Country singer and actor Kris Kristofferson dies

Autumnal massacre for the Seventh Art, after the deaths of the great lady Maggie Smithand the master of French comedy Didier Kaminka we learned of the death of country singer and actor Kris Kristofferson on September 28, 2024 at the age of 88.

Born in 1936 in Texas, Kristoffer Kristian Kristofferson is the son of a US Air Force general who later became a private airline pilot. His father’s job took him across the United States before settling in California. He studied at Pomona College where he played a lot of sports (a rare thing in the States by playing rugby union) and where he mainly studied writing. He obtained his diploma in literature in 1958. Then he left for Oxford in England to continue his studies and where he played rugby union again. It was from this moment that he began to compose and perform his own songs. He was hired under the stage name Kris Carson. After graduating in philosophy and English literature in 1960, he returned to the United States, did his military service and became a helicopter pilot. In the meantime, he married his long-time girlfriend in 1961. He then enlisted in the US Army and was stationed at a base in Germany. During this time he continued music and formed a group.

In 1965 he returned to the United States where the army offered him a position as a philosophy teacher at the West Point military school but he refused to devote himself entirely to music. He goes to live in Nashville, the capital of Country music, but times are tough and he has to accept many odd jobs, especially since his young son needs expensive treatment for esophageal problems. Finally he divorced in 1969. However, it was while being a cleaner in the Columbia recording studios that he met Janis Joplin with whom he had a short affair and especially Johnny Cash (below) with whom he became friends. of a strong friendship.

He therefore succeeded in recording his first album “Me and Bobby McGee” (1970) which was a great success and awarded an award to boot. He followed up with the album “The Silver Tongued Devil and I” (1971) with a Grammy Award for best country song as a bonus, but above all he was hired for his first experience in cinema. Thus he plays a small role as a singing cowboy in “The Last Movie” (1971) by and with Dennis Hopper and continues with a first main role in “Cisco Pike” (1971 – below) by Bill L. Norton for which he also wrote the music, and where he is an ex-rocker turned junkie as a cop played by Gene Hackman forced to sell drugs.

His film career was launched while his musical career remained on the rise. Releasing one album per year, he continues filming at the same time. Thus he plays in “Les Choses de l’Amour” (1973) by and with Paul Mazursky, and above all he plays the famous Billy the Kid opposite James Corburn in “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid” (1973 – below) from Sam Peckinpah which he found immediately afterwards for “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia” (1974) then then “Alice n’est plus Ici” (1974) by Martin Scorcese with Ellen BurstynHarvey Keitel et Jodie Foster.

In the meantime he won two other Grammy Awards for two different songs in 1973 and 1974 for best country duet performance with Rita Coolidge who is his second wife.

He then played in a new version of “A Star is Born” (1976 – below) by Frank Pierson alongside Barbara Streisand, where he also found Paul Mazurski and his friend Rita Coolidge in his own role. The film was a huge success and earned the actor a Golden Globe for best actor in a musical.

We then see him in the comedy “Les Faux-Durs” (1977) by Michael Ritchie where he is roommates with his teammate from the US football team Burt Reynolds and their boss’s daughter Jill Clayburgh, then reunited with Sam Peckinpah for the action film “The Convoy” (1978 – below) alongside Ali McGraw et Ernest Borgninethe critical reception was mixed but the film remained the director’s biggest success at the box office.

His next project for the big screen is an event as everyone is waiting for a new masterpiece from the director of “Voyage au Bout de l’Enfer” (1978). So he joins Isabelle HuppertChristopher Walken, John Hurtet Joseph Cotten on display of the fresco “The Gate of Heaven” (1980 – below) from Michael Cimino. Unfortunately, the director’s (brilliant!) megalomania explodes the budget and further undermines the disappointing box office results. The film is therefore a failure and ruins the historic United Artists studios. Nevertheless, posterity will pay tribute to this masterpiece which remains the most beautiful film of the actor’s career.

His cinema career then took a new place and music became less present with only two albums in the decade (1981 and 1986). He helps the widow Jane Fonda to keep her late husband’s company afloat in “Une Femme d’Affaires” (1981) by Alan J. Pakulahe has to do with a mysterious jeep which would have a link with the assassination of JFK in “Flashpoint” (1984) by William Tannen, he meets his friend and other country star Willie Nelson in “Songwriter” (1984) by Alan Rudolph, director he reunited for “Wanda’s Cafe” (1985 – below) alongside Keith Carradine and Genevieve Bujoldplays in “Big Top Pee-Wee” (1988) by Randal Kleiser, the sequel to “Pee-Wee Big Adventure” (1985) by Tim Burton, meets the warrior of the future Cheryl Ladd in “Millenium” (1989) by Michael Anderson then plays in “Welcome Home” (1989) by Franklin J. Schaffner of which this is the last film.

The country singer continues to regularly release an album (every 4-5 years) while he stars in about one film per year. Among other things, he is a cop who saves Drew Barrymore in “Secret Society” (1992) by Richard Danus which is a huge critical and public failure to the point that the actor disowns the film, he plays a cyborg in “The Knights of the Future” (1993) by Albert Pyun which is a new failure, then he returned to success by playing a Texas sheriff in the far west in “Lone Star” (1996 – below) by John Sayles, played a supporting role in the eco-action film “Toxic Menace” ( 1997) by Felix Enriquez Alcala with Steven Seagal, accompanied Wesley Snipes in the success “Blade” (1998) by Stephen Norrington, played a second role in the thriller “Payback” (1999) by Brian Helgeland with Mel Gibson, found one of his best roles in “A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries” (1999) James Ivory with Barbara Hershey and Leelee Sobieskiand reunited with John Sayles for “Limbo” (1999) with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.

Between two albums and his entry into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004, Kris Kristofferson is touring a little more than usual. For example he crosses Rosario Dawson or Vincent d’Onofrio in one of the best-known hotels in New York in “Chelsea Walls” (2001 – below) by Ethan Hawke, whose first film as a director, he participates in the remake “La Planète of the Apes” (2001) by Tim Burton, he accepted a supporting role opposite Sylvester Stallone in “Mortal Countdown” (2002) by Jim Gillepsie, reunited with Wesley Snipes for the “Blade” sequels (2002-2004), played a psychiatric doctor opposite Adrien Brody in the drama “The Jacket” (2005) by John Maybury, plays in the anti-fast food film in “Fast Food Nation” (2006) by Richard Linklater, he is the narrator of “I’m Not There” (2007) by Todd Haynes unique biopic on Bob Dylan, spends time in a night club in “Breaking Points” (2009) by Timothy Lin Bui with Jessica BielEddie Redmayne or even Patrick Swayzethen explores male-female relationships regarding sex in the choral film “Ce que les Hommes Think” (2009) by Ken Kwapis with among others Jennifer AnistonBen Affleck, Scarlett JohanssonBradley Cooper or Drew Barrymore whom he found again after several years.

He then played in the family diptych “The Incredible Story of Winter the Dolphin” (2011-2014) by Charles Martin Smith with Ashley Juddin the meantime he is the father of Charlie Hunman who makes the bad meeting of the couple Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde In “Cold Blood” (2012 – below) by Stefan Ruzowtsky, he meets Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton in a choir in “Joyful Noise” (2012) by Todd Graff, he meets two brothers on the run in “The Motel Life” (2013) by the brothers Alan and Gabe Polsky with Emile Hirsch, Stephen Dorff and Dakota Fanning.

He released his last two albums (2013-2016) and in the meantime he became the winner of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014, then starred in his last film playing the mayor of Abilene who hires Luke Hemsworth aka ” Wild Bill” (2017) by Timothy Woodward Jr.

Then finally, in 2019 he received the Willie Nelson Award (below with his friend during the ceremony) for his entire career at the Country Music Association Awards.

The artist was known as a fierce opponent of United States military interventions, particularly during the Gulf Wars.

He has had numerous medical problems including a major surgical operation in 1999 which was a success. He suffered for years (2004-2015) and was diagnosed as having an early form of Alzheimer’s disease but this was incorrect, eventually he learned in 2016 that he was in fact affected by Lyme disease.

The artist had eight children from three marriages. Two children (1962 and 1968) with Fran Beer (1961-1969), then a son (1974) with Rita Coolidge (1973-1980), then five children with Lisa Meyers (since 1983).

Kris Kristofferson was one of the great stars of country music while spanning half a century in cinema.

The artist said he would like the first three lines of Leonard Cohen’s song “Bird on the Wire” (1969) engraved on his headstone:

“Like a bird on the wire,

Like a drunk in a midnight choir,

I tried in my own way to be free.”

What must be done today, Kris Kristofferson having died this Saturday September 28, 2024 at his home on the island of Maui in Hawaii at the age of 88.