Updated February 27, 2017 12:43:20

Photo: It was not made clear what surgery Bill Paxton had undergone. (Reuters: Mario Anzuoni, file)

American actor Bill Paxton, who rose to stardom with roles in Hollywood blockbusters such as Aliens, Twister and Titanic, has died at age 61 after complications from surgery, his family said in a statement.

Paxton, who appeared in dozens of films over some four decades, had recently starred in the HBO television series Big Love, about a polygamous Mormon family, and acted alongside Tom Cruise in the film Edge of Tomorrow.

For his role in Apollo 13, Paxton won a Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture in 1996.

He was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards in the best actor category for his work in Big Love and the 1990s miniseries A Bright Shining Lie.

Paxton was currently in the CBS drama Training Day before he went in for surgery. The network has not yet announced whether it will continue to air the completed episodes.

It was not immediately known what surgery Paxton, a Texas native, had undergone.

"It is with heavy hearts we share the news that Bill Paxton has passed away due to complications from surgery," a family representative said in the statement.

"Bill's passion for the arts was felt by all who knew him, and his warmth and tireless energy were undeniable," it said.

His death adds a sad note to the Academy Awards ceremony.

Paxton was never nominated but appeared in several Oscar-winning movies and was beloved and respected throughout Hollywood and beyond.

Paxton brought a reliably human dimension to big-budget action adventures and science fiction.

He was, sci-fi fans like to point out, the only actor killed by a Predator, a Terminator and an Alien.

"I feel like I'm a regionalist and a populist who's never fit in among the intellectuals," he told AP in an interview from 2006.

"I think that's where the heart of American art is. My greatest roles have been in regional films, whether it was One False Move or Frailty or Simple Plan or Traveller."

Photo: Bill Paxton played Private Hudson in the 1986 science fiction film Aliens. (Supplied: 20th Century Fox )

Paxton once said the hardest part of his career was not the work itself, but the time in between.

"You know all the time I've been in this business, which is a long, long time now, I go from having incredible days like shooting the part of Sam Houston and then all of a sudden I'm home and I'm out of work and it's two o'clock in the afternoon, I'm in my boxer shorts watching Turner Classic Movies," he said in 2015.

Friends and fans pay tribute

Nearly 200 storm chasers paid tribute to Paxton by spelling out his initials using GPS coordinates on a map depicting the heart of Tornado Alley.

The effort coordinated by Spotter Network spelled out "BP" to honour Twister's leading man — a role that inspired a generation of storm chasers.

Storm chasers pay tribute by spelling out Bill Paxton's initials using GPS coordinates on a map.

Co-star Helen Hunt joined those paying tribute to the star on social media.

"Bill Paxton was a big-hearted, thoughtful and honourable person," Paxton's Big Love co-star Chloe Sevigny said in a statement.

"He always had a smile on his face and could entertain any room with his wonderful stories of his many amazing years in Hollywood."

Paxton leaves behind his wife, Louise Newberry, and two children, James and Lydia.

Reuters/AP

Topics: actor, death, united-states

First posted February 27, 2017 06:36:54