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Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell is an American television
and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including
a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters . In the 1970s, he signed
a ten-year contract with the Walt Disney Company, where he became, according to Robert Osborne,
the "studio's top star of the '70s". In 1979, Russell was nominated for an Emmy Award for
the made-for-television film Elvis. In 1983, he was nominated for a Golden Globe
Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for
his performance opposite Meryl Streep in the 1984 film, Silkwood. During the 1980s, Russell
was cast in several films by director John Carpenter, including anti-hero roles such
as former army hero-turned robber Snake Plissken in the futuristic action film Escape from
New York and its sequel, Escape from L.A., Antarctic helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady in
the horror film The Thing (1982), and truck driver Jack Burton in the dark kung-fu comedy/action
film Big Trouble in Little China (1986), all of which have since become cult films.
In 1994, Russell had a starring role in the military science fiction film Stargate. In
the mid-2000s, his portrayal of U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks in Miracle (2004)
won the praise of critics. In 2006, he appeared in the disaster-thriller Poseidon, and in
2007 Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof segment from the film Grindhouse.
Early life Russell was born in Springfield, Massachusetts,
the son of Louise Julia (née Crone), a dancer; and Neil Oliver "Bing" Russell, a character
actor, best known for playing Deputy Clem Foster on Bonanza. In 1969, Russell graduated
from Thousand Oaks High School. Career
Late 1950s–1960s Russell began his career in the late 1950s
with an appearance as a child in the pilot of the ABC western television series Sugarfoot
with Will Hutchins. His film career began at the age of eleven in an uncredited part
in Elvis Presley's It Happened at the World's Fair and two extra episodes, celebrating the
tenth anniversary of the then defunct series Rin Tin Tin. On April 24, 1963, Russell guest
starred in the ABC series Our Man Higgins, starring Stanley Holloway as an English butler
in an American family. He appeared in 1963 as Peter Hall in the episode "Everybody Knows
You Left Me" on the NBC medical drama about psychiatry The Eleventh Hour.
Later in 1963, he landed the lead role as Jaimie in the ABC Western series The Travels
of Jaimie McPheeters (1963–64). Based on a book by Robert Lewis Taylor, the series
starred Dan O'Herlihy, John Maloney, and the young Osmond Brothers. Charles Bronson became
a semi-regular in the series. In 1964, he guest-starred in "Nemesis", an episode of
the popular ABC series The Fugitive in which, as the son of police Lt. Phillip Gerard, he
is unintentionally kidnapped by his father's quarry, Doctor Richard Kimble. That same year
he appeared on The Virginian as a mistaken orphan whose father was an outlaw played by
Rory Calhoun who was still alive and recently released from prison looking for his son.
He played a similar role as a kid named Packy Kerlin in the 1964 episode "Blue Heaven" of
the western series Gunsmoke. On February 6, 1965, Russell, not quite fourteen,
played the role of Jungle Boy on an episode of CBS's Gilligan's Island. He guest-starred
on ABC's western The Legend of Jesse James. In 1966, Russell played an Indian boy adopted
by the rangers in an episode of the western series Laredo titled "Meanwhile, Back at the
Reservation". In January 1967, he co-starred as Private Willie Prentiss in the episode
"Willie and the Yank: The Mosby Raiders" in Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Also
in 1967, he, Jay C. Flippen, and Tom Tryon appeared in the episode "Charade of Justice"
of the NBC western series The Road West starring Barry Sullivan. In a March 1966 episode of
CBS's Lost in Space entitled "The Challenge", he played Quano, the son of a planetary ruler.
In the same year he played a starring role in Disney's Follow Me, Boys!. He then went
on to star in The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes,
the latter of which spawned two sequels: Now You See Him, Now You Don't in 1972 and The
Strongest Man in the World in 1975. 1970s
In 1971, he co-starred as a young robber released from jail, alongside James Stewart in Fools'
Parade. The same year, he guest-starred in an episode of Room 222 playing an idealistic
high school student who assumed the costumed identity of Paul Revere to warn of the dangers
of pollution. Russell was soon signed to a ten-year contract with the Walt Disney Company,
where he became, according to Robert Osborne, the "studio's top star of the '70s". He later
auditioned for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars but lost the role to Harrison Ford.
Russell, like his father, had a baseball career. In the early 1970s, Russell played second
base for the California Angels minor league affiliates, the Bend Rainbows, Walla Walla
Islanders, Portland Mavericks and El Paso Sun Kings. During a play, he was hit in the
shoulder by a player running to second base; the collision tore the rotator cuff in Russell's
right/throwing shoulder. Before his injury, he was leading the Texas League in hitting,
with a.563 batting average as a switch hitter. The injury forced his retirement from baseball
in 1973 and led to his return to acting. In the autumn of 1976, Russell appeared with
Tim Matheson in the 15-episode NBC series The Quest, the story of two young men in the
American West seeking the whereabouts of their sister, a captive of the Cheyenne.
In 1979, Russell was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited
Series or a Special for the made-for-television film Elvis. This was his first pairing with
director John Carpenter. Russell did not perform the singing vocals in the movie; they were
provided by country music artist Ronnie McDowell. 1980s
Over the 1980s, Russell would team with Carpenter several times, helping create some of his
best-known roles, usually as anti-heroes, including the infamous Snake Plissken of Escape
from New York and its sequel, Escape from L.A.. Among their collaborations was 1982's
The Thing, based upon the short story Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell, Jr., which
had been interpreted on film before, albeit loosely, in 1951's The Thing from Another
World. In 1986, the two made Big Trouble in Little China, a dark kung-fu comedy/action
film in which Russell played a truck driver caught in an ancient Chinese war. While the
film was a financial failure like The Thing, it has since gained a cult audience. During
this period, he also voiced an adult Copper in the animated Disney film The Fox and the
Hound. Russell is one of the very few famous child
stars in Hollywood who has been able to continue his acting career past his teen years. Russell
received award nominations well into middle age. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for his performance
opposite Meryl Streep in the 1983 film, Silkwood. 1990s–2000s
In 1991, Russell was cast alongside William Baldwin as a firefighter in Backdraft.
In 1993, Russell portrayed Wyatt Earp in the film Tombstone, co-starring with Val Kilmer,
Sam Elliot, Bill Paxton and Powers Boothe. In 1994, he starred as Colonel Jack O'Neill
in the military science fiction film Stargate. Elvis Presley connections have run like a
thread through his career. Aside from appearing as a child in one of Presley's films and giving
a convincing portrayal of the singer in the 1979 television biopic, Russell starred as
an Elvis impersonator involved in a Las Vegas robbery in 3000 Miles to Graceland and provided
the voice of Elvis for a scene in Forrest Gump.
His portrayal of U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks in the 2004 film, Miracle, won
the praise of critics. "In many ways," wrote Claudia Puig of USA Today, "Miracle belongs
to Kurt Russell." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times wrote, "Russell does real acting
here." Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Russell's cagey and remote performance
gives Miracle its few breezes of fresh, albeit methane-scented, air."
In 2006, Russell revealed that he was the director of Tombstone, not George P. Cosmatos,
as credited. According to Russell, Cosmatos was recommended by Sylvester Stallone and
was, in effect, a ghost director, much as he had been for Rambo: First Blood Part II.
Russell said he promised Cosmatos he would keep it a secret as long as Cosmatos was alive;
Cosmatos died in April 2005. Russell owns the rights to the masters and makes reference
to possibly re-editing the film, as he was not originally involved in the editing.
Russell appeared as villain Stuntman Mike in Quentin Tarantino's segment Death Proof
of the film Grindhouse. After a remake of Escape from New York was announced, Russell
was reportedly upset with the casting of Scottish actor Gerard Butler for his signature character,
Snake Plissken, as he believed the character 'was quintessentially American.'
On August 31, 2013, it was announced that Russell had been cast in Fast & Furious 7.
He appeared in The Battered *** of Baseball, a documentary about his father and the Portland
Mavericks, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014.
Personal life Russell married actress Season Hubley, whom
he had met on the set of Elvis in 1979; they had a son, Boston Russell, in 1980. In 1983,
in the middle of his divorce from Hubley, Russell re-connected with Goldie Hawn on the
set of the film Swing Shift, and they have been in a relationship ever since. They had
a son, Wyatt, in 1986. One year later, in 1987, the couple starred in the film Overboard.
Hawn's son and daughter with Bill Hudson, actors Oliver and Kate Hudson, consider Russell
to be their father. Russell is a libertarian. In 1996, he was
quoted in the Toronto Sun saying: "I was brought up as a Republican. But when I realized that
at the end of the day there wasn't much difference between a Democrat and Republican, I became
a libertarian." In February 2003, Russell and Hawn moved to
Vancouver, British Columbia, so that their son could play hockey. Russell is an FAA licensed
private pilot holding single/multi-engine and instrument ratings and is an Honorary
Board Member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope. Former Major League
Baseball player Matt Franco is his nephew. Filmography