Doyle Hargraves

"I don't like homosexuals and she goes out and buddies up with one so I gotta deal with that. I don't like little wimpy-ass kids or mental retards and she got one of each livin' with her."

- Doyle Hargraves

Doyle Hargraves was the main antagonist of the 1996 drama, Sling Blade.

He was portrayed by singer and actor Dwight Yoakam, who also played Raoul in Panic Room.

Character Biography
Doyle first appears as the abusive live-in boyfriend of a widowed woman named Linda Wheatley and her son, Frank. He would often make fun of the boy's deceased father and threatened to kill the two on numerous occasions, espescially when he got drunk. However, Linda was so dependant on Doyle that she refused to throw him out. A mentally retarded man named Karl Childers comes to live with Frank and Linda, much to the chargin of Doyle, who abuses Karl verbally. Unbeknowest to Doyle, Karl killed his adulterous mother and her lover when he was a child, and after realizing that if he lets Doyle continue with his abuse, both Frank and Linda will either be seriously hurt or injured, Karl sharpens a lawnmower blade and kills Doyle with it to protect the two.

He is depicted as a vulgar, abusive, homophobic, racist control freak with an explosive temper and an alcohol addiction. When he was drunk, he would get furious and often beat on Linda and Frank.