Leslie Howard

His younger brother, Arthur, was also an actor, primarily in British comedies. Lone Star (1996 film) reinvigorated Kristofferson's acting career, and he soon appeared in Blade, A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, Fire Down Below, Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes and Payback (movie). Howard was married to Ruth Martin in 1916, they had two children, a son, Ronald, and a daughter, Leslie Ruth. In spite of the success of Highwaymen 2 in 1990, Kristofferson's solo recording career slipped significantly in the early 1990s, though he continued to successfully record with the Highwaymen. In 1943, he visited Lisbon (some say on a secret mission), and, on the return flight, his plane was shot down by enemy forces, possibly because the Germans believed the prime minister, Winston Churchill, to be on board. Kristofferson also appeared in Amerika at about the same time; the mini-series was controversial, hypothesizing life under Communist domination. This image helped win him the role of Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind (1939), but he was uncomfortable with Hollywood and returned to Britain to help with the war effort. In 1985, Kristoferson starred in Trouble in Mind and released Repossessed a politically aware album that was a country success, particularly "They Killed Him" (also performed by Bob Dylan), a tribute to his heroes, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Jesus, and Mohandas Gandhi.

Howard and Bogart became lifelong friends, the Bogarts named their daughter Leslie Howard after him. Their first album, Highwaymen was a huge success, and the supergroup continued working together for a time. They had appeared in the play together on Broadway. Nelson and Kristofferson continued their partnership, and added Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash to form the supergroup The Highwaymen. It was Howard who insisted that Humphrey Bogart appear in the film as gangster, Duke Manatee. Music from Songwriter (an album of duets between Nelson and Kristofferson) was a massive country success. In 1936, Howard appeared in the film Petrified Forest. The latter also starred Willie Nelson and Kristofferson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score.

Howard proceeded to play stiff-upper-lipped Englishmen in films such as Berkeley Square (1933, for which he was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), Pygmalion (1938) (in which he played Professor Higgins, and earned another Oscar nomination), and Pimpernel Smith (1941). He then married again, to Lisa Meyers, and concentrated on films for a time, appearing in The Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck, Flashpoint and Songwriter.
Davis and Howard in Maugham's
Of Human Bondage (1934). In 1982, Kristofferson participated (with Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Brenda Lee) on The Winning Hand, a country success that failed to break into mainstream audiences. Born Leslie Howard Stainer in Forest Hill, London, Howard's classic good looks won him his first screen role in a 1914 silent film, following which he served in World War I, his military career being cut short due to case of severe shell shock. Kristofferson's next film was Heaven's Gate, a phenomenal failure that temporarily ended his acting career. Leslie Howard (April 3, 1893 - June 1, 1943) was a British film actor of Hungarian descent. Meanwhile, more artists were taking his songs to the top of the charts, including Lena Martell ("One Day at a Time") and Willie Nelson, whose Willie Nelson Sings Kris Kristofferson LP was a smash success.

His next film, Freedom Road, did not earn a theatrical release in the US and he divorced Rita Coolidge. In spite of his success with Streisand, Kristofferson's career was heading downward with the non-charting ninth album, Shake Hands with the Devil. He continued acting, in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Vigilante Force, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, and A Star Is Born (with Barbra Streisand). Artists like Ronnie Milsap and Johnny Duncan continued to record Kristofferson's material with much success, but his own rough voice and anti-pop sound kept his own audience to a minimum.

However, his fifth album, Spooky Lady's Sideshow was a commercial failure, setting the trend for most of the rest of his career. With his new wife, Kristofferson released an album called Full Moon, another success buoyed by numerous hit singles and Grammy nominations. He appeared in Blume in Love (directed by Paul Mazursky) and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (directed by Sam Peckinpah) and also married Rita Coolidge. For the next few years, Kristofferson focused on acting.

Kristofferson's 1972 fourth album, Jesus Was a Capricorn began slow but the third single, "Why Me", was a success and significantly increased album sales. He also swept the Grammies that year with numerous songs nominated and several winning song of the year. In 1972, he acted in Cisco Pike and released his third album, Border Lord; the album was all-new material and sales were sluggish. Not long after, Kristofferson made his acting debut in The Last Movie (directed by Dennis Hopper) and appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival.

Smith ("Help Me Make It Through the Night") Jerry Lee Lewis ("Me and Bobby McGee"), Patti Page ("I'd Rather Be Sorry") and Peggy Little ("I've Got to Have You"). Kristofferson released his second album, The Silver Tongued Devil and I in 1971; the album was a success and established Kristofferson's career as a recording artist in his own right. In 1971, Janis Joplin, a very influential vocalist, had a #1 pop hit with "Me and Bobby McGee" off her posthumous Pearl, which was followed by more hits from Ray Price ("I Won't Mention It Again", "I'd Rather Be Sorry"), Joe Simon ("Help Me Make It Through the Night"), Bobby Bare ("Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends"), O.C. This is the only time an individual has won the same award from these two organizations in the same year for different songs. "For the Good Times" (Ray Price) won 'Song of the Year" in 1970 from the Academy of Country Music, while "Sunday Morning Coming Down" (Johnny Cash) won the same award from the Academy's rival, the Country Music Association in the same year.

Ray Price ("For the Good Times"), Waylon Jennings ("The Taker"), Bobby Bare ("Come Sundown"), Johnny Cash ("Sunday Morning Coming Down") and Sammi Smith ("Help Me Make It Through the Night") all recorded successful versions of his songs in the early 1970s. In spite of his failure as a recording artist, Kristofferson's compositions were still in high demand. Sales were poor. His debut album for Monument was Kristofferson, which included a few new songs as well as many of his previous hits.

Kristofferson signed to Monument Records as a recording artist. The label was run by Fred Foster, also manager of Columbine Music, Kristofferson's songwriting label. He also gained some success as a performer himself, due to Johnny Cash's introduction of Kristofferson at the Newport Folk Festival. The following year, Kristofferson signed to Epic Records and released a single, "Golden Idol"/"Killing Time", but the song was not successful. Within the next few years, more Kristofferson originals hit the charts, performed by Roy Drusky ("Jody and the Kid"), Billy Walker & the Tennessee Walkers ("From the Bottle to the Bottom"), Ray Stevens ("Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down"), Jerry Lee Lewis ("Once More with Feeling") Faron Young ("Your Time's Comin'") and Roger Miller ("Me and Bobby McGee", "Best of all Possible Worlds", "Darby's Castle"). In 1966, Dave Dudley released a successful Kristofferson single, "Viet Nam Blues".

He and his wife soon divorced. He worked a variety of odd jobs while struggling to make it in the music business, burdened with expensive medical bills as a result of his son's defective esophagus. Kristofferson moved to Nashville after resigning his commission in 1965, intent on becoming a professional songwriter. Kristofferson sent some of his compositions to a friend's relative, Marijohn Wilkin, a successful Nashville, Tennessee songwriter.

During the early 1960s, he was stationed in West Germany and returned to music and forming a band. He joined the United States Army and became a helicopter pilot. In 1960, Kristofferson graduated with a master's degree in English literature and married an old girlfriend, Fran Beir. While in England, Kristofferson began writing songs and working with manager Larry Parnes; he recorded for Top Rank Records under the name Kris Carson but was unsuccessful.

Students of Merton College later voted that the college should erect a statue of Kristofferson, naked astride a motorcycle of his choice, in Front Quad but funds were never made available. An aspiring writer, Kristofferson earned a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University (Merton College, Oxford) after previously attending Pomona College. He was born in Brownsville, Texas and moved around a lot as a youth, finally settling down in San Mateo, California, where he graduated high school. He is best known for hits like "Me and Bobby McGee" and "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", many of which were co-written with Shel Silverstein or Fred Foster.

Kris Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is an influential country music songwriter, singer and actor.