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| Kevin Costner |
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| Forecourt Ceremony held on Wednesday, September 6, 2006 |
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Born: January 18, 1955, in Lynwood, California
Age at the time of the ceremony: 51
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Kevin Costner is an enduring star. Born in a Los Angeles suburb, he got interested in the history of the west, and has appeared in a number of westerns, including the Oscar-laden Dances with Wolves. 11 of his films have passed the magic $100 million line.
Although born in Lynwood, Costner grew up in nearby Compton California. Not particularly studious, young Kevin enjoyed sports, played piano and sang in the chior at the local Baptist church. Seeing How the West Was Won in 1962 when he was seven changed his life. He began to develop and interest in western history.
During high school years, the Costners moved about a great deal. He attended Cal State Fullerton, graduating with a BA in marketing and finance in 1978. After marrying Cindy Silva (who worked at Disneyland playing Cinderella), the Costners were returning from their honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, when Kevin encountered Richard Burton, who encourgaed the lad to get into acting.
Working odd jobs and taking acting lessons at night,
by 1978 he was playing the lead in the sex comedy Malibu Hot Summer AKA Sizzle Beach USA (not released until 1981) with Terry Congie. He played a Frat Boy for director Ron Howard in Night Shift (which played the Chinese in July 1982). He had a pivotal role as Alex in The Big Chill (released in September 1983), but his scenes were famously cut.
But Costner was on his way. After a small role in Testament (released in November 1983) with Jane Alexander, he got fifth-billing working for Big Chill director Lawrence Kasdan in Silverado (which played the Chinese in July 1985) with Kevin Kline; he got top billing (but wasn't featured in the poster art) for the bicycle racing picture American Flyers (released in August 1985) with David Grant.
Producer Art Linson allowed Costner to play Elliott Ness in The Untouchables (released in June 1987) with Robert De Niro playing Al Capone. The film was a very substantial hit, and suddenly made Costner a movie star.
His first "Kevin Costner Movie" was
No Way Out (released in August 1987) with Gene Hackman, then the first of his several baseball pictures, Bull Durham (released in June 1988) with Susan Sarandon, became a hit. This was followed by the baseball classic Field of Dreams (released in May 1989).
Since these were all sizable hits, Costner rounded up a novel he was mentoring from his friend
Michael Blake. Costner got it published, then set up a deal at Orion to produce and direct the film version. The three hour-long historical film was called Dances with Wolves (released in November 1990) with Mary McDonnell, and it swept the Oscars, with Costner winning for Best Picture and Best Director. It remains his top-grossing film.
Too bad Costner had agreed to star in
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (which played the Chinese in June 1991), which brought in the $$$, but also bagged Costner a Razzie Award for Worst Actor. Before Dances with Wolves had been released, Costner signed up to play Orleans Parrish district attorney Jim Garrison in Oliver Stone's juggernaut, JFK (released in December 1991).
A year later, Costner starred and
was producer on The Bodyguard (released in November 1992) with Whitney Houston, which became an immese hit. Costner was such a big star that he he got billed over Clint Eastwood in A Perfect World (released in November 1993).
Warner Bros. allowed Costner to star in and was a producer on Wyatt Earp (released in June 1994) with Dennis Quaid, and was producer on the Easter Island story Rapa Nui (released in September 1994.
Moving over to Universal, Costner starred and was a producer on the massive Waterworld (released in July 1995) with Jeanne Trippelhorn. The picture became a notorious debacle, but has since earned back it huge cost. That year also saw the broadcast on Discovery Channel of 500 Nations, a miniseries about the genocide of Native Americans Costner narrated and was executive producer for.
Costner starred in the golfing picture
Tin Cup (released in August 1996) with Rene Russo, then returned to post-apocalypse territory, being a producer and director as well as starring in The Postman (released in December 1997). Not exactly a "Merry Christmas" type of thing, the film bombed.
Moving into Nicholas Sparks territory, he
produced and starred in the romance Message in a Bottle (released in February 1999) with Robin Wright, then did another baseball picture, For Love of the Game (released in September 1999) with Kelly Preston. Returning to the Kennedy era, Costner played presidential assistant Kenny O'Donnell and was a producer on the Cuban Missle Crisis film Thirteen Days (released in January 2001) with Bruce Greenwood playing president Kennedy.
Costner co-starred with Kurt Russell as a pair of Elvis impersonators trying to heist a Las Vegas casino in 3000 Miles to Graceland (released in February 2001); it flopped. He was a producer and the director and starred in the western Open Range (released in August 2003) with Robert Duvall, then appeared in the contemporary comedy Rumor Has It. . . (which played the Chinese in December 2005) with Jennifer Aniston.
He was imprinted at the Chinese just pior to the release of The Guardian (released in September 2006) with Ashton Kutcher. He then starred as a big bad bad guy as a schizophrenic businessman / serial killer in his production Mr. Brooks (released in June 2007). Trying hard to appear comical, he starred and also produced Swing Vote (released in August 2008) with Paula Patton.
Returning to the frontier, Costner was a producer and played "Devil" Anse Hatfield in Hatfields & McCoys, a mini-series aired over the History Channel in May 2012. He played Clark Kent's dad in Man of Steel (released in June 2013) with Henry Cavill in the title role, and scored very well as a CIA guy in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (which played the Chinese in January 2014) with Chris Pine.
Costner was a was a producer and starred in Black or White (released in January 2015) with Octavia Spencer, then appeared in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (which played the Chinese in March 2016) with Henry Cavill. He played a NASA Research director in Hidden Figures (released in January 2017) with Taraji P. Henson. Finally doing a television show, Costner played John Dutton in the first season of Yellowstone, aired over the Paramount Network beginning in June 2018. They have 47 episodes now.
Costner has scored a lot of good notices for his work in Let Him Go with Diane Lane (released in November 2020).
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Kevin Costner Forecourt block. Executed by unknown, We3dnesday, September 6, 2006. 47 x 36 inches. |
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Kevin Costner Forecourt ceremony, Wednesday, September 6, 2006. Kevin Costner stands back to admire his handiwork. |
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