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Kevin Delaney Kline (born October 24, 1947) is an Academy Award- and Tony Award-winning American stage and film actor.
Early life
Kline was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Robert Joseph Kline, a classical music buff who owned and operated The Record Bar, the largest toy and record store in St. Louis, and Peggy Kirk, whom Kline has described as the "dramatic theatrical character in our family". His father's family also owned Kline's Inc., a department store chain. He has two younger brothers, Alex and Christopher, and an older sister, Kate. Kline's father was an Agnostic of German Jewish descent and his Irish American mother, the daughter of an immigrant from County Louth, was Catholic. Kline was raised in his mother's faith and graduated from the Catholic Saint Louis Priory School in 1965. He attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he began as an aspiring classical pianist, but after joining the on-campus theater group "Vest Pocket Players" as an undergraduate, he fell in love with the theater and switched to acting, graduating from IU in 1970.
Career
In 1970, Kline was awarded a scholarship to the newly formed Drama Division at the Juilliard School in New York. In 1972, he joined with fellow Juilliard graduates, including Patti Lupone and David Ogden Stiers, and formed the City Center Acting Company (now The Acting Company), under the aegis of famed British actor John Houseman. The Company traveled across the U.S. performing Shakespeare's plays, other classical works, and the musical The Robber Bridegroom, founding a dedication and mission unparalleled in American repertory theatre. In 1976, Kline left The Acting Company and settled in New York City, doing a brief stint as the character "Woody Reed" in the now-defunct soap opera Search for Tomorrow. He followed this with a return to the stage 1978 in the small role of "Bruce Granit", a matinée idol caricature, in Hal Prince's On The Twentieth Century, for which he won his first Tony Award.
In 1981, Kline paired up with rock diva Linda Ronstadt and singer Rex Smith in the New York Shakespeare Festival's Central Park production of The Pirates of Penzance, winning another Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, for his comically dashing portrayal of the Pirate King. He later played the role in a film version of the musical, also with Ronstadt, which had a limited theatrical release. In the ensuing years, Kline appeared many times in New York Shakespeare Festival productions of Shakespeare, including starring roles in Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, two productions of Hamlet (one of which he also directed) and a Tony-nominated Falstaff in a production that combined the two parts of Shakespeare's Henry IV. Dubbed "the American Olivier" by New York Times theater critic Frank Rich for his stage acting, Kline finally ventured into film in 1982, winning the coveted role of the tormented and mercurial Nathan opposite Meryl Streep in Alan Pakula's Sophie's Choice. Streep won an Academy Award for her performance in the film, and Kline was nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for best debut performance.
During the 1980s and early-1990s, Kline made several films with director Lawrence Kasdan, including The Big Chill, Silverado, Grand Canyon, I Love You To Death, and French Kiss. In the mid-1990s, he was supposed to star as Mandrake the Magician in the movie with the same name, but the film never got off the ground. In 1989, Kline won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the British comedy A Fish Called Wanda, in which he played a caricature of a painfully stupid American ex-CIA thug opposite John Cleese's genteel British barrister. (In 2000, the American Film Institute ranked the film twenty-first on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs).
Though he has been offered many roles that could have boosted him to box-office stardom, Kline has kept a wary distance from the Hollywood star-making machine and developed a reputation for picking parts with discrimination (such as strong roles in Grand Canyon and Life as a House), leading to the industry moniker "Kevin Decline". Other awards have included Drama Desk Awards, Golden Globe awards, a Gotham Actor Award, a Hasty Pudding Theatricals Man of the Year Award, and a St. Louis International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award. He also has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
Personal life
Prior to his marriage, Kline was romantically linked to Patti LuPone, Gilda Radner, and Linda Ronstadt. Kline married actress Phoebe Cates, sixteen years his junior, in 1989. The couple make their home in New York City and have two children: Owen Kline (born 1991), who had a featured role in The Squid and the Whale, Greta Kline (born 1994). Since his son's diagnosis with juvenile diabetes, Kline has been active with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and in November 2004 he was presented with the JDRF's Humanitarian of the Year award by Meryl Streep for his volunteer efforts on behalf of the organization.
The Kevin Kline Awards honor theater professionals in St. Louis in a wide array of categories, which include best actor and actress, set design, choreography, and original play. The first awards ceremony took place on March 20, 2006.
| Latest news about Kevin Kline |
The Bit Bucket (Greg Low) : Kevin Kline's Travel MemeOur buddy Kevin Kline has started a travel meme to provide ideas for people travelling to PASS , given many don't travel very often. He's after some good solid travel tips. I'm one of the people he called out so here are a few that come ... Continue reading
Kevin Kline : Starting the Travel Meme'Tis the season for travel! With the PASS Summit just around the corner and lots of other interesting events waiting in the wings, such as TechEd Europe, lots of IT people will finally be allowed to stretch their wings (and budgets) to ... Continue reading
kevin kline on Flickr - Photo Sharing!Click this icon to see all public photos and videos tagged with kevin kevin · Click this icon to see all public photos and videos tagged with kline kline · Click this icon to see all public photos and videos tagged with actor ... Continue reading
Kevin Kline (Scorpio)Kevin Kline (Scorpio) born October 24, 1947. Kevin attended the University of Indiana as a music major, then studied theater at Juilliard's drama department. He was then accepted into "The Acting Company", had many stage roles, ... Continue reading
post apocalyptic bohemian: Happy Birthday, Kevin Kline... I Will ...The driver stopped in front of the hotel & in slipped a matinee idol handsome man, who turned to me, smiled, extended his hand, & said- “hello my name is Kevin Klineâ€. I retorted- “No kiddingâ€. What is it like when you meet someone that ... Continue reading
Meryl Streep Kevin KlineMeryl Streep. Bid by charity auction, raising funds for The Acting Company, for a chance to meet legendary actors Meryl Streep (pictured) and Kevin Kline. The lucky bidder will attend a cast dinner and meet the pair in New York, ... Continue reading
Star Power!: Daniel Craig, Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Maggie ...Feature: Star Power!: Daniel Craig, Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hilary Swank, Cheyenne Jackson, Mandy Patinkin, Perez Hilton, and Kathy Najimy are among the celebrities caught by our cameras! by Joseph Marzullo and ... Continue reading
:: The Playlist ::: Tom Wilkinson, Kevin Kline and Alexis Bledel ...Now Variety has thrown down and responded, confirmed our news about Wood's participation and added that Tom Wilkinson, Kevin Kline and Alexis Bledel have all joined the film (they don't seem to know that Kebbell is in, but it's true). ... Continue reading
Starting the Travel Tips Meme | Kevin E. Kline'Tis the season for travel! With the PASS Summit just around the corner and lots of other interesting events waiting in the wings, such as TechEd Europe, lots. Continue reading
Meet Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline « Charity Events New YorkBid in a charity auction, raising funds for The Acting Company, for the chance to meet legendary actors Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline. The lucky bidder will attend a cast dinner and meet the pair in New York, after watching them perform ... Continue reading
Hollywood Actors Jessica alba Kevin Kline pictures and Kevin Kline biography
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