Kevin Kline

Kevin Delaney Kline, born on October 24, 1947, in St. Louis, Missouri, is an American actor whose career has spanned more than five decades across stage, film, and television. The son of Margaret Agnes Kirk and Robert Joseph Kline, he grew up in a household shaped by his father's passion for classical music and amateur opera singing; his father owned The Record Bar, a St. Louis record store that opened in 1942, and his family also operated Kline's Inc., a department store chain. Kline has described his mother as the dramatic presence in the family. He was raised Catholic, in his mother's faith, and has an older sister, Kate, and two younger brothers, Alexander and Christopher.

Kline graduated from the Saint Louis Priory School in 1965 and went on to attend Indiana University Bloomington, where he initially studied composing and conducting before switching to a theater and speech major. He graduated in 1970, having co-founded an off-campus theatrical troupe called the Vest Pocket Players during his undergraduate years. In 1997, the Saint Louis Priory School named its new auditorium the Kevin Kline Theater, and at its dedication he performed selections from Shakespeare as a benefit. Following Indiana University, he won a scholarship to the newly formed drama division of the Juilliard School in New York, where he studied singing with Beverley Peck Johnson.

In 1972, Kline joined fellow Juilliard graduates, including Patti LuPone and David Ogden Stiers, to form the City Center Acting Company, now known as The Acting Company, under the direction of John Houseman. The company toured the United States performing Shakespeare, other classical works, and the musical The Robber Bridegroom. His Broadway career began in 1973 and extended through 2017, encompassing productions that included Loose Ends, The Play What I Wrote, Amphitryon, Les Fourberies de Scapin, The Beggar's Opera, and Measure for Measure. In 1976, he made a brief television appearance as Woody Reed on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow before returning to the stage the following year to play Clym Yeobright in the Hudson Guild Theater production of Dance on a Country Grave, a musical adaptation of Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native.

Kline's Broadway prominence grew substantially in 1978 when he played Bruce Granit, a matinée idol caricature, in Harold Prince's On the Twentieth Century, earning him the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Three years later, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of the Pirate King in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, which originated in Central Park alongside Linda Ronstadt, Rex Smith, and Patricia Routledge before transferring to Broadway. He reprised the role in the 1983 film version, which also featured Ronstadt, Smith, and Angela Lansbury. His third Tony Award came in 2017 for Best Actor in a Play, for his performance in the revival of Noël Coward's Present Laughter. He also received a Tony nomination for his portrayal of John Falstaff in Henry IV in 2004. In 2003, Kline was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Beyond Broadway, Kline built an extensive record of stage work through the New York Shakespeare Festival and The Public Theatre, taking on starring roles in productions of Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, and two separate productions of Hamlet, in 1986 and 1990, the latter of which he also directed and which aired on PBS. His stage work earned him the informal designation of "the American Olivier" from New York Times theater critic Frank Rich.

Kline made his film debut in 1982 in Sophie's Choice, playing Nathan opposite Meryl Streep, and received a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year as well as a BAFTA nomination for Most Outstanding Newcomer to Film for the role. He went on to collaborate multiple times with director Lawrence Kasdan, beginning with The Big Chill in 1983, which co-starred Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, and William Hurt, followed by the western Silverado in 1985 alongside Kevin Costner, Rosanna Arquette, and John Cleese. In 1987, he portrayed journalist Donald Woods in Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom opposite Denzel Washington. His comedic performance as a bumbling American ex-CIA operative in the British comedy A Fish Called Wanda earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the American Film Institute later ranked the film 21st on its list of the 100 funniest American films. His subsequent film credits include The January Man, Soapdish, Grand Canyon, Chaplin, Dave, The Ice Storm, In & Out, Life as a House, The Emperor's Club, A Prairie Home Companion, Last Vegas, and Beauty and the Beast. He voiced Captain Phoebus in the Disney animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame and a role in The Road to El Dorado.

On television, Kline received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his title role in the PBS production of Cyrano de Bergerac in 2008. Since 2011, he has voiced the character Calvin Fischoeder in the animated sitcom Bob's Burgers. In 2024, he starred in the Apple TV+ miniseries Disclaimer. His accolades across his career include an Academy Award, three Tony Awards, and nominations for two British Academy Film Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Golden Globe Awards.