Kevin Kline - Biography

Last Editor: trista7365				Kevin Kline Biography -   Name : Kevin Kline Birth Name : Kevin Delaney Kline Date of Birth : 24 October 1947 Place of Birth : St. Louis, Missouri, USA Height : 6'2'' Education : Indiana University, Bloomington; Juilliard School, New York. Nationality : American Profession : Actor

Kevin Kline Trivia -

Two children, with Phoebe Cates: Greta Kline and Owen Kline: Has won two Tony awards, the first in 1978 for the role of Bruce Granit in 'On the Twentieth Century', and the second in 1981 for the role of The Pirate King in 'The Pirates of Penzance.' Kline has played presidents and their doubles twice to date: he played Dave and President Bill Mitchell in Dave (1993), and Artemus Gordon and President Ulysses S. Grant in Wild Wild West (1999). Appears with wife Phoebe Cates and their two children, Owen Kline and Greta Kline, as a family of four in The Anniversary Party (2001). Turned down the role of Batman (1989) Graduated from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana in 1970 with a BA in Speech & Theatre. Brother of producer Kate Kline May Graduate of St. Louis Priory School (Class of 1965) In 1975, he met with director Steven Spielberg about playing Matt Hooper in Jaws (1975) (Played by Richard Dreyfuss). Kevin said that he knew someone who was a oceanographer and thought he could play one. Spielberg then told him "I don't want someone who knows someone who is a oceanographer, I want someone who is a oceanographer". Richard Dreyfuss then got the part. Though it appears that his feature debut was in Sophie's Choice (1982), Kline had actually completed The Pirates of Penzance (1983) before going on to co-star with Meryl Streep, but the release of 'Pirates' was sufficiently delayed, enabling 'Sophie' to receive an earlier release He became the 2,272nd recipient of a bronze-edged star embedded in the pavement of Los Angeles' Hollywood Boulevard Won two Tony Awards: in 1978 as Best Actor (Featured Role - Musical) for playing Bruce Granit in "On the Twentieth Century," and in 1981 as Best Actor (Musical) for playing The Pirate King in "The Pirates of Penzance," a performance he recreated in the film version of the same title, The Pirates of Penzance (1983). He was also nominated in 2004 as Best Actor (Play) for portraying the title character in Shakespeare's "Henry IV." Met future wife Phoebe Cates when she auditioned for the part of Chloe in The Big Chill (1983), that eventually went to `Meg Tilly' . His wife is pregnant with their third child (due winter 2005).

Kevin Kline Detailed Biography -

One of the most versatile and respected actors of his generation, Kevin Kline has made a name for himself on the stage and screen. Equally comfortable in comedic and dramatic roles, Kevin Kline is one of those rare actors whose onscreen characterizations are not overshadowed by his offscreen personality; remarkably free of ego, he has impressed both critics and audiences as a performer in the purest sense of the word. A product of the American Midwest, Kevin Kline was born in Saint Louis, MO, on October 24, 1947. He became active in theater while growing up in the Saint Louis suburbs, performing in a number of school productions. Kevin Kline continued to act while a student at Indiana University at Bloomington, and following graduation, moved to New York, where he was accepted at the Juilliard School. In 1972, Kevin Kline added professional experience to his formal training when he joined New York's Acting Company, led at the time by John Houseman. He toured the country with the company, performing Shakespeare and winning particular acclaim for his portrayals of Romeo and Hamlet. This praise translated to the New York stage a few years later, when Kevin Kline won Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his role in the 1978 Broadway production of On the Twentieth Century. Three years later, Kevin Kline earned these same honors for his work in the Broadway production of The Pirates of Penzance (he later reprised his role for the musical's 1983 film adaptation). After a stint on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow, Kevin Kline made his film debut in Alan Pakula's 1982 Sophie's Choice. It was an inarguably auspicious beginning: aside from the wide acclaim lavished on the film, Kline earned a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Nathan Landau. The following year, he again struck gold, starring in The Big Chill, Lawrence Kasdan's seminal exploration of baby-boomer anxiety. Two years later, Kevin Kline and Kasdan enjoyed another successful collaboration with Silverado, an homage to the Westerns of the 1950s and '60s. After turning in a strong performance as a South African newspaper editor in Cry Freedom, Richard Attenborough's powerful 1987 apartheid drama, Kline won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his relentlessly hilarious portrayal of dimwitted petty thief Otto West in A Fish Called Wanda (1988). The award gave him international recognition and established him as an actor as adept at comedy as he was at drama, something Kline again proved in Soapdish; the 1991 comedy was a major disappointment, but Kevin Kline nonetheless managed to turn in another excellent performance, earning a Golden Globe nomination. The '90s saw Kline -- now a married man, having wed actress Phoebe Cates in 1989 -- continue to tackle a range of diverse roles. In 1992, he could be seen playing Douglas Fairbanks in Chaplin, while the next year he gave a winning portrayal of two men -- one, the U.S. President, the other, his reluctant stand-in -- in Dave, earning another Golden Globe nomination. Kevin Kline then appeared in one of his most high-profile roles to date, starring as a sexually conflicted schoolteacher in Frank Oz's 1997 comedy In & Out. His portrayal earned him another Golden Globe nomination, as well as a number of other accolades (including an MTV Award nomination for Best Kiss with Tom Selleck). Further praise followed for Kevin Kline the next year, when he turned in a stellar dramatic performance as an adulterous family man in 1973 Connecticut in Ang Lee's The Ice Storm. Kevin Kline then turned back to Shakespeare, portraying Bottom in the star-studded 1999 adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Kevin Kline's work in that film was so well received that it helped to overshadow his involvement in Wild Wild West, one of the most critically lambasted and financially disappointing films of the year. 2001 found Kevin Kline returning to straight drama in the introspective Life as a House. The actor continued in this niche the following year, starring as an unorthodox prep school teacher in The Emperor's Club. After playing songwriter Cole Porter in the 2004 biopic De-Lovely, Kevin Kline began work on his return to comedy, a remake of the classic The Pink Panther, with him cast opposite Steve Martin.