MOST MEMORABLE MOVIE ROLE(S): Pro football player Marvin ‘Shake’ Tiller in Semi-Tough; Wesley Snipe’s grizzled best friend in the Blade movies; and the lead role in Heaven’s Gate
THE INTEL: An aspiring novelist, Kristofferson was a standout scholar-athlete at California’s Pomona College, graduating with a B.A., summa cum laude, in Literature. His feats in the classroom and rugby pitch earned him a Rhodes scholarship — this honor allowed him to continue his studies at Oxford. He left Oxford with a Ph.B. — a pre-doctoral graduate degree — and was offered a faculty position at West Point (that he turned to down when he joined the Army’s helicopter-pilot school — just another stop in this accomplished artist’s fascinating life).
CELEBRITY-BRAINIAC RATING, ON A “1” (SNOOKI) to “10” (COLLEGE PROFESSOR) SCALE: 8