Born on This Day in 1955, the Oscar-Winning ‘Yellowstone’ Star With Country Rebel Sensibilities—and a Country Rock Band
Younger generations know him foremost as John Dutton III, the ruthless patriarch of a Montana cattle ranching dynasty in Taylor Sheridan’s insanely popular Paramount series Yellowstone. But Kevin Costner—who celebrates his 71st birthday today (Jan. 18)—had etched his name in American cinema history long before the show’s 2018 premiere. His repertoire includes such gems as The Untouchables, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, and the Academy Award-sweeping western epic Dances With Wolves. Oh, and he also fronts a country-rock band.
Born in Lynwood, Kevin Costner spent his childhood and adolescence bouncing around the state of California. Graduating in 1973 from Villa Park High School, where he played baseball, Costner went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in marketing and finance from California State University, Fullerton.
During his final year of college, a chance encounter with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? star Richard Burton reportedly determined Costner’s entire career trajectory. He began taking acting lessons five nights a week while working an eclectic mix of jobs, including on fishing boats and driving trucks.
Making his silver-screen debut in the 1981 independent film Sizzle Beach USA, Costner’s big break came six years later when he starred alongside Robert De Niro and Sean Connery in 1987’s The Untouchables. Leading roles in a pair of baseball-themed movies—1988’s Bull Durham and 1989’s Field of Dreams—followed, cementing his A-list status.
[RELATED: 5 Songs You Didn’t Know Kevin Costner Wrote]
The Film That Ignited Kevin Costner’s Love Affair With Westerns
Now a beloved fixture in Western-inspired media, Kevin Costner credits the 1962 film How the West Was Won with forever binding him to the genre at age 7. All these decades later, he still feels a responsibility to tell these stories, both onscreen and through song. In addition to helming the country-rock outfit Kevin Costner & Modern West, the Emmy winner wrote and performed a number of songs on Yellowstone throughout the show’s six-year tenure.
“I’ve loved making Westerns. I know who I am more than any other time in my life when I’m making them,” Costner said in his 2019 Western Heritage Awards speech. “I understand their importance to our culture and to the emotional impact—when done correctly—on men, on women, and 7-year-olds… Westerns are not simple, and the resourcefulness that it took for our ancestors to make it is not something to be taken for granted.”
Featured image by BG041/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
