He’s slain vampires in the movie “Blade,” played Mel Gibson’s foil in “Payback,” was a spiraling musician in “A Star Is Born” and had the lead role in the famous flop “Heaven’s Gate.”

But not just that: Kristofferson was a member of the Parthenon-status Highwaymen, which included Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. He’s a Rhodes scholar, Oxford graduate, Golden Gloves boxer and former Airborne Ranger Helicopter pilot.

But apart from all that, Kristofferson is known as one of North America’s quintessential songwriters. Janis Joplin had a big hit with his “Me and Bobby McGee” and Charlie Pride could credit a lot of his success to the Kristofferson-penned “Help Me Make It Through The Night.”

In fact, that latter song has been recorded at least 300 times.

Kristofferson is kicking off a six-date tour at Toronto’s Molson Amphitheatre August 26th and wraps everything up at Illinois’ Ravinia Festival September 11th. Other stops include Vienna, Va.’s Wolf Trap Filene Center, New York’s Westhampton Beach PAC and Davenport, Iowa’s Capitol Theatre.

None of this will keep Kristofferson away from the cameras. He is in four movies that are currently in post-production, including “Blade: Trinity.”