Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 8, 1995 TAG: 9502080042
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
``My first reaction was that I couldn't physically pull it off,'' Kristofferson recalls. ``As I told [producer] Bob Christianson, `Given more time, I would have gotten thinner and taller.' I'm 5-11 1/2, and Lincoln was 6-4.
``But I had once turned down a film because I didn't feel that I physically matched the guy. That was the Woody Guthrie story, `Bound for Glory.' And I regretted it. ... So when this happened, I said, `I'm going to give it a shot.' ''
Kristofferson was speaking of the Family Channel's ``Tad,'' which premieres Sunday, Lincoln's birthday, and repeats Feb. 18, 20, 25 and 26. The movie revolves around family life in the White House and centers on Tad, the fun-loving 7-year-old son. The role is played by Bug Hall, who appeared in the feature ``The Little Rascals.'' Jane Curtin portrays Mrs. Lincoln.
``Tad'' was filmed last September at historic sites in Richmond and Petersburg, Va.
``I flew in to Richmond, and they dyed my hair and shaved my face and put a beard on me,'' Kristofferson commented. ``The next thing I knew, I looked like Lincoln.''
``There were so many points of contact and common ground that I found,'' he said. ``The more I read about him, it seemed like a natural part for me to play. It seemed inconceivable before that, especially his relationship with children. Kids just climbed all over him. They saw in him what older people didn't see.''
Kristofferson himself has eight children, ranging from infancy to adulthood.
He, wife Lisa Meyers and their five children live at Hana, an idyllic area in the southeast corner of the Hawaiian island of Maui. Getting there from the airport is so tortuous, Kristofferson said, that tourists sport T-shirts declaring, ``I survived the road to Hana.''
``Going to Maui was the best move I ever made,'' he said. ``It's such a slower pace of life. I can see why people wonder if I don't get bored. With five kids, it's kind of hard to. Also, I've started going over some of the writing I did 30 years ago. I'm getting the itch to start writing something. That would be a great place to do it.''
It's understandable that, at 48, Kris Kristofferson would seek a quieter mode of living. Born in Brownsville, Texas, he spent his youth on the move, as his father, a two-star general, was transferred from one post to another.
A model student and athlete at Pomona College in California, he won a Rhodes scholarship and studied English literature at Oxford University.
Music won out over literature. During a five-year hitch in the Army, he began playing and writing music, country-style. He continued to write in civilian life, most notably such standards as ``For the Good Times'' and ``Me and Bobby McGee.''
His musical fame brought movie offers in the early 1970s, and he appeared in such successes as ``A Star Is Born'' (with Barbra Streisand), ``Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'' and ``Semi-Tough.'' He also notched a few bombs on his resume, including the classic ``Heaven's Gate.''
The fast life on the road led to booze and drugs and crackups. But Kristofferson cleaned up his act at 40 after marrying Meyers, his third wife. Two children came from his first marriage, another from the marriage to singer Rita Coolidge.
Nowadays, he tours two or three times a year, adding, ``I try not to stay away from home more than three weeks.''
But his schedule may heat up because his first albums in several years are coming out - ``Moment of Forever,'' with a dozen of his new songs, and another with The Highwaymen, a country-royalty group made up of Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.
Kristofferson was frank in exploring the reasons why he hadn't released an album in recent times.
``I don't know whether it's politics or personality or age. The times move on,'' he said. ``The last album I had was `The Third World Warrior.' The first song on it ended with the line, `Until the day we free Mandela, all the world will be in chains.' That was some time ago.
``The album got me dropped off the label. All the songs were about the human rights issue, and they determined I wasn't marketable. That would be the nearest explanation I can make of the gap.''
by CNB