Kris Kristofferson , a country singer-songwriter and actor who starred opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1976 A Star Is Born , has died at 88. No cause of death was given. “It is with a heavy heart that we share the news our husband/father/grandfather, Kris Kristofferson, passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 28 at home.
We’re all so blessed for our time with him. Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all,” wrote Kristofferson’s family on Instagram , asking for privacy. As a prolific country music artist, Kristofferson racked up 13 Grammy nominations throughout his career, with three wins including for Best Country Song for the ballad “Help Me Make It Through The Night” off of his 1970 album Kristofferson.
In 1984, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for Songwriter alongside Willie Nelson, with whom he also co-starred in the music drama. Notably portraying John Norman Howard in the heart-wrenching 1976 romantic drama opposite Streisand’s Esther Hoffman led him to a Golden Globe win for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy the following year. Other film credits included Payback (1999), which also starred Mel Gibson, Maria Bello and Lucy Liu, as well as the original Blade trilogy with Wesley Snipes, in which he portrayed his character’s mentor, the vampire hunter Abraham Whistler.
He also portrayed the romantic lead opposite.