Kris kristofferson biography video for kids

American singer and actor (–)

"Kristofferson" redirects here. For other uses, see Kristofferson (disambiguation).

Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, – September 28, ) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor.

He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a more raw, introspective style. During the s, he also embarked on a successful career as a Hollywood actor.

Kristofferson released his debut album Kristofferson in Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night", all of which became hits for other artists.

Kristofferson was also a member of the country music supergroup the Highwaymen between and He has charted 12 times on the American BillboardHot Country Songs charts; his highest peaking singles there are "Why Me" and "Highwayman", which reached number one in and , respectively.

He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in He was a three-time Grammy Award winner, out of 13 total nominations.^[1]

As an performer, he became known for his roles in Cisco Pike (), Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (), Blume in Love (), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (), and A Celestial body Is Born (); for the latter, he earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Thespian in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

He was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score for the film Songwriter (). His acting career waned somewhat following his role in the box office bombHeaven's Gate (), but he continued to do in films such as Stagecoach (), Lone Star (), and the Blade film trilogy (–).

Life and career

Early years and military service

Kristoffer Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas, to Mary Ann (née Ashbrook) and Lars Henry Kristofferson, a United States Army Air Corps officer (later a major general in the United States Air Force).^[2] During Kristofferson's childhood, his father encouraged him to pursue a military career.^[3]

Kristofferson moved around frequently as a youth because of his father's military service, and the family settled in San Mateo, California.^[4] After graduating from San Mateo High School in , he enrolled at Pomona College, hoping to become a author.

His early writing included prize-winning essays: "The Rock" and "Gone Are the Days" were published in The Atlantic Monthly. These stories touch on the roots of Kristofferson's passions and concerns. "The Rock" is about a geographical feature resembling the build of a woman, while the latter was about a racial incident.^[5]

At the age of 17, Kristofferson took a summer occupation with a dredging contractor on Wake Island in the western Pacific Ocean.

He called it "the hardest job I ever had".^[6]

Kristofferson attended Pomona College and experienced his first national exposure in , appearing in the March 31 issue of Sports Illustrated for his achievements in collegiate rugby union, American football, and track and field.^[7] He and his classmates revived the Claremont Colleges Rugby Club in , and it remains a Southern California rugby institution.

Kristofferson graduated in with a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, in literature. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa his junior year. In a interview with Pomona College Magazine, Kristofferson mentioned philosophy professor Frederick Sontag as an important alter in his life.^[8]

In , Kristofferson was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford,^[9] studying at Merton College.^[10] While at Oxford, he was awarded a Blue for boxing,^[10] played rugby for his college, and began writing songs.

At Oxford, he became acquainted with fellow Rhodes scholar, art critic, and poet Michael Fried. With the help of his manager, Larry Parnes, Kristofferson recorded for Superior Rank Records under the identify Kris Carson.

Parnes was functional to sell Kristofferson as "a Yank at Oxford" to the British public; Kristofferson was willing to accept that promotional approach if it helped his singing career, which he hoped would enable him to progress toward his goal of becoming a novelist.^[11]

This early phase of his music career was unsuccessful.^[12] In , Kristofferson graduated with a in English literature.^[10][13][14] In , he married his longtime girlfriend, Frances "Fran" Mavia Beer.^[10]

Kristofferson connected the Army in after graduating from Oxford.

He became a helicopter pilot who trained at Fort Rucker in Alabama and also attended Ranger School, then worked as a helicopter pilot in Germany in the preliminary s and was eventually offered a teaching position at West Point in , but turned it down and left the Army to chase his vision of becoming a Country song singer/songwriter.

He later used his piloting skills as a provider of income while trying to succeed in Nashville in his early years there.^[15]

Early career

After changing location to Nashville, Tennessee, Kristofferson contacted Marijohn Wilkin, the aunt of his former platoon commander, who signed Kristofferson to her publishing house Buckhorn Music.

Wilkin pitched his song "Talkin' Vietnam Blues" to singer Dave Dudley.

Kristoffer Kristofferson June 22, — September 28, was an American nation singersongwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the s. Kristofferson was also a member of the country song supergroup the Highwaymen. Army Wind Corps officer later a U.

Concurrently, Kristofferson worked a series of odd jobs that included bartender, construction worker, and railroad worker. He later worked as a janitor for Columbia Records, which afforded him the possibility of talking directly with the artists and a presence during recording sessions.

After his second youngster was born with esophagus issues, Kristofferson worked at Petroleum Helicopters International (PHI) in Lafayette, Louisiana.

While flying workers to and from oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, he would often write new songs. At weekends, he returned to Nashville, and for the following week he would pitch the songs around town before returning to Louisiana. The trips exhausted Kristofferson; his children were living with Fran in California and he felt his career as a songwriter was failing.

Kris Kristofferson was an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor known for his influential contributions to country melody and film. Born on June

PHI also admonished him for his increased alcohol consumption. Upon returning to Nashville the same week, Kristofferson learned three of his songs had been recorded: "Jody and the Kid" by Roy Drusky, "Help Me Make It Through the Night" by Jerry Lee Lewis and "Me and Bobby McGee" by Roger Miller.

Through June Carter, Kristofferson first attempted to pitch material to her husband Johnny Cash.

Carter took the demos, which were eventually lost in a pile of other material Cash had received. At the day, Kristofferson worked on the weekends for the Tennessee National Guard. To attract Cash's attention, Kristofferson landed a helicopter in Cash's property.

Cash eventually invited Kristofferson to a "guitar pull" party in his house. Cash was impressed and invited Kristofferson to perform with him at the Newport Folk Festival. Unsatisfied by Buckhorn Music, Kristofferson decided to change labels.

Monument Records director Bob Beckham invited Kristofferson to play songs for him and label owner Fred Foster. Kristofferson performed "To Beat the Devil", "Jody and the Kid", "The Best of All Possible Worlds" and "Duvalier's Dream"; Foster was impressed and offered Kristofferson two contracts; one as a recording artist for Monument Records and one as a songwriter for Combine Music.

The ten-year agree required Kristofferson to submit ten records containing songs he had written. Kristofferson was surprised he had been signed as a singer; he told Foster at the time: "I can't vocalize, I sound like a frog!" Kristofferson later said Buckhorn Tune had not allowed him to record demos of his compositions.

In , Kristofferson left Nashville to join the production of his first motion picture, Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie, in Peru.

In his absence, Cash continued promoting Kristofferson's original songs with other singers. Upon returning to Nashville, Kristofferson learned of his new popularity and started to work on his debut album for Monument, Kristofferson.^[25] As his manager and producer, Foster had decided to keep some of Kristofferson's original material from entity passed to other artists.

The new material, as well as his songs that had already been recorded by other artists, were included in the recording sessions, which were held at Monument Recording Studio.

Monument released Kristofferson in June Kristofferson wrote or co-wrote every song on the album.

He collaborated with Marijohn's son, John Buck Wilkin, on "Blame it on the Stones". Though Kristofferson was not a commercial success, it received positive reviews from critics. According to Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times, the album "is able to combine lyric sophistication with country music's traditional interest in everyday problems".^[27] The commercial success of "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" led to the first of several industry awards nominations for the singer.

Johnny Cash's rendition of the single earned Kristofferson his first Country Tune Association award for Song of the Year that November.^[28]

Kristofferson's next album for Monument was 's The Silver Tongued Devil and I.

He wrote nine of the album's 10 songs, including the single "Lovin' Her Was Easier (than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)". He collaborated with songwriter Shel Silverstein on "The Taker" and keyboardist Donnie Fritts on "Epitaph (Black and Blue)". Also included on the album was a cover of Bobby Bare's "Good Christian Soldier".

"Lovin' Her Was Easier (than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)" reached number 46 on BillboardBillboard Boiling and number 4 on Mature person Contemporary. One year later, Monument released his third album Border Lord. The album was all-new material and sales were sluggish.

He also swept the Grammy Awards that year with numerous songs nominated, winning country anthem of the year for "Help Me Make It Through the Night". Kristofferson's fourth album, Jesus Was a Capricorn, initially had slow sales, but the third single, "Why Me", was a success and significantly increased album sales.

Kris Kristofferson - Students | Britannica Kids | Homework Help: Follow the ups and downs of Kris Kristofferson's career, and listen again to his famous songs. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris's ex-wife and daughters offer private views of this.

It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA on November 8, ^[29]

Film

For the next several years, Kristofferson focused on acting. He appeared in Cisco Pike () with Gene Hackman; Blume in Love (), directed by Paul Mazursky; three Sam Peckinpah films: Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (), Bring Me the Brain of Alfredo Garcia (), and Convoy (); and Michael Ritchie's Semi-Tough () with Burt Reynolds.

He continued acting in Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (), Vigilante Force (), The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (), and the romantic drama A Star Is Born () with Barbra Streisand, for which he received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

At the peak of his box office power, Kristofferson turned down William Friedkin's Sorcerer () and the romantic war film Hanover Street (). Despite his success with Streisand, Kristofferson's solo musical career headed downward with his non-charting ninth album, Shake Hands with the Devil.

His next movie, the two-part NBC-TV movie Freedom Road, did not get fine ratings.^{[citation needed]}

Kristofferson was next cast in the lead role as the enigmatic Sheriff James Averill in Michael Cimino's bleak and sprawling anti-Western Heaven's Gate.

Despite being a scandalous studio-bankrupting and industry-changing failure at the day (it cost Kristofferson his Hollywood A-list status), the film gained critical recognition in subsequent years. In , he co-starred with Jane Fonda in Rollover, directed by Alan J.

Pakula. In , he starred in The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James with Johnny Cash and Flashpoint with Treat Williams in , directed by William Tannen. This was followed, in , by the neo-noir thriller Trouble In Mind co-starring Keith Carradine and Lori Singer.

In , Kristofferson starred in the seven-episode TV series Amerika with Robert Urich and Christine Lahti. In , he was the male lead in the clip Millennium with Cheryl Ladd. In , he earned a supporting role as Charlie Wade, a corrupt South Texas sheriff in John Sayles' Lone Star, a film nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

In , he co-starred in the film Fire Down Below with Steven Seagal.^[30]

In , Kristofferson took a role in the film Blade, alongside Wesley Snipes, as Blade's mentor Abraham Whistler. He reprised the role in Blade II () and again in Blade: Trinity ().

In he starred in Dance with Me along with Vanessa Williams and Chayanne. In , he co-starred with Mel Gibson in Payback. He played rancher Rudolph Meyer in Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (). He was then in the Tim Burton version of Planet of the Apes.

Kristoffer Kristofferson June 22, — September 28, was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw region movement of the s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a more raw, introspective style. During the s, he also embarked on a successful career as a Hollywood actor. Kristofferson released his debut album Kristofferson in

He also played the title traits "Yohan" as an old dude in the Norwegian film Yohan: The Child Wanderer. He co-starred in the film Dolphin Tale and its sequel, Dolphin Tale 2. In , Kristofferson was in Joyful Noise with longtime friend Dolly Parton.

In , Kristofferson co-starred in The Motel Life, as well as Angels Sing with Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett.

the biographykris kristoffersonkris kristofferson sinead o'connorkris kristofferson assist me make it through the nightkris kristofferson casey's last ridekris.

In , Kristofferson starred with Geneviève Bujold in the motion picture Disappearances about whiskey running from Quebec to the U.S. during the Great Depression.^[31]

Mid-career

In , Kristofferson appeared with Coolidge on British TV on BBC's The Antique Grey Whistle Test, performing "Help Me Make It Through the Night".

Also in , Al Green released his version of "For the Good Times" on the album I'm Still in Love with You.^[32] In April , Kristofferson received an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Pomona College during Alumni Weekend, accompanied by Cash and Coolidge.^[33] Four months later, Kristofferson married Coolidge.

The duo released an album titled Full Moon, another success buoyed by numerous punch singles and Grammy nominations. His fifth album, Spooky Lady's Sideshow, released in , was a commercial failure, setting the trend for most of the relax of his musical career.

Artists such as Ronnie Milsap and Johnny Duncan continued to write down Kristofferson's material with success, but his distinctively rough voice and anti-pop sound kept his hold audience to a minimum. Meanwhile, more artists took his songs to the top of the charts, including Willie Nelson, whose LP release of (Willie Nelson) Sings Kristofferson reached number five on the U.S.

Country Harmony chart and certified Platinum in the U.S.^{[citation needed]}

In , Kristofferson traveled to Havana, Cuba, to participate in the historic Havana Jam festival that took place on March 2–4, alongside Coolidge, Stephen Stills, the CBS Jazz All-Stars, the Trio of Doom, Fania All-Stars, Billy Swan, Bonnie Bramlett, Mike Finnigan, Weather State, and Billy Joel, plus an array of Cuban artists such as Irakere, Pacho Alonso, Tata Güines, and Orquesta Aragón.

His performance is captured on Ernesto Juan Castellanos's documentary Havana Jam '79.^{[citation needed]}

On November 18, , Kristofferson and Coolidge appeared on The Muppet Show, where Kristofferson sang "Help Me Make It Through the Night" with Overlook Piggy, Coolidge sang "We're All Alone" with forest animals, and the pair sang "Song I'd Like to Sing" with the Muppet monsters.

They divorced in ^[34]

Later years

In , Kristofferson linked Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Brenda Lee on The Winning Hand, a double album consisting of remastered and updated performances of recordings the four artists had made for the Monument label during the mids; the album reached the top ten on the U.S.

country album charts. He married again, to Lisa Meyers, and concentrated on films for a time, appearing in the releases The Missing Honor of Kathryn Beck, Flashpoint, and Songwriter. Nelson and Kristofferson both appeared in Songwriter, and Kristofferson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best First Score.

Search the history of over billion web pages on the Internet. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. Uploaded by michael on September 2, Hamburger icon An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon.

The album Music from Songwriter, featuring Nelson-Kristofferson duets, was a country success.^{[citation needed]}

Nelson and Kristofferson continued their partnership, and by , they added Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash to form the supergroupthe Highwaymen.

Their self-titled first album, released on May 6, was a success, and the supergroup continued working together for a time. The single from the album, a cover of Jimmy Webb's "Highwayman", was awarded the ACM's single of the year in ^[35] In , Kristofferson starred in Trouble in Mind and released Repossessed, a politically aware album that was a country success, particularly "They Killed Him" (also performed by Bob Dylan), a tribute to his heroes, including Martin Luther King Jr., Jesus, and Mahatma Gandhi.^[36] Kristofferson also appeared in Amerika at about the same moment, a miniseries that attempted to depict life in America under Soviet control.^[37]

In spite of the success of Highwayman 2 in , Kristofferson's solo recording career slipped significantly in the promptly s, though he continued to record successfully with the Highwaymen.

Lone Star ( film by John Sayles) reinvigorated Kristofferson's acting career, and he soon appeared in Blade, Blade II, Blade: Trinity, A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, Fire Down Below, Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes, Chelsea Walls, Payback, The Jacket, and Fast Meal Nation.^{[citation needed]}

The Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted Kristofferson in , as had the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame earlier, in In , The Austin Sessions was released, an album on which Kristofferson reworked some of his favorite songs with the help of artists such as Mark Knopfler, Steve Earle, and Jackson Browne.

Shortly after the album's release, he underwent coronary artery bypass surgery.^[38]

In , Broken Freedom Song was released, a live album recorded in San Francisco. That year, he received the "Spirit of Americana" free speech award from the Americana Music Association.^[39] In , he was inducted into the State Music Hall of Fame.

On October 21, , the production Dreamer was released, in which Kristofferson played the role of "Pop", a retired thoroughbred horse trainer. The movie was inspired by the true story of the mare Mariah's Storm which won the Turfway Breeders Cup Classic.

In , he received the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame and released his first album full of new material in 11 years; This Old Road. On April 21, , Kristofferson won CMT's Johnny Cash Forward-looking Award. Rosanne Cash, Cash's daughter, presented the honor during the April 16 awards show in Nashville.

Previous recipients include Cash, Hank Williams Jr., Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire, and the Dixie Chicks.

Kris Kristofferson raised eight kids — Tracy, Kris Jr. Kris Kristofferson was surrounded by a lot of love — and talent! The beloved singer-songwriter, who died "peacefully" at house on Sept. Following their divorce, Kris fell in love with singer Rita Coolidge.

"John was my hero before he was my friend, and anything with his name on it is really an honor in my eyes," Kristofferson said during a phone interview. "I was thinking back to when I first met him, and if I ever thought that I'd be getting an award with his name on it, it would have carried me through a lot of hard times."^[40]

In July , Kristofferson was featured on CMT's Studio Sessions where he played many of his hits.^{[citation needed]}

On June 13, , Kristofferson performed an acoustic in-the-round establish with Patty Griffin and Randy Owen (Alabama) for a extraordinary taping of a PBS songwriters series aired in December.

Each performer played five songs. Kristofferson's set included "The Best of All Possible Worlds", "Darby's Castle", "Casey's Last Ride", "Me and Bobby McGee", and "Here Comes that Rainbow Again". Taping was done in Nashville.^{[citation needed]}

Kristofferson released a new album of unique songs titled Closer to the Bone on September 28, It is produced by Don Was on the New West Records label.

Prior to the unleash , Kristofferson remarked: "I like the intimacy of the new album. It has a general mood of reflecting on where we all are at this day of life."^[41]

On November 10, , Kristofferson was honored as a BMI Icon at the 57th annual BMI Country Awards.

Throughout his career, Kristofferson's songwriting garnered 48 BMI Country and Pop Awards.^[42] He later remarked, "The great thing about being a songwriter is you can catch your baby interpreted by so many people that have resourceful talents vocally that I don't have."^[43] Kristofferson had always denied having a good voice, and had said that as he had aged, any quality it once had was beginning to decay.^[44]

In December , it was announced that Kristofferson would be portraying Joe on the upcoming album Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a collaboration between rock singer John Mellencamp and novelist Stephen King.^[45]

On May 11, , Light in the Attic Records released demos that were recorded during Kristofferson's janitorial stint at Columbia.

Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends: The Publishing Demos was the first time these recordings were released and included material that would later be featured on other Kristofferson recordings and on the recordings of other prominent artists, such as the original recording of "Me and Bobby McGee".^{[citation needed]}

On June 4, , Kristofferson performed a solo acoustic display at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center, showcasing both some of his original hits made famous by other artists, and newer songs.^{[citation needed]}

In early , Kristofferson released a new album of original songs called Feeling Mortal.^[46] A live album titled An Evening With Kris Kristofferson was released in September ^[47]

Kristofferson voiced the character Chief Hanlon of the NCR Rangers in the hit video game Fallout: New Vegas.^[48]

In an interview for Las Vegas magazine Q&A by Matt Kelemen on October 23, , Kristofferson revealed that a new album, The Cedar Creek Sessions, recorded in Austin, would include some old and some new songs.^[49] Released on June 17, , it would be his last studio album issued during his lifetime.

That December, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Foremost Americana Album.^[50]

Kristofferson covered Brandi Carlile's "Turpentine" on the album Cover Stories.^[51]

In August , Kristofferson's terminal film, Blaze, opened.

Three months later, on November 7, Kristofferson performed, with assistance from Carlile, the Joni Mitchell composition "A Case of You", from the Mitchell album Blue, at the Both Sides Now – Joni 75 A Birthday Celebration to celebrate the 75th birthday of Mitchell.^[52]

In June , Kristofferson was announced as being one of the supporting artists for a Barbra Streisand "exclusive European concert" on July 7 in London's Hyde Park as part of the Barclay's Summertime Concert series.^[53]

Retirement and death

By January , Kristofferson announced his retirement from demonstrating, citing age and concerns regarding the COVID pandemic.

According to manager Tamara Saviano, "It was an evolution, and it just felt very organic."^[54] Kristofferson's closing performance was held in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl on April 29, , where he sang a cover of "Lovin' You Was Easier" with Rosanne Cash in honor of Willie Nelson's 90th birthday;^[55] the concert was later released as Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 that December.

Kristofferson died at his Maui home on September 28, ; he was ^[56][57] He previously requested for the first three lines of Leonard Cohen's "Bird on the Wire" on his tombstone:^[58][59]

Like a bird on the wire
Favor a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free

Personal life

In , Kristofferson married his longtime girlfriend Frances "Fran" Mavia Beer, but they divorced in ^[10][60][61] Kristofferson briefly dated Janis Joplin before her death in October ^[60] His second marriage was to singer Rita Coolidge in , ending in divorce in ^[4][60] Kristofferson married Lisa Meyers in ^[60]

Kristofferson and Meyers owned a home in Las Flores Canyon in Malibu, California,^[38] and maintained a residence in Hana, Hawaii, on the island of Maui.^[60] Kristofferson had eight children from his three marriages: two from his first marriage, one from his second marriage, and five from his marriage to his third wife.^[62]

Political views and advocacy

Kristofferson was a vocal opponent of the Gulf War and Iraq War and a critic of a number of United States military interventions and foreign policy positions, including the United States invasion of Panama and U.S.

support of the Contras during the Nicaraguan Revolution and of the Apartheid government in South Africa.^[63]

Kristofferson endorsed Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign in and Ross Perot's presidential campaign in ^[64][65]

Kristofferson's debut LP included a pro-Vietnam War song, but he said that he later became an opponent of the war after speaking with returning soldiers who had seen combat.

Speaking about a soldier who had told him that he had witnessed other soldiers throwing people out of helicopters during interrogation, Kristofferson said, "The notion that you could make a young person do something so inhumane to another soldier—or even worse, a civilian—convinced me that we were in the wrong." Kristofferson called himself a "dove with claws" and remained haughty of his military service in spite of his anti-imperialist views.

In a interview on Unused Zealand TV, he condemned media support for the Gulf War, saying "The lapdog media cranks out propaganda that would construct a Nazi blush."^[66] Kristofferson was a supporter of the Joined Farm Workers and appeared at several rallies and benefits for them, campaigning with Cesar Chavez for the passage of Proposition He continued to play at benefits for the UFW through the s.

In , he played at a benefit concert for Leonard Peltier with Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson and Joni Mitchell. In , he devoted a song to Mumia Abu-Jamal at a concert in Philadelphia, and was booed by the crowd.^[67]

He performed in benefit concerts for Palestinian children, and said that he "found a considerable lack of work as a result." At a Bob Dylan anniversary concert shortly after Sinead O'Connor's protest on Saturday Overnight Live, he showed solidarity with her when she was booed by the crowd.^[68]

Discography

Main article: Kris Kristofferson discography

Studio albums

Filmography

Main article: Kris Kristofferson filmography

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

Kristofferson has won three competitive Grammys from thirteen nominations.

He received the Lifetime Achievement Award in ^[69]

References