Kevin Michael Costner, born on January 18, 1955, in Lynwood, California, was the third child of Bill Costner, an electric line servicer for Southern California Edison, and Sharon Costner (née Tedrick),a welfare worker.
His older brother, Dan, was born in 1950, and a middle brother died at birth in 1953. Kevin's father's job required frequent relocations, causing him to feel like an Army kid, always the new kid at school, which led to his daydreaming nature.
As a teenager, Kevin sang in the Baptist church choir, wrote poetry, and took writing classes. He built his own canoe at 18 and paddled down the rivers that Lewis & Clark followed to the Pacific. Despite his present height, he was only 5'2" when he graduated high school.
Kevin excelled in sports, being a star player in basketball, football, and baseball. He enrolled at California State University at Fullerton in 1973, majoring in business, and took acting lessons five nights a week during that period.
After graduating with a business degree in 1978, Kevin married his college sweetheart, Cindy Costner. He initially took a marketing job in Orange County but soon met Richard Burton on a flight from Mexico, who advised him to pursue acting if that was his true passion.
Kevin quit his job and moved to Hollywood, working odd jobs such as driving a truck, working on a deep sea fishing boat, and giving bus tours to stars' homes before finally making his film debut.
After making a soft core sex film, Kevin vowed not to work again if that was the only type of work available. He didn't work for nearly six years, waiting for a proper break, which came with The Big Chill (1983),although his scenes ended up on the cutting room floor.
However, director Lawrence Kasdan remembered Kevin when casting Silverado (1985),and his career took off after that.
