- Born
- Birth nameKevin Michael Costner
- Height6′ 1″ (1.85 m)
- Kevin Michael Costner was born on January 18, 1955 in Lynwood, California, the third
child of Bill Costner, a ditch digger and
ultimately an electric line servicer for Southern California Edison,
and Sharon Costner (née Tedrick), a
welfare worker. His older brother, Dan, was born in 1950. A middle
brother died at birth in 1953. His father's job required him to move
regularly, which caused Kevin to feel like an Army kid, always the new
kid at school, which led to him being a daydreamer. As a teen, he sang
in the Baptist church choir, wrote poetry, and took writing classes. At
18, he built his own canoe and paddled his way down the rivers that
Lewis & Clark followed to the Pacific. Despite his present height, he
was only 5'2" when he graduated high school. Nonetheless, he still
managed to be a basketball, football and baseball star. In 1973, he
enrolled at California State University at Fullerton, where he majored
in business. During that period, Kevin decided to take acting lessons
five nights a week. He graduated with a business degree in 1978 and
married his college sweetheart,
Cindy Costner. He initially took a
marketing job in Orange County. Everything changed when he accidentally
met Richard Burton on a flight
from Mexico. Burton advised him to go completely after acting if that
is what he wanted. He quit his job and moved to Hollywood soon after.
He drove a truck, worked on a deep sea fishing boat, and gave bus tours
to stars' homes before finally making his own way into the films. After
making one soft core sex film, he vowed to not work again if that was
the only work he could do. He didn't work for nearly six years, while
he waited for a proper break. That break came with
The Big Chill (1983), even though
his scenes ended up on the cutting room floor -- he was remembered by
director Lawrence Kasdan when he decided
to make Silverado (1985). Costner's
career took off after that.- IMDb Mini Biography By: John Sacksteder <jsack@ka.net>
- SpousesChristine Baumgartner(September 25, 2004 - February 16, 2024) (divorced, 3 children)Cindy Costner(February 11, 1978 - December 12, 1994) (divorced, 3 children)
- ChildrenLiam CostnerCayden Wyatt CostnerHayes Logan CostnerGrace Avery Costner
- Parents
- RelativesDan Costner(Sibling)
- Frequently appears in Westerns
- Frequently appears in sports-themed films, in particular baseball
- Turned down a role in Platoon (1986) because he thought it portrayed American
soldiers in Vietnam negatively and didn't want to insult his brother,
who was a Vietnam veteran. - Spoke at the funeral of his The Bodyguard (1992) co-star, Whitney Houston, on February 18, 2012.
- Turned down the role of Bill in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) to direct
Open Range (2003) instead. - Once was a bus driver for tours to stars' Hollywood homes.
- His favorite genre is the Western.
- Real heroes are men who fall and fail and are flawed, but win out in
the end because they've stayed true to their ideals and beliefs and
commitments. -- Interview with David Giammarco, Cigar Aficionado Magazine, Nov/Dec 2000. - I'm happy about the things I've done. Not always happy about the
results, but happy about the decisions, because I made them myself. And
I think that's an important way to go through life. -- Interview with David Giammarco, Cigar Aficionado Magazine, Nov/Dec. 2000. - [on Dances with Wolves (1990)] "This is a bonding film for all. You could put it anywhere
in history--the Berlin Wall, Kuwait". - My first introduction to English football was in 1990 when I was over
here making Robin Hood and I got invited to an Arsenal game. Having
watched sports all my life in America, there was no comparison in terms
of the emotion that was in the stadium that day. And I really never
forgot it. - on being an Arsenal fan. - I'm really aware of my disappointments, what movies I didn't like when
I was done. I'm not so sure they line up with public or critical
disappointments. But if I have to reduce my life to the box office, I
can see what the up-and-down thing is. Popularity now is cultural
achievement. If you can be popular, you actually can make a living out
of being popular. It's not my way. Other actors might have made "Bull
Durham 2","Tin Cup 2","Dances 2" and "Bodyguard 2". But I don't think
repeating yourself is very good.
- Yellowstone (2018) - $10,000,000 (Season 5)
- Yellowstone (2018) - $1,300,000 per episode
- Dragonfly (2002) - $15,000,000
- Thirteen Days (2001) - $15,000,000
- Waterworld (1995) - $14,000,000 + percentage of gross
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