Best kris kristofferson movies western

Late singer-songwriting legend Kris Kristofferson proved himself as a credible and creditable actor for a variety of filmmakers.

Kris Kristofferson, who passed away on September 28, 2024, at age 88, began acting in films during the early 1970s, around the same time he started performing his own songs in concert. And in both areas, he recalled when I interviewed him back in 2011 at the Nashville Film Festival, “It was kind of like learning on the job, finding out what works. And I found that what worked on stage was sort of like what was working in the films: Make people believe that you’re telling the truth.”

That insight served him well when he made his movie debut in Bill L. Norton’s Cisco Pike (1972), a vividly evocative slice of L.A. zeitgeist. (Cisco Pike achieved 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.) Kristoffer Kristofferson claims he lucked into the gig only because another, more experienced actor had demanded more money to play the title role. But he brought such unaffected conviction to his performance as the antiheroic character, a prematurely fading musician who’s blackmailed by a crooked cop (Gene Hackman) into drug-dealing, that he attracted interest from other risk-taking filmmakers.

The secret of his success? Kristofferson credits actor Anthony Zerbe, a college buddy, with advising him early on to simply “ignore the camera” and keep it real – as real as the singer-songwriter came across in concert. “That was the best piece of direction I got for quite a while,” he says. “Hell, it was the only one. But it worked.”

During the first five years of his acting career, Kristofferson was cast by such notable filmmakers as Sam Peckinpah (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid), Paul Mazursky (Blume in Love), Martin Scorsese (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore), Michael Ritchie (Semi-Tough) — and Frank Pierson, who directed A Star is Born.

It takes a special kind of star charisma to succeed in two completely different mediums. Of all the singers/actors to work in the industry — from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga — and build up impressive resumes in both, few seem as unlikely as Kris Kristofferson. A pioneering figure in the Outlaw Country movement of the ’70s, that took country music out of the Nashville establishment, Kristofferson was an icon of that scene in his own right, and not exactly a conventional choice for a matinee idol or a film star, between his anti-conformist bonafides and his grizzled bearded appearance.

And yet, in the ’70s, that’s briefly exactly what happened. Kristofferson made his film debut in 1971 with “The Last Movie,” as a member of the big ensemble in the metafictional drama from Dennis Hopper, and became a leading man the year later with “Cisco Pike,” a drama in which he played a musician who turns to selling weed just to get by. Over the decade, he found a niche for himself as an actor in Westerns, kitchen sink dramas, and action films, which put his heavily masculine appearance to good use. And in 1976, he melded his two worlds with Barbra Streisand’s “A Star Is Born,” the second-highest grossing film of its year and a movie that spawned a real hit in the love theme “Evergreen.”

After starring in Michael Cimino’s notorious box office bomb “Heaven’s Gate,” a film that Kristofferson continuously defended throughout his life, the musician’s film stardom slowed down a bit. But he continued to make films playing supporting parts in offbeat places, from Pee-Wee Herman sequels to Marvel comics movies. His last onscreen appearance came in 2018 with Ethan Hawke’s “Blaze,” a film fittingly set in the Outlaw Country landscape that Kristofferson first

American singer-songwriter and actor Kris Kristofferson has been in numerous films, television films, television series and video games. He started acting in the 1970s, appearing in the films The Last Movie (1971), Cisco Pike (1972), Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973), Blume in Love (1973), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) and Vigilante Force (1976), before starring in the 1976 film A Star Is Born as John Norman Howard, which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He went on to co-star in Stagecoach (1986) and star in films such as Semi-Tough (1977), Convoy (1978), Heaven's Gate (1980), Flashpoint (1984), Big Top Pee-wee (1988), and Welcome Home (1989).

In the 1990s, Kristofferson played Gabriel in the 1993 film Knights with Lance Henriksen and as Charlie Wade in the 1996 film Lone Star with Matthew McConaughey. He was then cast as Abraham Whistler in the 1998 vampire superhero action film Blade, a role he later reprised in Blade II (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004). During that time, he also portrayed Karubi (Daena's father) in Planet of the Apes (2001), and Older Billy Coleman in Where the Red Fern Grows (2003). In 2005, he appeared in The Jacket with Adrien Brody, a year later he was in Fast Food Nation with Patricia Arquette and lent his voice as the narrator to the 2007 film I'm Not There. He joined the ensemble cast in the 2009 romantic comedy He's Just Not That Into You alongside Jennifer Aniston. He played Reed Haskett in the 2011 film Dolphin Tale and again in the sequel, Dolphin Tale 2 (2014).

Kristofferson's television work includes the television films Freedom Road (1979), and Blood & Orchids (1986); the miniseries Amerika (1987) and Lives of the Saints (2004); the television series Dead Man's Gun (1997–1999); and playing U.S. President Andrew Jackso

Although typically known as a country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Kris Kristofferson also acted in various movie genres and roles for half a century. Whether it was Westerns, romantic dramedies, musicals, comedies, or superhero flicks - the native of Texas has done it all.  

For instance, in the 1976 classic A Star Is Born, he played opposite Barbra Streisand as a charismatic but self-destructive rock star, while in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, he delivered a compelling performance alongside Ellen Burstyn, as their characters navigate love and loss in director Martin Scorsese's poignant tale. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, directed by Sam Peckinpah, is a testament to Kris Kristofferson's ability to excel in the Western genre, while infusing his distinctive persona into a timeless story.

Kris Kristofferson's engaging performances and eclectic roles highlight the power of cinema to evoke emotions, provoke thought, and entertain audiences. His best movies demonstrate how the passion and authenticity he dedicated to his musical career also applied to his career in Hollywood.