Kevin Kline

Born: 24 October 1947
Where: St Louis, Missouri

Kline became established as one of the most versatile and talented stage actors of his generation in the 1970s and 80s. Proving equally at home in musical comedy, contemporary drama and the classics, he has continued to delight audiences with his performances.

His feature career, despite winning an Oscar for A Fish Called Wanda, has proven to be not quite as successful.

Kline began acting in school plays, and studied composing and conducting at Indiana University for two years before finally switching to drama. While an undergraduate, Kline co-founded a theater troupe, The Vest Pocket Players.

After graduating, he headed to New York and landed bit roles in New York Shakespeare Festival productions, before being accepted into the newly established drama division of Juilliard.

In 1972, Kline became one of the founding members of The Acting Company, and for the next few years, the troupe performed and travelled throughout the USA.

1973 marked his Broadway debut, after which he continued to appear on stage, and earned a Tony Award as the swashbuckling Pirate King in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance.

Kline made an impressive screen debut opposite Meryl Streep in 1982's Sophie's Choice, then reprised his role of the Pirate King in the film version of The Pirates of Penzance.

Over the next few decades, he appeared as several memorable characters, including the young suburban professional in The Big Chill, a revisionist Western hero in Silverado, and an Oscar-winning turn in A Fish Called Wanda.

Teamed with Sally Field, Kline shone as a second-rate "serious" actor reduced to starring on daytime TV in Soapdish, then has a cameo in the 1992 Richard Attenborough-directed biopic, Chaplin.

He performed dual roles as the US President and his doppleganger in Ivan Reitman's comedy Dave, and again played dual roles in Fierce Creatures which reunited him with his Fish Called Wanda co-stars.

Kline played Bottom in Michael Hoffman's screen adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and in the same year co-starred opposite Will Smith in the feature version of the 60s TV series Wild Wild West.

2001 once again saw Kline in two different projects: in The Anniversary Party, and in Life as a House. The following year he had a small but meaningful role in the surprise comedy hit Orange County, and later starred as a professor in the feature drama The Emperor's Club.