However, his next film, A Perfect World (1993), directed by Clint Eastwood and casting the actor against type as a half-psycho, half-benign prison escapee, was a major disappointment, even though Costner himself garnered some acclaim. The next year's The Bodyguard, a film which teamed Costner with Whitney Houston, did so well at the box office that it seemed the actor could do no wrong. The same year, Costner had another hit - and critical success - on his hands with Oliver Stone's JFK. The supposedly doomed project, in addition to being one of '90s biggest moneymakers, also took home a slew of Academy Awards, including statues for Best Picture and Best Director (usurping Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas).Ĭostner's luck continued with the 1991 costume epic Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves this, too, made money, though it seriously strained Costner's longtime friendship with the film's director, Kevin Reynolds. With a small budget of 18 million dollars, he went off to the Black Hills of South Dakota to film the first Western epic that Hollywood had seen in years, a revisionist look at American Indian-white relationships titled Dances With Wolves (1990). Riding high on the combined box-office success of these films, Costner was able to make his directing debut. In Bull Durham (1988), the actor was taciturn minor-league ballplayer Crash Davis, and in the following year's Field of Dreams he was Ray Kinsella, a farmer who constructs a baseball diamond in his Iowa cornfield at the repeated urging of a voice that intones "if you build it, he will come." The actor's big break came two years later as he burst onto the screen in two major films, No Way Out and The Untouchables his growing popularity was further amplified with a brace of baseball films, released within months of one another. He also gained notice for the Diner-ish buddy road movie Fandango. Two years later, a guilt-ridden Kasdan chose Costner for a major part as a hell-raising gunfighter in the "retro" Western Silverado (1985), this time putting him in front of the camera for virtually the entire film. Unfortunately, his flashback scenes were edited out of the movie, leaving all that was visible of the actor - who had turned down Matthew Broderick's role in WarGames to take the part - to be his dress suit, along with a fleeting glimpse of his hairline and hands as the undertaker prepared him for burial during the opening credits. That may be one reason why Costner's big-studio debut in Night Shift (1982) consisted of little more than background decoration, and the same year's Frances featured the hapless young actor as an off-stage voice.ĭirector Lawrence Kasdan liked Costner enough to cast him in the important role of the suicide victim who motivated the plot of The Big Chill (1983). Venturing down the usual theater-workshop, multiple-audition route, the actor impressed casting directors who weren't really certain of how to use him. After an inauspicious 1974 film debut in the ultra-cheapie Sizzle Beach USA, Costner decided to take a more serious approach to acting. Upon graduation in 1978, Costner took a marketing job that lasted all of 30 days before deciding to take a crack at acting. While a marketing student at California State University in Fullerton, he became involved with community theater. A poor student, Costner enjoyed sports, took piano lessons, wrote poetry and sang in the First Baptist Choir. ![]() He attended Cabrillo Middle School and Villa Park High School. ![]() He has German, Irish and Cherokee ancestry (his Oklahoma-born paternal grandfather was half Cherokee). Kevin Michael Costner was born on Januin Lynwood, California, the youngest of the three sons (the middle of whom died at birth) of Sharon Rae (née Tedrick), a welfare worker, and William Costner, an electrician and later utilities executive. for his contribution to the motion picture industry and on Septemhis hand and foot prints were set in concrete in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre alongside those of other celebrated actors and entertainers. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. Later films include Beyond Borders (2000), Open Range (2003), and The Upside of Anger (2005). The Postman (1997), which he also directed, Message in a Bottle (1999), and For the Love of the Game (1999), were less favourably received. Further successes followed with starring roles in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), JFK (1991), The Bodyguard (1992), and Waterworld (1995). Costner directed and starred in the epic film Dances With Wolves (1990), a major triumph which won seven Oscars. He established a reputation in the critically acclaimed films Bull Durham (1988) and Field of Dreams (1989). Oscar and Golden Globes winner Kevin Costner made his now-infamous major film debut in director Lawrence Kasdan's "The Big Chill" (1983).
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