Kevin Kline

Kevin Delaney Kline (born October 24, 1947) is an American actor. Kline is known for his over five decade career as a leading man on stage and screen. He is the recipient of an Academy Award and three Tony Awards, and has been nominated 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 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, winning Best Featured Actor in a Musical for the 1978 original production of On the Twentieth Century, and Best Actor in a Musical for the 1981 revival of The Pirates of Penzance. In 2003, he starred as Falstaff in the Broadway production of Henry IV, for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play. In 2017 he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for the revival of Noël Coward's Present Laughter. He made his film debut in romantic drama Sophie's Choice (1982). For his role in the comedy A Fish Called Wanda (1988), he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His other films include The Big Chill (1983), Silverado (1985), Cry Freedom (1987), Grand Canyon (1991), Dave (1993), French Kiss (1995), The Ice Storm (1997), In & Out (1997), Wild Wild West (1999), Life as a House (2001), De-Lovely (2004), A Prairie Home Companion (2006), and Beauty and the Beast (2017). He has also voiced characters in the films The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), The Road to El Dorado (2000), The Tale of Despereaux (2008), and the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers (2011–present). Early life and education Kline was born on October 24, 1947, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Margaret Agnes Kirk and Robert Joseph Kline (1909–1996).<ref name="Robert"/> 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 Jewish and his mother Catholic; Kline was raised in his mother's faith. He has an older sister, Kate, and two younger brothers, Alexander and Christopher.