After years of relative obscurity as an actor and screenwriter, Billy Bob Thornton burst into the forefront of talented young filmmakers in 1996 with his low-budget, independent drama Slingblade, a powerful, tale of Karl Childers, a slightly retarded man who spends 25 years in a mental institution after murdering his mother and her lover and is suddenly released. The still potentially dangerous Karl is taken in by a gentle boy and his good-hearted mother and her abusive lover. Thornton wrote, directed and starred in the film which was one of the year's sleepers and earned him a nomination and "Best Screenplay" honors at the Oscars. Born in Hot Springs, Arkansas and raised in the small town of Malvern, Thornton was inspired to become an actor by an Elvis Presley movie. He made his feature film debut in Hunter's Blood (1987). That same year he appeared in a television film, Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains and played a bit part in another feature film South of Reno. Other early film credits include Chopper Chicks in Zombietown and For the Boys ( both 1991). Thornton co-wrote the screenplay for the esteemed crime drama One False Move (1991). He received his first solo screenwriting credit for A Family Thing (1996). In addition to his feature film work, Thornton also appeared on television as a regular for the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and a semi-regular on the network's highly rated Evening Shade. He has also worked in television movies. Before becoming a feature film, Thornton's Sling Blade was a performance piece showcasing his character Karl Childers that he made into a short film Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade (directed by George Hickenlooper) in 1993.