Kris Kristofferson was a Rhodes Scholar and Army Captain. Your experience of it will surprise you!
If you’re over 40, or if you enjoy classic rock and country music, you’re probably familiar with Kris Kristofferson, a singer-songwriter whose hits include Me and Bobby McGehee, Help Me Make it Through the Night, Sunday Morning Coming Down, and many others. . Many were big hits for other singers, from Martina McBride to Janis Joplin to Johnny Cash.
Kristofferson looks and acts like he just jumped out of the back of a turnip truck. Scruffy, rough around the edges, he usually wears a worn T-shirt and jeans. He speaks with a nice boy accent.
This is what surprises me: Kristofferson is the son of an Air Force general. He was a Rhodes Scholar, as was Bill Clinton. That means he is very, very smart. He studied English Literature. He joined the army and was promoted to captain. He received a position at West Point as an English teacher. He gave that up to work odd jobs in the South while forging his music and acting career. He lived in Nashville after leaving the Army in 1965, working to become a songwriter.
He swept floors at Columbia Studios in Nashville. That’s where she met Johnny Cash, but the relationship went nowhere at first (it later blossomed). He was also working as an industrial helicopter pilot at the time for a company called Petroleum Helicopters International (PHI), based in Louisiana. He had trained as a helicopter pilot in the Army.
From there his musical and acting career took off, and the rest, as they say, is history. But the man who is now 70 and looks like a scruffy, tough singer-songwriter began life as a Rhodes scholar and Army captain.
It’s like they say: people will surprise you!
Leave a Reply