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Long before he became a celebrated Hollywood actor, Bill Paxton was a witness to a tragic day that changed America forever.

In 1963, as an eight-year-old, he was pictured in the cheering crowd when President John F Kennedy emerged from a hotel in his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas.

Less than two hours later the president was dead after being shot by a sniper as his motorcade made its way through downtown Dallas.

Black-and-white pictures of a young Paxton above the crowd outside Hotel Texas re-emerged on Sunday as his family announced that the 61-year-old star of films such as Aliens, Apollo 13, Twister and Titanic had died following surgery .

(Image: FameFlynet)

(Image: Time Life Pictures/Getty)

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On the day Kennedy was assassinated - November 22, 1963 - pictures show Paxton getting a better view of the president on the shoulders of a man he had just met.

He was also seen in footage captured by a local TV news station.

Paxton told the Dallas Observer in 2007 that he and his older brother, Bob, and father, John, had watched the president deliver one of his last speeches outside the hotel.

After the brief speech Kennedy, 46, and his wife, Jackie, left the hotel at 10:40am for Carswell Air Force Base.

They made a brief flight to Dallas' Love Field airport on Air Force One and then made their way to the city centre, where the president was assassinated at 12:30pm.

In 2007, when Paxton was in Dallas for a film festival, he was given two black-and-white still images from the footage.

One showing him looking into the camera as Vice President Lyndon Johnson introduced Kennedy, and another showing him smiling and clapping as the president addressed the crowd.

(Image: PA)

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A picture showing Paxton in the crowd is on display at the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, and he gave a 30-minute oral history to the museum back in 2007.

The museum chronicles the assassination.

Paxton's family announced his death on Sunday, telling his fans that he died on Saturday due to complications from surgery.

Amongst the tributes paid to the actor Texas Supreme Court Judge Don Willett tweeted the 53-year-old photo of Paxton during Kennedy's visit.

He wrote: "So sad to hear of Bill Paxton. Good guy. Great actor. Proud Texan."