The first joint film appearance of the two Hollywood stars Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline was almost 30 years ago. Now they are doing it for the third time. Gray and almost 75 years old, the Oscar winner plays the lover of the 73-year-old "Avatar" heroine in the drama comedy "The Good House".
"It's always fun. She makes me laugh," Kline recently praised his almost 1.80-meter-tall colleague in an interview with the US magazine "People". And continued to joke: "I don't have to bend down to kiss her." Kline, around 1.88 meters tall, is celebrating his 75th birthday today.
In the comedy "Dave" (1993), Kline played a dual role as an unfaithful US President who is replaced in office by a double after suffering a heart attack. Weaver mimed the First Lady in the White House. In the psychological drama 'The Blizzard' (1997), directed by Ang Lee, the two stars played suburban neighbors in the 1970s who get involved in an affair.
Award-winning and diverse
The teamwork with Weaver alone shows the wide range of Kline, who easily switched back and forth between comedy and drama, screen and stage in his long career.
As a cocky, goofy jewel thief in the British cult comedy Wanda, Kline made his movie lover Jamie Lee Curtis, co-star John Cleese and an audience of millions laugh. The Oscar Academy in Hollywood recognized his performance in 1989 with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
A few years earlier he had already proven himself as a character actor in the poignant drama "Sophie's Decision" (1982), with Meryl Streep as a Holocaust survivor.
Director Lawrence Kasdan brought him in front of the camera several times, for example for the cult satire "The Great Frustration" (1983) and as the leading actor for the ensemble film "Grand Canyon - In the Heart of the City" (1991). He also cast Kline as the clever seducer in the romantic comedy French Kiss - opposite Meg Ryan.
In "De-Lovely - The Cole Porter Story" Kline embodied the legendary jazz musician and composer Cole Porter, in "The Pink Panther" he fired up the dope Inspector Clouseau (Steve Martin) as a supervisor.
In 2007 he took part in the drama "Trade - Willkommen in Amerika" directed by the German Marco Kreuzpaintner. As a police officer, he hunted down traffickers in girls who sold their victims to the United States as sex slaves. Kline and Kreuzpaintner were honored at the Munich Film Festival with a Peace Prize for their commitment to film.
Unforgotten is his appearance on the ZDF program "Wetten dass...?". As a betting godfather, he lost and ate a live goldfish in front of the camera, just like in the film "A Fish Named Wanda". Minutes later, the viewers were informed: the alleged fish was a prepared carrot.
Kevin Kline private
In addition to the many Hollywood roles, the actor always remained connected to his first love for the theater. Kline grew up in a musical family in St. Louis, Missouri. He learned his craft at the renowned Juilliard School in New York. Theater stages on Broadway were his home. Since 1978 he has been awarded the highest US stage prize, the Tony Award, three times, most recently in 2017 for best actor in the play "Present Laughter".
At the age of 75, Kline once again ventures into new territory - he shoots his first television series. The in-production thriller series Disclaimer, directed by Alfonso Cuarón ("Roma") and co-starring Cate Blanchett, is based on Renee Knight's debut novel Deadline. Kline plays a man who pursues and threatens a well-known TV reporter who is harboring a dark secret.
This role has many "exotic charms" for him, Kline recently told the film portal "Collider". He has never done a series, and this character is also very different from previous roles in his repertoire.
Privately, Kline likes to keep a low profile and stay out of the headlines. He has been married to actress Phoebe Cates (59) since 1989. The couple have two adult children, Owen and Greta.
