Condolences to the loved ones of Kris Kristofferson who passed away today at the age of 88.
I’ll always think of Kristofferson as a musician first, and especially his songwriting abilities (“Me and Bobby McGee”). With that said, he turned out to be one of the better examples of a musician successfully transitioning into acting, achieving stardom because of 1976’s “A Star Is Born” with Barbra Streisand.
I can’t think of many musicians who ended up with the kind of acting success Kristofferson had, the only other notable ones that spring to mind are Mark Wahlberg, Will Smith Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, and Cher.
Before his ‘Star is Born’ breakout, Kristofferson was great as Bill the Kid in Sam Peckinpah’s western, “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,” and as Ellen Burstyn’s love interest, David, in Martin Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,”
Things came crashing down for Kristofferson when he was cast as the lead in Michael Cimino’s “Heaven’s Gate,” which completely railroaded his career, even though he was quite good in the film. Initially a box office bomb, and madly panned by critics, ‘Heaven’s Gate’ has been, ironically, reappraised in certain circles as a masterpiece.
“Heaven’s Gate” was an epic western that sent United Artists into bankruptcy and contributed to the demise of the New Hollywood film movement which started in 1967 and consequently ended in 1980. Kristofferson was stuck in the middle of all of that turbulence.
Marquee roles dried up for him afterwards, but I should mention two additional great turns. He was excellent as Sheriff Charlie Wade in John Sayles’ “Lone Star” and, more popularly, as Whistler in 1998’s “Blade.” His final role came in Ethan Hawke’s 2018 indie “Blaze.”