Biography
Kevin was born in Lynwood, California on January 18, 1955, the
third child of Bill Costner, a ditch digger and ultimately an
electric line servicer for Southern California Edison, and Sharon.
His older brother, Dan, was born in 1950. A middle brother died at
birth in 1953. His Dad's job required him to move regularly, which
caused Kevin to feel like an Army kid, always the new kid at
school, which led to him being a daydreamer. As a teen he sang in
the Baptist church choir, wrote poetry, and took writing classes.
At 18, he built his own canoe and paddled his way down the rivers
that Lewis & Clark followed to the Pacific. Despite his present
height, he was only 5'2" when he graduated high school.
Nonetheless, he still managed to be a basketball, football, and
baseball star. In 1973, he enrolled at California State University
at Fullerton, where he majored in business. During that period,
Kevin decided to take acting lessons five nights a week. He
graduated with a business degree in 1978 and married his college
sweetheart, Cindy Silva. He initially took a marketing job in
Orange County. Everything changed when he accidentally met Richard
Burton on a flight from Mexico. Burton advised him to go completely
after acting if that is what he wanted. He quit his job and moved
to Hollywood soon after. He drove a truck, worked on a deep sea
fishing boat, and gave bus tours to stars' homes before finally
making his own way into the films. After making one soft core sex
film, he vowed to not work again if that was the only work he could
do. He didn't work for nearly six years, while he waited for a
proper break. That break came with "The Big Chill", even though his
scenes ended up on the cutting room floor -- he was remembered by
director Lawrence Kasdan when he decided to make "Silverado".
Costner's career took off after that.
Biography courtesy of the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).
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