Kevin Micheal Costner

Kevin Micheal Costner 

Early life and education

Costner was born on January 18, 1955,[2] in Lynwood, California, and grew up in Compton, California.[3] His parents were William and Sharon Costner.[4] He is the youngest of three boys, the second of whom died at birth. Sharon Rae Costner (née Tedrick) was a welfare worker, and William Costner was an electrician and a utilities executive.[5][page needed][6] Costner's father's heritage originates with German immigrants to North Carolina in the 1700s,[7][better source needed] and Costner also has English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh ancestry.[8][9] Costner was raised Baptist.[10][11] He was not academically inclined in school, but did play sports (especially football), take piano lessons, write poetry, and sing in the First Baptist Choir.[5][12] He has said that watching the 1962 film How the West Was Won as a child inspired his love for Western films.[13]

Costner has stated that he spent his teenage years in different parts of California as his father's career progressed. He has described this time as a period when he "lost a lot of confidence", having to make new friends often. Costner lived in Ventura, then in Visalia. Costner attended Mt. Whitney High School where he was in the marching band.[7][better source needed] Costner graduated from Villa Park High School in 1973.[14] He played baseball at Villa Park and was teammates with Dennis Burtt.[15] He earned a BA from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) in 1978.[16][17] While at CSUF, he became a brother in the Delta Chi fraternity.[5]

Costner became interested in acting and dancing while in his last year of college.[7][better source needed] In 1978, while on an airplane returning from his honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, Costner had a chance encounter with actor Richard Burton. At that time, Costner was uncertain about whether he should become an actor, and he approached Burton to ask his advice. Costner has said that Burton encouraged him to pursue acting.[18] Costner has also stated that he asked Burton whether it was possible to be an actor without experiencing turmoil in one's private life; according to Costner, Burton replied that he thought it was possible. Costner credits Burton with inspiring him to become an actor.[19]

Having agreed to undertake a job as a marketing executive, Costner began taking acting lessons five nights a week, with the support of his wife. His marketing job lasted 30 days. He took jobs that allowed him to develop his acting skills, by paying his tuition, including working on fishing boats, as a truck driver, and giving tours of movie stars' Hollywood homes. This work supported the couple while Costner attended auditions.

Career

1981?1986: Rise to prominence

Costner made his film debut in Sizzle Beach, U.S.A. (1981).[20] Filmed in the winter of 1978?79, the film was not released until 1981 and re-released in 1986. The release complications and lack of documentation led many to believe that Costner's debut was in The Touch (also known as Stacy's Knights), in 1983 with Eve Lilith and Andra Millian.[citation needed] Costner played a minor role as "Frat Boy #1" in the Ron Howard film Night Shift (1982).[21] He appears at the climax of a frat-style, blow-out party in the New York City morgue, when the music is suddenly stopped by a frantic Henry Winkler. Costner can be seen holding a beer and looking surprised at the sudden halt of celebration.[citation needed]

Costner appeared in a commercial for the Apple Lisa and Table for Five in 1983, and, the same year, had a small role in the nuclear holocaust film Testament. Later, he was cast in The Big Chill and filmed several scenes that were planned as flashbacks, but they were removed from the final cut.[7] His role was that of Alex, the friend who committed suicide, the event that brings the rest of the cast together. Costner was a friend of director Lawrence Kasdan, who promised the actor a role in a future project.[7] That became Silverado (1985) and a breakout role for Costner.[7] He also starred that year in the smaller films Fandango and American Flyers and appeared alongside Kiefer Sutherland in an hour-long special episode of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories.

Costner achieved movie star status in 1987, when he starred as federal agent Eliot Ness in The Untouchables and in the leading role of the thriller No Way Out.[7] He solidified his A-list status in the baseball-themed films Bull Durham (1988) and Field of Dreams (1989).[7] In 1990, he partnered with producer Jim Wilson to form the production company Tig Productions.[7][22] Tig's first film was the epic Dances with Wolves which Costner directed and starred in. This film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won seven, including two for him personally (Best Picture and Best Director).[7] The same year saw the release of Revenge, in which he starred along with Anthony Quinn and Madeleine Stowe, directed by Tony Scott; Costner had wanted to direct it himself.

Costner portrayed Robin Hood in the action-adventure film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) where he also served as a producer. Costner starred alongside Alan Rickman, Morgan Freeman, and Christian Slater. The film received mixed reviews but was an immense box-office success. He then starred as District Attorney Jim Garrison in the Oliver Stone-directed political epic thriller JFK (1991). The film gained significant controversy for its historical inaccuracies but was also praised for its style, direction, and performances. Costner received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor ? Motion Picture Drama nomination for his role. Critic Roger Ebert praised his performance writing, "As Garrison, Costner gives a measured yet passionate performance. Like a man who has hold of an idea he cannot let go, he forges ahead, insisting that there is more to the assassination than meets the eye."[23]

He then starred opposite Whitney Houston in the romantic drama The Bodyguard (1992) where he also served as a producer. The film was a pop-culture sensation and financial success. The next year he starred as a criminal on the run in Clint Eastwood's drama A Perfect World (1993). Film critic Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Costner seems about as pathological as a koala bear, and his gentle charisma reinforces the film's touchy-feely theme".[24][7] He took the title role in the western biopic Wyatt Earp (1994), directed by Lawrence Kasdan, where he also served as a producer. That same year he starred in the drama film The War. The film also co-starred Elijah Wood. The film seemed to gain little attention.

His career revived somewhat in 2000 with Thirteen Days, in which he portrayed Kenneth O'Donnell, a top adviser to John F. Kennedy. The western Open Range, which he directed and starred in, received critical acclaim in 2003, and was a surprise success commercially. He received some of his best reviews for his supporting role as retired professional baseball player Denny Davies in The Upside of Anger, for which he received a nomination from the Broadcast Film Critics Association and won the San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor. After that, Costner starred in The Guardian and in Mr. Brooks, in which he portrayed a serial killer. In 2008, his Tig Productions company closed and was changed to Tree House Films.[28]

In 2008, Costner starred in Swing Vote. He starred opposite Jennifer Aniston in the 2005 movie Rumour Has It. Costner was honored on September 6, 2006, when his hand and foot prints were set in concrete in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre alongside those of other celebrated actors and entertainers. In 2010, he appeared in The Company Men alongside Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, and received good reviews. It was released in cinemas worldwide in January 2011. The film was considered to be an Oscar contender, but did not get a nomination.[citation needed]

Costner announced that he would be returning to the director's chair for the first time in seven years, in 2011, with A Little War of Our Own. He was also about to team up again with director Kevin Reynolds in Learning Italian. No updates have been released about either film since their original production announcement. He also appears, as a special cameo, in Funny or Die's "Field of Dreams 2: NFL Lockout". Costner portrayed Jonathan Kent in the rebooted Superman film Man of Steel, directed by Zack Snyder.[29] Costner was going to have a role in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained,[30] but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.

In 1975, while in college, Costner started dating fellow student Cindy Silva, and they married three years later. During their marriage, they had two daughters born in 1984 and 1986, and a son born in 1988. The couple divorced in 1994 after 16 years of marriage, due to Costner allegedly having an affair while on the set of Waterworld. Cindy Silva received a settlement of US$80 million (equivalent to $149 million in 2023).[68] Following his divorce, he had a brief relationship with Bridget Rooney, future wife of billionaire Bill Koch; Costner and Rooney had a son together, born in 1996.[69] He then dated political activist Birgit Cunningham.[70] In 1996, he lived with supermodel Elle Macpherson.[71] On September 25, 2004, Costner married his girlfriend of four years, model and handbag designer Christine Baumgartner,[72] at his ranch in Aspen, Colorado. They have two sons, born in 2007 and 2009, and a daughter born in 2010.[73][74][75] In May 2023, Baumgartner filed for divorce.[76] They finalized their divorce on February 20, 2024.[77]

Political activism

Early in his life, Costner was a Republican. He was both a supporter and friend of Ronald Reagan, frequently playing golf with the former president. He eventually switched his affiliation in the early 1990s. Since 1992, Costner has financially supported a variety of Democratic politicians, including Al Gore and Tom Daschle, but also made contributions to Republican Phil Gramm as late as 1995.[78]

In 2008, he said publicly that he had no ambition to run for political office, adding "I've lived quite a colorful life".[79] In the final days before that year's United States presidential election, Costner campaigned for Barack Obama, visiting various places in Colorado, where he has a home. In his speech, Costner stated the need for young voters to get to the polls, early and with enthusiasm. "We were going to change the world and we haven't", Costner said at a Colorado State University rally. "My generation didn't get it done, and we need you to help us".[80]

In October 2014, Costner sent a tribute to British troops serving around the world, thanking them for their work.[81]

On December 22, 2019, Costner endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg at a rally in Indianola, Iowa.[82] Later, Costner supported Democratic candidate Joe Biden.[83] Costner narrated a commercial for J. D. Scholten, a Democrat running for the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 4th congressional district.[84] For the 2022 United States House of Representatives election in Wyoming, Costner endorsed Republican Liz Cheney for reelection.