Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American film actor and director who often produces his own films.Costner was born in Compton, California, the youngest of the three sons (the middle son died at birth) of William Costner, an electrician and later utilities executive, and Sharon Rae (née Tedrick), a welfare worker. He has German, Irish and Cherokee ancestry. Costner attended elementary school at McKevette School in Santa Paula, California. A poor student, Costner enjoyed sports in spite of his small stature, and took piano lessons, wrote poetry and even sang in the First Baptist Choir.
Spending his teenage years in various parts of California as his father's career progressed, the family lived in Orange County, then in Visalia (Tulare County) attending Mt. Whitney High School, and finally graduated from Villa Park High School in Villa Park, California in 1973. He went on to earn a B.A. in business from California State University, Fullerton in 1978, where he was a member and President of the Delta Chi Fraternity and met Portuguese-American Cindy Silva.
While in college, Costner was a member of Delta Chi fraternity, where he met another Greek student, Cindy Silva.They started dating in March 1975, and their marriage produced three children: Annie (born in 1984), Lily (born in 1986), and Joe (born in 1988). Kevin and Cindy divorced in 1994 after 16 years of marriage. He also has a son, Liam (born in 1996), with Bridget Rooney, with whom he had a brief relationship following his divorce. Only through blood tests was it revealed that Costner was Liam's father.
On September 25, 2004, after 10 years of being single, Costner married his girlfriend of four years, the German model and handbag designer Christine Baumgartner, at his ranch in Aspen, Colorado. Guests, including Oprah Winfrey, Oliver Stone, and Bruce Willis, were treated to activities including horse riding and baseball during the weekend festivities. Costner took his new bride for a canoe ride on a lake following the ceremony. The couple honeymooned in Scotland. Their first child, Cayden Wyatt Costner, was born on May 6, 2007 at 10:30 P.M. at a Los Angeles hospital. He weighed 7 lbs, 14 oz.
Costner was registered as a Republican until the 1996 election, when he changed his registration to Independent. He supported Democratic candidates in the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 Presidential elections; however, he still prefers to be known as a "conservative".
Several of Costner's films have included a baseball theme. They include Chasing Dreams, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, and For Love of the Game. (In The Upside of Anger, his character is a former baseball professional.) Costner has a love for baseball and has stated he loves to play baseball even more than he loves watching it. He plays regularly in celebrity golf tournaments, including the annual BMW Pro-Am held each April in Greenville County, South Carolina.
Costner owns 93.5% of the "Midnight Star" casino in Deadwood, South Dakota. The casino, its sports bar "Diamond Lil's", and its restaurant "Jake's" are all named after characters and locations from the movie Silverado; and the facility contains posters, costumes, and other memorabilia from Costner's films. In July 2004, Costner fired Francis and Carla Caneva, who managed the Midnight Star. A judge subsequently order Costner to pay $6.1 million to buy out the Caneva's as his business partners. In October 2006, Costner asked the South Dakota Supreme Court to re-examine the ruling, as an accountant hired by the actor had determined the market value of the casino at $3.1m, to dissolve the partnership.
Costner is a fan of the London football team Arsenal F.C. While filming Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, he was given the opportunity to attend a game and has followed the team ever since. Costner was named ceremonial Grand Marshall of the Auto550 club, at the February 25, 2007 Nascar Nextel Cup event at the California Speedway.
Costner also has a home in Austin, Texas and sometimes appears at University of Texas Longhorn baseball practices and games. Costner is a close friend to Longhorns baseball coach Augie Garrido from Garrido's days coaching at Cal State Fullerton (where Costner attended), and even cast Garrido to play the role of "Yankee Manager" in his film For Love of the Game.He is also known to attend every college world series game that Cal State Fullerton plays in Omaha.
