By Iconic country music superstar and actor Kris Kristofferson has died. He was 88.
Kristofferson passed away at home yesterday in Maui, Hawaii. His family said in a statement: “We’re all so blessed for our time with him. Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all.”
The South Texan native and Rhodes Scholar piloted helicopters in the U.S. Army, revived a rugby club while in college, excelled at boxing and football, and worked as a janitor at Columbia Records in Nashville before his music career took off.
He wrote numerous iconic country songs including “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” “Sunday Mornin‘ Comin‘ Down,” “The Taker,” and “For the Good Times” which were done by artists like Janis Joplin, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash.
He teamed with Cash, Jennings and Willie Nelson to form The Highwaymen – releasing three albums together. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985, entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004 and was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
On the film front, he landed an Oscar nomination for best score in 1985 for Alan Rudolph’s “Songwriter” in which he starred opposite Nelson in the Nashville-set tale.
To a several generations he’s more well known for his film roles. He hit it big in the 1970s as the love interest for Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” and an alcoholic has-been singer opposite Barbara Streisand’s rising star in 1976’s “A Star Is Born”.
He also starred in a trio of Sam Peckinpah films – “Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid,” “Convoy” and “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia”. He led “Cisco Pike” opposite Gene Hackman, co-starred with Burt Reynolds in “Semi-Tough,” co-starred with Jan-Michael Vincent in “Vigilante Force,” was part of the ensemble in Dennis Hopper’s “The Last Movie,” tried rom-com with “Blume in Love” and led the famed adaptation “The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea”.
He also famously turned down William Friedkin’s legendary “Sorcerer” and Peter Hyams’ “Hanover Street” but did get onboard Michael Cimino’s infamous big-budget flop “Heaven’s Gate”. He did a couple of roles in the 1980s including “Big Top Pee-wee,” “Rollover,” “Flashpoint,” “The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James” and “Millennium”.
In the 1990s he had a film career comeback first with a notable supporting role in John Sayles’s “Lone Star” followed by his memorable role as mentor Abraham Whistler alongside Wesley Snipes in the “Blade” films.
He also had roles in “Fire Down Below” with Seagal, “Payback” with Mel Gibson, “Dance with Me” with Vanessa Williams, “D-Tox” with Sylvester Stallone,” “The Jacket” with Adrien Brody, and Tim Burton’s “Planet of the Apes”. He also co-starred in the two “Dolphin Tale” films, “Dreamer,” “Snowbuddies,” “Fast Food Nation,” “Disappearances,” “He’s Just Not That Into You,” “Joyful Noise” and his final screen work – Ethan Hawke’s “Blaze” in 2018.
On TV he played President Andrew Jackson in the “Texas Rising” miniseries, President Abraham Lincoln in the TV movie “Tad,” narrated the series “Dead Man’s Gun,” and starred in numerous telemovies including “Christmas in Connecticut,” “Miracle in the Wilderness,” “The Tracker,” “Stagecoach,” “Blood & Orchids,” “Blue Rodeo” and more.
He also lent his voice to video games, playing Ned White in “Gun” and Chief Hanlon in “Fallout New Vegas”.
Source: THR
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