Kevin Costner

Season 8, Episode 802

Original Airdate: November 25, 2001

Kevin Costner was born January 18, 1955 in Lynnwood, California. He became interested in theater while attending California State University in Fullerton despite majoring in marketing.

His first film appearance was in the low-budget, rarely seen Sizzle Beach USA (1974). His big break came in 1983 when director Lawerence Kasdan cast him as the suicide victim in The Big Chill. However, the majority of Costner's appearance in the film ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor with audiences only seeing a glimpse of his hairline. The role however did make him a favorite among trivia experts.

Two years later in 1985, Kasden chose Costner as the lead role in the retro-western Silverado, which featured him on the screen for the majority of the film. The next three years saw Costner elevate to the Hollywood A-List with such films as No Way Out (1987), The Untouchables (1987) and what many consider two of the best baseball films ever made, Bull Durham (1988) and Field of Dreams (1989).

Riding the wave of success, Costner next tried his hand at directing. With only a budget of 18 million dollars, he directed and starred in the western epic Dances With Wolves (1990). Many Hollywood insiders predicted this film would be a major flop. Instead, the film took home seven Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director and earned more than 180 million dollars at the box office.

Costner's next three films enjoyed equal success: JFK (1991), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) and The Bodyguard (1992). In 1993, Costner's star power began to slip with an uneven performance in Clint Eastwood's A Perfect World and the big budget failure Wyatt Earp (1994). Costner's career hit a low point in 1995 when critics, industry insiders and movie-goers panned his sci-fi epic Waterworld, making it one of the biggest flops in film history.

In the late 1990's, Costner's career began an upward turn with strong performances in Tin Cup (1996), Message in a Bottle (1999), the baseball drama For the Love of the Game (1999) and Thirteen Days (2000). His latest film 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001) is action crime thriller that co-stars Kurt Russell, Christian Slater and Kevin Pollack.