On this date in 1947, actor Kevin Delaney Kline was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Though his father was Jewish and reportedly agnostic, Kline was raised in Catholicism, his mother’s religion, and attended Catholic school. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sept. 7, 1996) Kline graduated from Indiana University at Bloomington in 1970 with a degree in acting. He then attended the Julliard School for Drama in New York City and toured with the prominent City Center Acting Company.
Kline won a Tony Award in 1978 for his performance in the musical “On the Twentieth Century,” one in 1981 for Best Actor in a Musical for “The Pirates of Penzance” and one for Best Actor in a Play for the 2017 revival of “Present Laughter.” His first film, “Sophie’s Choice” (1982) starring Meryl Streep, earned him nominations for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award. In addition to “Sophie’s Choice,” Kline was nominated for Golden Globes for “Soap Dish” (1991), “Dave” (1993), “In and Out” (1997) and “De-Lovely” (2004).
Some of his other films include “The Big Chill” (1983), “Silverado” (1985), “I Love You to Death” (1990), “Grand Canyon” (1991), “French Kiss” (1995), “The Ice Storm” (1997), “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (1999), “Life as a House” (2001), “The Emperor’s Club” (2002), “A Prairie Home Companion” (2006), “Definitely, Maybe” (2008) and “No Strings Attached” (2011), which starred Natalie Portman. Since 2011 he’s had a recurring role on the animated Fox comedy series “Bob’s Burgers.”
Kline won the 1989 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for “A Fish Called Wanda.” Having starred in numerous Shakespeare plays throughout his career, Kline won a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role in the film version of “As You Like It” in 2008.
Kline is an activist for juvenile diabetes research, a condition that afflicts his son. In 2004, Meryl Streep presented Kline with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year Award. Kline married actress Phoebe Cates in 1989 and they have two children.
