Kevin Costner
visiting Andrews Air Force Base in 2003
Born	Kevin Michael Costner (1955-01-18) January 18, 1955 (age 57) Lynwood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, producer, director; musician
Years active	1974–present
Spouse	Cindy Silva (1978–1994) Christine Baumgartner (2004–present)
Children	7

Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards and has been nominated for three BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J. Dunbar in the film Dances with Wolves, Jim Garrison in JFK, Ray Kinsella in Field of Dreams, Robin Hood in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Crash Davis in Bull Durham, Robert "Butch" Haynes in A Perfect World, Frank Farmer in The Bodyguard, Lt. Cmdr. Tom Farrell in No Way Out, and Eliot Ness in The Untouchables. Costner also founded the band Modern West, and has performed with the band since 2007.

Early life[link]

Born in Lynwood, California, the youngest of three sons (the middle of whom died at birth). His mother, Sharon Rae (née Tedrick), was a welfare worker, and his father, William Costner, was an electrician and later utilities executive at Southern California Edison.^[1][2] Costner's patrilineal ancestry originates with German immigrants to North Carolina in the 1700s;^[3] he also has English and Irish ancestry, and has said that one of his ancestors had "married a Cherokee woman".^[3][4][5][6] Costner was raised Baptist.^[7] He attended Cabrillo Middle School and Villa Park High School. Costner was not academically inclined. Rather, he enjoyed sports, took piano lessons, wrote poetry and sang in the First Baptist Choir.^[1][8] He has stated that a viewing of the film How the West Was Won at the age of seven had "formed" his childhood.^[3]

Spending his teenage years in various parts of California as his father's career progressed,^[3] Costner has described this as a period when he "lost a lot of confidence", having to make new friends often.^[3] Costner lived in Orange County, then in Visalia (Tulare County), attending Mt. Whitney High School, and then back to Ventura, graduating from Buena High School in 1973. He went on to earn a B.A. in marketing and finance from California State University, Fullerton, in 1978.^[3]

Post-graduation[link]

Costner became interested in acting while in his last year of college,^[3] and on graduation married Cindy Silva. The couple honeymooned in Puerto Vallarta and on the return plane journey had a chance encounter with actor and fellow passenger Richard Burton, who had purchased all the seats around him for solitude. Burton agreed to speak to Costner after he finished his book. Costner, who had been taking acting classes, but had not told his wife about his desire to be an actor, watched Burton closely and approached when Burton gestured. Costner told Burton that he would prefer that his life was not filled with the type of drama that had followed Burton and asked if he would have to tolerate that if he became an actor. Burton replied, "You have green eyes. I have green eyes. I think you'll be fine." After landing, Burton's limousine pulled up to the curb where Costner and Cindy were waiting for a taxi, where Burton wished Costner luck. Costner would never see Burton again, but credits Burton with partially contributing to his career.^[1][9]

Having agreed to undertake a job as a marketing executive on return, Costner began taking acting lessons five nights a week, with the support of his wife.^[3] His marketing job lasted 30 days. He took work which allowed him to develop his acting skills via tuition, including working on fishing boats, as a truck driver, and giving tours of stars' Hollywood homes to support the couple while he also made the audition rounds.^[1]

Career[link]

Acting[link]

Costner in 2003

Costner allegedly made his film debut in the film Sizzle Beach, U.S.A. Although a biography claims it was actually filmed in the winter of 1978-1979, the film was not released until 1986.

Costner made a very brief cameo in the 1982 Ron Howard film Night Shift, he is listed in the credits as 'Frat Boy #1' and 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.

He 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.^[3] His role was that of Alex, the friend who committed suicide, the event that brings the rest of the cast together. All that is seen of him are his hair and his slashed wrists as the mortician dresses his corpse in the movie's opening scenes.^[10] Costner was a friend of director Lawrence Kasdan, who promised the actor a role in a future project.^[3] That became 1985's Silverado and a breakout role for Costner.^[3] He also starred that year in the smaller films Fandango and American Flyers.

Full-blown movie star status for Costner arrived in 1987, when he starred as federal agent Eliot Ness in The Untouchables and in the leading role of the thriller No Way Out.^[3] He solidified his A-list status in the baseball-themed films Bull Durham (1988) and Field of Dreams (1989).^[3]

Costner's next success came with the epic Dances with Wolves (1990).^[3] He directed and starred in the film and served as one of its producers.^[3] The film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won seven, including two for him personally (Best Picture and Best Director).^[3] 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).

He followed this with Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), the Oliver Stone-directed JFK (1991), The Bodyguard (1992), and Clint Eastwood's A Perfect World (1993), all of which provided box office or critical acclaim.^[3]

He then took the title role in the biopic Wyatt Earp (1994), directed by Kasdan. It received bad reviews and flopped^{[citation needed]} at the box office. The science fiction-post-apocalyptic epics Waterworld (1995) and The Postman (1997), the latter of which Costner also directed, were both commercial disappointments and both largely regarded by critics as artistic failures.^[3] However, The Postman results were worse than Waterworld and ended up "winning" five Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Actor and Worst Director for Costner.^[11]

Costner then starred in the golf comedy Tin Cup (1996) for Ron Shelton, who had previously directed him in Bull Durham.^[3] He developed the film Air Force One and was set to play the lead role of the President, but ultimately decided to concentrate on finishing The Postman instead. He personally offered the project to Harrison Ford.

His career revived somewhat in 2000 with Thirteen Days, in which he portrayed 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, Costner starred in Swing Vote. 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, The Company Men debuted on the Sundance Festival starring Costner with Ben Affleck. It had 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.

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. The film is about a local sheriff who must keep his town from erupting into violence during World War II. The other lead role is that of a German U-boat captain. The screenplay is by Dan Gordon, who co-wrote another sheriff movie for Costner, 1994's Wyatt Earp. In January 2012 Costner had to admit funding did not come through, and that he still hopes to make it in 2013.

He was also about to team up again with director Kevin Reynolds in Learning Italian. Costner would play a CIA agent stationed in a coastal Italian town in order to keep an eye on a KGB operative. However, the movie did not get past pre-production phase because they could not get the money together and it is currently not known if the movie will ever be made.

He also appears, as a special cameo, in Funny or Die's "Field of Dreams 2: Lockout".

Warner Bros. confirmed that Costner would portray Jonathan Kent in the upcoming rebooted Superman film, Man of Steel, directed by Zack Snyder.^[12] In 2011, Costner confirmed his role in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.^[13] Later on, it was announced that Costner had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, most likely to be the TV series directed by Kevin Reynolds called Hatfields & McCoys.^{[citation needed]}

Country music[link]

Costner on stage in July 2010

Costner is the singer in Kevin Costner & Modern West, a country rock band which he founded with the encouragement of his wife Christine. They began a worldwide tour in October 2007, which included shows in Istanbul and Rome. The group also performed at NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Daytona International Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, NC.

The band released a country album, Untold Truths, on November 11, 2008 on Universal South Records. The album peaked at #61 on the Billboard Top Country Albums and #35 on the Top Heatseekers chart. Three singles ("Superman 14", "Long Hot Night" and "Backyard") have been released to radio, although none have charted. The single "Superman 14" has been made into a live music video.

In 2009, they went on tour with opening act The Alternate Routes. In August, at the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alberta, Costner and the band were scheduled next on stage when a severe thunderstorm struck, collapsing the stage and stands on the main stage. One person was reported dead and forty injured.^[14] Later, an auction was held to raise money for the two young sons of the woman killed. A dinner with Costner was auctioned off for $41,000. Two guitars, one autographed by Costner, helped raise another $10,000 each.^[15]

A second Kevin Costner and Modern West album, Turn It On, was released in February 2010 in Europe^[16] and was supported by a European tour.^[17]

Other ventures[link]

Baseball[link]

Several of Costner's films have included a baseball theme. They include Chasing Dreams, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, For Love of the Game and The Upside of Anger, in which his character is a former pro baseball player.

He has a home in Austin, Texas and sometimes appears at University of Texas baseball practices and games. Costner is a close friend of Longhorns baseball coach Augie Garrido from Garrido's days coaching at Cal State Fullerton, the actor's alma mater. He cast Garrido to play the role of the Yankee manager in For Love of the Game. He tries to attend every College World Series game that Cal State Fullerton plays in Omaha, Nebraska.

Costner is a partial owner of the Zion, Illinois-based Lake County Fielders independent baseball team team in the North American League. The Fielders name is an homage to Field of Dreams, with the logo showing a ballplayer standing amid a field of corn.^[18][19]

Business interests[link]

Costner owns 100% of the Midnight Star casino, in Deadwood, South Dakota. The casino, its sports bar Diamond Lil's, and its restaurant Jake's are named after characters and locations from the movie Silverado. The facility contains posters, costumes, and other memorabilia from Costner's films.

In July 2004, Costner fired Francis and Carla Caneva, who managed the Midnight Star. A judge subsequently ordered Costner to pay a percentage of $6.1 million to buy out the Canevas as his business partners. In October 2006, Costner asked the South Dakota Supreme Court to re-examine the ruling, as an accountant hired by the actor had determined the market value of the casino to be $3.1 million.^[20]

In 1995, Costner began developing oil separation machines based on a patent he purchased from the US government. The machines developed by the company were of little commercial interest until the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, when BP took six of the machines from a company in which Costner owned an interest, Ocean Therapy Solutions, for testing in late May 2010.^[21] On June 16, 2010 BP entered into a lease with Ocean Therapy Solutions for 32 of the oil-water separation devices.^[22] Although Spyron Contoguris and Stephen Baldwin previously sold their interests in Ocean Therapy Solutions in mid-June to another investor in the company, they filed a lawsuit in Louisiana District Court claiming $10.64 million for securities fraud and misrepresentation. The suit claims that Costner kept a meeting with BP secret from them, and the secret meeting resulted in an $18 million down payment on a $52 million purchase and that after the down payment but before any announcement another investor used part of the downpayment to buy out their shares, thus excluding them from their share of the profits from the total sale.^[23] The suit claims that, despite public statements by Costner, Ocean Therapy Solutions, BP and others to the contrary, Baldwin and Contogouris were told that BP was still testing the machines and had not yet committed to lease the machines from Ocean Therapy Solutions and that the other investor in Ocean Therapy Solutions purchased their shares for $1.4 million to Baldwin and $500,000, to Contogouris.^[24]

Philanthropy[link]

Costner serves on an honorary board for The National World War I Museum in Kansas City. In spring 2011, he recorded two radio spots for the museum that were aired on Kansas City Royals Radio Network.^[25]

NASCAR[link]

Costner was named ceremonial Grand Marshal of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series' Auto Club 500 which took place on February 25, 2007, at the California Speedway.^[26] In 2008, he worked with the NASCAR Media Group and CMT Films to help produce the NASCAR Documentary, The Ride of Their Lives which would be released in 2009. Costner would be the narrator for that documentary. Also in 2009, he was named the spokesperson for NASCAR Day which took place on May 15. The next day, May 16, he and his country music band would perform in the infield of Lowe's Motor Speedway as well as participate as a judge in the 2nd annual Pennzoil Victory Challenge before the 25th Running of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

Personal life[link]

Relationships[link]

While in college, Costner was a member of Delta Chi fraternity.^[1] He started dating fellow student Cindy Silva in March 1975, and their subsequent marriage three years later produced three children: Anne "Annie" Clayton (born April 15, 1984), Lily McCall (born August 4, 1986) and Joseph "Joe" (born January 31, 1988). The couple divorced in 1994 after 16 years of marriage. He has a son, Liam (born in 1996), with Bridget Rooney, with whom he had a brief relationship following his divorce.^[27]

In 1996, he cohabited with supermodel Elle MacPherson.^[28]

On September 25, 2004, Costner married his girlfriend of four years, German-American model and handbag designer Christine Baumgartner,^[29] at his ranch in Aspen, Colorado. Costner took his new bride for a canoe ride on a lake following the ceremony. The couple honeymooned in Scotland.^[30] Their first child, Cayden Wyatt Costner, was born on May 6, 2007 at a Los Angeles hospital.^[31] Their second son, Hayes Logan, was born on February 12, 2009,^[32] and their third child, a daughter named Grace Avery, was born on June 2, 2010.^[33]

Sports[link]

The actor plays regularly in celebrity golf tournaments, including the PGA Tour's annual pro-am at Pebble Beach, California and the BMW Pro-Am held each April in Greenville County, South Carolina. Costner is a member at Birnam Wood Golf Club in California.

Costner is a fan of the London football team Arsenal F.C. While filming Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, he attended a match and has followed the team ever since.^[34]

Political activism[link]

Since 1992, Costner has financially supported a variety of Democratic Party politicians, including Al Gore and Tom Daschle, but also made contributions to the Republican Party's Phil Gramm as late as 1995.^[35] He said publicly in 2008 that he has no ambition to run for political office, adding "I've lived quite a colorful life."^[36]

In the final days before the 2008 election, Costner campaigned for Barack Obama, visiting various places in Colorado—a state in which 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."^[37]

Filmography[link]