Woody Harrelson Early Life

Woody Harrelson was born in Midland, Texas, the son of Diane Lou (née Oswald) and Charles Voyde Harrelson, who divorced in 1964; he has two brothers, Jordan and Brett. Harrelson's father, who was a contract killer, was arrested for the killing of Federal Judge John H. Wood, Jr., who was shot and killed by rifle fire in 1979 in San Antonio. His father was convicted and eventually died during his life sentence in United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility.

Woody Harrelson

In 1973, Woody Harrelson moved to his mother's native city, Lebanon, Ohio, where he was raised. Woody Harrelson attended Lebanon High School, working through much of high school as a wood-carver at Kings Island amusement park. Woody Harrelson later attended Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana, where he became a brother of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Woody Harrelson received a bachelor of arts in theater arts and English in 1983. He told Playboy Magazine in October 2009, "I was getting into theology and studying the roots of the Bible, but then I started to discover the man-made nature of it. I started seeing things that made me ask, ‘Is God really speaking through this instrument? ... My eyes opened to the reality of the Bible being just a document to control people. At the time I was a real mama’s boy and deeply mesmerized by the church."