BBTrivia

Things you never knew about Billy Bob

• He is an expert trick shot artist with a pool cue and once outmaneuvered a hired trick shot artist, beating him at a party at the 1996 Sundance Festival.
  

• He managed a Shakey's Pizza Parlor (and Ye Olde Public House) in Culver City, California (the one on Washington Blvd., east of Lincoln, for you die-hard, gotta-dine-there types).
  

• During his brief stint in college, he majored in psychology.
  

• He owns a mynah bird named Alice.
  

• He is an accomplished mimic.
  

• His favorite childhood snack was a solid cube of butter.
  

• His favorite movie of all time is HIGH NOON.
  

• "Kindly hold, Mmm-hmm."  Among his many brief jobs, he has been a receptionist for an answering service, a ball-point pen salesman, has hauled hay, and managed to survive a stint  in a saw mill with all ten fingers intact.
  

• During his rock 'n' roll days in the 1970s, he grew his hair down past his waist.
  

• He is a devoted St. Louis Cardinals fan.  In 2003, he got to throw out the first pitch of the season for his beloved team and was rewarded with a special team surprise:  his all-time favorite hero, Bob Gibson, was standing in the catcher's position to field the pitch and congratulated Billy Bob on his admirable slider.
  

• For Halloween a few years ago, he dressed up as diet guru Susan Powter, right down to the spiky blonde hair.
  

• Don't give him any junk food, as he is allergic to wheat, dairy, and eggs.  He's also allergic to cats, but he doesn't eat them.
  

• Allergies notwithstanding, actress Penelope Cruz named her cat Billy Bob after him.
  

• He is one quarter Choctaw Indian from his mother's side of the family.  The other quarter is Italian, and the rest (the Thornton side) is Irish.
  

• Billy Bob's all-time favorite book is A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, an author who so despaired that his novel would never be published that he killed himself.  Toole's mother had the book published posthumously, and it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
  

• He would dearly love to learn to tap dance.
  

• He doesn't like bed and breakfasts or surprise parties.
  

• He loves U.S. history and enjoys talking politics.
  

Do you have some fascinating Billy Bob trivia you want to share? E-mail us!