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| Birth Name(s) : Kristoffer Kristofferson |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
Fran Beir (1960-1969) |
| Profession:
Singer-Songwriter |
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Full Kris Kristofferson Biography
Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas. Like most military brats he moved around much as a youth; he finally settled down in San Mateo, California, where he graduated from San Mateo High School. Kristofferson's father was an Air Force general who pushed his son toward a military career. Kristofferson got his first dose of fame when he appeared in Sports Illustrated's "Faces In The Crowd" for his achievements in rugby, football, and track and field. An aspiring writer, Kristofferson earned a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University (Merton College, Oxford) after previously attending Pomona College. While in England, Kristofferson began writing songs and working with his manager Larry Parnes; he recorded for Top Rank Records under the name Kris Carson, but was unsuccessful.
Kristofferson moved to Nashville after resigning his commission in 1965, intent on becoming a professional songwriter. He worked a variety of odd jobs while struggling to make it in the music business, burdened with expensive medical bills as a result of his son's defective esophagus. He and his wife soon divorced.
He was also working as a commercial helicopter pilot at the time for a south Louisiana firm called Petroleum Helicopters International (PHI), based in Lafayette, Louisiana. Kristofferson recalled of his days as a pilot, "That was about the last three years before I started performing, before people started cutting my songs... I would work a week down here for PHI, sitting on an oil platform and flying helicopters. Then I'd go back to Nashville at the end of the week and spend a week up there trying to pitch the songs, then come back down and write songs for another week... I can remember 'Help Me Make It Through The Night' I wrote sitting on top of an oil platform. I wrote 'Bobby Mcgee' down here, and a lot of them ."
Kristofferson got Cash's attention when he unexpectantly landed his helicopter in Cash's yard and gave him some tapes including "Sunday Morning Coming Down".
For the next few years, Kristofferson focused on acting. He appeared in Blume in Love (directed by Paul Mazursky) and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (directed by Sam Peckinpah) and also married Rita Coolidge in 1973. With his new wife, Kristofferson released an album called Full Moon, another success buoyed by numerous hit singles and Grammy nominations. However, his fifth album, Spooky Lady's Sideshow was a commercial failure, setting the trend for most of the rest of his career. Artists like Ronnie Milsap and Johnny Duncan continued to record Kristofferson's material with much success, but his amazing yet none-the-less rough voice and anti-pop sound kept his own audience to a minimum. He continued acting, in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Convoy, (another Sam Peckinpah film which was released in 1978), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Vigilante Force, a film based on the Yukio Mishima novel The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, and A Star Is Born (with Barbra Streisand). In spite of his success with Streisand, Kristofferson's career was heading downward with the non-charting ninth album, Shake Hands with the Devil. His next film, Freedom Road, did not earn a theatrical release in the U.S. He and Rita Coolidge then divorced in 1980. Meanwhile, more artists were taking his songs to the top of the charts, including Willie Nelson, whose Willie Nelson Sings Kris Kristofferson LP was a smash success. Kristofferson's next film was Heaven's Gate, a phenomenal industry changing failure in which he turned in a nuanced performance.
In 1982, Kristofferson participated (with Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Brenda Lee) on The Winning Hand, a country success that failed to break into mainstream audiences. He then married again, to Lisa Meyers, and concentrated on films for a time, appearing in The Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck, Flashpoint and Songwriter. The latter also starred Willie Nelson. Kristofferson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. Music from Songwriter (an album of duets between Nelson and Kristofferson) was a massive country success.
In July 2007, Kristofferson was featured on CMT's "Studio 330 Sessions" where he played many of his hits.
His sister Karen also attended Pomona College where she studied acting but she then married a career military officer and moved around the world regularly with him and their three sons. After her sons grew up, she decided to get involved in acting. She acted in a number of films, TV and commercials. She died in 2005.
In 1973, he married singer Rita Coolidge and together they had one child, Casey Kristofferson. They divorced in 1979.
In 1983 he got married for the last time to Lisa Meyers and together they have five children - Jesse Turner Kristofferson, Jody Ray Kristofferson, Johnny Kristofferson, Kelly Marie Kristofferson and Blake Cameron Kristofferson.
With Rita Coolidge: Full Moon | Breakaway | Natural Act — With The Highwaymen: Highwayman | Highwayman 2 | The Road Goes on Forever |
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