Kevin Costner
Born: 18th January 1955
Where: Lynwood, California
The actor and director is slowly emerging from a long lean period following the all-conquering, Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves.
Following the success of the nine Academy Awards-winner, Costner helmed the box office flops Waterworld and The Postman.
However, 2004's grand scale Western Open Range, starring Robert Duvall and Michael Gambon, received critical plaudits.
Costner enrolled at California State University, where he majored in business but joined acting lessons.
He initially took a marketing job in Orange County, but everything changed when he accidentally met Richard Burton on a flight from Mexico.
Burton advised him to go completely after acting if that is what he wanted. He quit his job and moved to Hollywood soon after.
Costner drove a lorry, worked on a deep sea fishing boat, and gave bus tours to stars' homes before finally making his own way into films.
He made his film acting debut in Sizzle Beach, U.S.A in 1981, and then spent the next few years taking small parts in Night Shift and Table for Five.
His big break came in 1983, with The Big Chill. Even though his scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, he was remembered by director Lawrence Kasdan when he decided to make the action-packed Western, Silverado.
Subsequent roles included Eliot Ness in The Untouchables with an Oscar-winning Sean Connery and the taut thriller No Way Out with Gene Hackman.
In 1989, Field of Dreams remains a critical favourite and cult hit and he also impressed in Bull Durham.
He made an impressive Robin Hood in Prince of Thieves and also appeared in Oliver Stone's JFK.
Back in the director's chair Waterworld featuring a future where water is a precious commodity was a flop (although it recouped its massive costs in video sales).
Golfing caper Tin Cup was something of a return to form but Costner's next directorial outing The Postman failed to impress critics or the public.
Subsequent appearances included the Cuban missile crisis thriller Thirteen Days and disappointing supernatural thriller Dragonfly.
However, Open Range - which he starred in and directed - saw him enjoy something of a renaissance.
