Kris Kristofferson, singer, songwriter and actor, dies at 88

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kris Kristofferson, a Rhodes scholar who became a superstar songwriter, singer and actor, has died.

A family spokeswoman says Kristofferson died at his home in Hawaii on Saturday. He was 88.

Kristofferson brought a gritty realism to country music with compositions like “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” “Help Me Make it Through the Night” and “Me and Bobby McGee.”

As an actor, he played the leading man opposite Barbra Streisand and Ellen Burstyn, but also did shoot-out Westerns and cowboy dramas.

With his long hair and bell-bottomed slacks, he represented a new breed of country songwriters with his peers like Willie Nelson, John Prine and Tom T. Hall.