Kevin Kline Bio
Kevin Delaney Kline (born October 24, 1947) is an American actor. In a career spanning over five decades, he has become a prominent leading man across both stage and screen. His accolades include an Academy Award and three Tony Awards, along with nominations for two British Academy Film Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Golden Globe Awards. In 2003, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. Kline began his acting career on stage in 1972 with The Acting Company and gained prominence for his numerous performances with The Public Theatre and in New York Shakespeare Festival. He has gone on to win three Tony Awards for his work on Broadway, including wins in Best Featured Actor in a Musical in On the Twentieth Century (1978), Best Actor in a Musical for The Pirates of Penzance (1981), and Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for the revival of Noël Coward’s Present Laughter (2017). Kline made his film debut in Sophie’s Choice (1982) before winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his comedic role in A Fish Called Wanda (1988). He also acted in The Pirates of Penzance (1983), Silverado (1985), Cry Freedom (1987), The January Man (1989), Soapdish (1991), Grand Canyon (1991), Chaplin (1992), Dave (1993), The Ice Storm (1997), In & Out (1997), Life As A House (2001), The Emperor’s Club (2002), A Prairie Home Companion (2006), and Beauty and the Beast (2017). He also voiced roles in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and The Road to El Dorado (2000). On television, Kline started his career in the soap opera Search for Tomorrow (1976). He received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Movie for playing the title role in the PBS production of Cyrano de Bergerac (2008). He starred in the Apple TV+ miniseries Disclaimer (2024). Since 2011, he has voiced Calvin Fischoeder in the animated sitcom Bob’s Burgers.
Early Life and Background
Kline was born on October 24, 1947, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Margaret Agnes Kirk and Robert Joseph Kline. His father was a classical music lover and amateur opera singer who owned The Record Bar, a record store in St. Louis that opened in 1942. He also sold toys during the 1960s and 1970s; his father’s family owned Kline’s Inc., a department store chain. Kevin Kline described his mother as the “dramatic theatrical character in our family”. His father was of German-Jewish descent, and his mother was Catholic; Kline was raised in his mother’s faith. He has an older sister, Kate, and two younger brothers, Alexander and Christopher. He graduated from the Saint Louis Priory School in 1965. In 1997, the school named its new auditorium the Kevin Kline Theater. At its dedication, he performed selections from Shakespeare as a benefit. He attended Indiana University Bloomington, where he was a classmate of actor Jonathan Banks. He began studying composing and conducting music, but switched to a theater and speech major for his last two years, and graduated in 1970. He said: “When I switched to the Theater Department, all I did was theater… I could barely make it to class because this was my passion.” While an undergraduate, he was a co-founder of the Vest Pocket Players, an off-campus theatrical troupe.
Path to Hollywood
In 1970, Kline won a scholarship to the newly formed drama division of the Juilliard School in New York. In 1972, he joined fellow Juilliard graduates, including Patti LuPone and David Ogden Stiers, and formed the City Center Acting Company (now The Acting Company), under the aegis of John Houseman. The Company traveled across the U.S. performing Shakespeare’s plays, other classical works, and the musical The Robber Bridegroom, founding one of the most widely praised groups in American repertory theatre. At Juilliard, he studied singing with Beverley Peck Johnson. In 1976, Kline left The Acting Company and settled in New York City, doing a brief appearance as Woody Reed in the now-defunct soap opera Search for Tomorrow. He returned to the stage in 1977 to play Clym Yeobright opposite Donna Theodore as Eustacia Vye in The Hudson Guild Theater production of Dance on a Country Grave, Kelly Hamilton’s musical version of Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native. In 1978, he played Bruce Granit, a matinée idol caricature, in Harold Prince’s On the Twentieth Century, for which he won his first Tony Award. In 1980, he appeared with Linda Ronstadt, Rex Smith and Patricia Routledge in the New York Shakespeare Festival’s Central Park production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, which moved to Broadway and won Kline another Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his comically dashing portrayal of the Pirate King. In 1983 he played the role in a film version of the musical, also with Ronstadt, Smith and Angela Lansbury, which had a limited theatrical release.
Kevin Kline Career
Early Career (1970–1981)
Kline finally ventured into film in 1982 in Sophie’s Choice. He won the coveted role of the tormented and moody Nathan opposite Meryl Streep. The New York Times film critic Janet Maslin wrote of Kline’s performance, “Mr. Kline, whose Nathan convincingly demonstrates the greatest of tenderness toward Sophie, is also called upon to rail at her mercilessly.” Streep won an Academy Award for her performance, and Kline was nominated for a 1983 Golden Globe award (New Star of the Year) and BAFTA Award for Most Outstanding Newcomer To Film. During the 1980s and early to mid-1990s, Kline made several films with director Lawrence Kasdan, starting with The Big Chill (1983). The film revolves around friends from college reuniting after the death of a friend. Kline co-stars alongside Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, and William Hurt. The film was a critical and commercial success. He reunited with Kasdan with the western film Silverado (1985) where he starred with Kevin Costner, Rosanna Arquette, and John Cleese. He then portrayed Donald Woods in Richard Attenborough’s Cry Freedom (1987) opposite Denzel Washington about the friendship between activist Stephen Biko and editor Donald Woods. Newsday critic Lynn Darling wrote on July 13, 1988, that Kline “has proved himself to be one of the most talented and versatile American actors of his generation.” In 1989, Kline won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the British comedy A Fish Called Wanda, where he played a painfully inept American ex-CIA thug opposite John Cleese’s genteel British barrister and Jamie Lee Curtis’ femme fatale/con woman.
Breakthrough (1982–1999)
Kline continued to take comedic and dramatic roles in The January Man (1989), I Love You to Death (1990), Soapdish (1991), Grand Canyon (1991), Chaplin (1992), and French Kiss (1995). In 1993, Kline had his first voice-acting role in The Nutcracker, and starred in Dave, a political comedy directed by Ivan Reitman and co-starring Charles Grodin, Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley. In 1996, he played the voice role of Captain Phoebus in the Disney animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He starred as the father of a dysfunctional family in Ang Lee’s drama film The Ice Storm (1997). He portrayed an English literature teacher who is publicly outed when his student thanks him in his Academy Award acceptance speech in the Frank Oz comedy In & Out (1997). The film was inspired by Tom Hanks’ acceptance speech for Philadelphia (1993). Kline was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance. In 1998, he received a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. In 1999, Kline played opposite Will Smith in the Steampunk Western film Wild Wild West. He also played the hapless Bottom in the 1999 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written, produced, and directed by Michael Hoffman, based on the 1600 play of the same name by William Shakespeare.
Notable Works and Milestones
Kline’s career spans over five decades and includes collaborations with some of the most acclaimed filmmakers and actors of his time. His signature works include A Fish Called Wanda, Sophie’s Choice, and Beauty and the Beast. Kline’s numerous accolades include an Academy Award, three Tony Awards, four Drama Desk Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for two BAFTA Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Golden Globe Awards.
Kevin Kline Award Nominations
Kevin Kline has received numerous nominations throughout his career, including nominations for two British Academy Film Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Golden Globe Awards.
Kevin Kline Awards Won
Kline’s accolades include an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for A Fish Called Wanda and three Tony Awards for his performances in On the Twentieth Century, The Pirates of Penzance, and Present Laughter. He also received a Screen Actors Guild Award for his work.
Kevin Kline Family
Kline met actress Phoebe Cates in 1983. They began dating in 1985 and married on March 5, 1989, in a private New York wedding. They live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. They have two children: Owen Joseph Kline (born 1991) and Greta Kline (born 1994), who fronts the band Frankie Cosmos.
Personal Life
The Kevin Kline Awards honor theatre professionals in St. Louis in an array of categories, including best actor and actress, set design, choreography, and new play or musical.
