Kings Island amusement park. Harrelson attended Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana, where he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity. He received a BA in theater and English in 1983. While attending Hanover, he was friends with future Vice President Mike Pence.\n', '

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