Kurt Russell
Encyclopedia
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
(1963–1964). 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
, 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 film
s.
In 1994, he 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.
, the son of Louise Julia (née Crone), a dancer; and Bing Russell
, a character actor, best known for playing Deputy Clem Foster on Bonanza
. In the mid-1960s, Russell graduated from Thousand Oaks High School
.
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 a big part for a juvenile actor: the lead role as Jaimie in the ABC Western
series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
(1963–1964). 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 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.
in Fools' Parade
. 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
.
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.
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. The injury forced his retirement from baseball in 1973 and led to his return to acting.
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 would be his first pairing with John Carpenter
, the director of Halloween
. Although Russell did not perform the singing vocals in the series—which were provided by country music artist Ronnie McDowell
—he would later go on to provide the voice of Elvis Presley in the 1994 film Forrest Gump
.
es, 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.
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
.
Russell is one of the very few famous child stars in Hollywood who has been able 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 1984 film, Silkwood
.
film Stargate
.
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.'
, 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.
It was long reported that the final written words of Walt Disney
were Kurt Russell's name scribbled on a piece of paper. Russell confirmed that he had seen the paper himself, but did not know what Disney was trying to convey.
Russell is a Libertarian
. In 1996, he stated: "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." He claims he was often viewed as an outcast in Hollywood
because of his libertarian views, so he and Hawn moved to an area outside Aspen, Colorado
.
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 rating
s and is an Honorary Board Member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope
. Former Major League Baseball
player Matt Franco
is his nephew.
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV series)
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters is a 26-episode western television series based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Robert Lewis Taylor. The show aired in the 1963-1964 television season and was produced by MGM Television....
(1963–1964). In the 1970s, he signed a ten-year contract with the Walt Disney Company, where he became, according to Robert Osborne
Robert Osborne
Robert Jolin Osborne is an American actor and film historian best known as the primary host for Turner Classic Movies, and previously a host of The Movie Channel.-Life and career:...
, the "studio's top star of the '70s". In 1979, Russell was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for the made-for-television film Elvis.
In 1983, he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for his performance opposite Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
in the 1984 film, Silkwood
Silkwood
Silkwood is a 1983 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen was inspired by the true-life story of Karen Silkwood, who died in a suspicious car accident while investigating alleged wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant where she...
. During the 1980s, Russell was cast in several films by director John Carpenter
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
, including anti-hero
Anti-hero
In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
roles such as former army hero-turned robber Snake Plissken
Snake Plissken
S.D. Bob "Snake" Plissken is a fictional character in John Carpenter's films Escape from New York and Escape from L.A., played by Kurt Russell. He is an ex-special forces commando/war hero in World War III turned criminal...
in the futuristic action film Escape from New York
Escape from New York
Escape from New York is a 1981 American science fiction action film directed and scored by John Carpenter. He co-wrote the screenplay with Nick Castle. The film is set in the near future in a crime-ridden United States that has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum security...
, 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
Big Trouble in Little China
Big Trouble in Little China is a 1986 American martial arts comedy film directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell as truck driver Jack Burton, who helps his friend Wang Chi rescue Wang's green-eyed fiancee from bandits in San Francisco's Chinatown...
(1986), all of which have since become cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
s.
In 1994, he had a starring role in the military/science fiction film Stargate
Stargate (film)
Stargate is a 1994 American adventure-military science fiction film released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco Pictures. Created by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, the film is the first release in the Stargate franchise...
. In the mid-2000s, his portrayal of U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks
Herb Brooks
Herbert Paul Brooks, Jr. was an American ice hockey player and coach. He notably coached the United States' men's hockey team to a 4-3 upset of the heavily favored Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York on February 22, 1980...
in Miracle
Miracle (film)
Miracle is a 2004 American biographical sports film about the United States men's hockey team, led by head coach Herb Brooks, that won the gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics. The USA team's victory over the heavily favored Soviet team in the medal round was dubbed the Miracle on Ice...
(2004) won the praise of critics. In 2006, he appeared in the disaster-thriller Poseidon
Poseidon (film)
Poseidon is a 2006 disaster film directed by Wolfgang Petersen, the third film adaptation of the novel The Poseidon Adventure written by Paul Gallico, and a loose remake of the 1972 film of the same name. It stars Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas and Richard Dreyfuss. It was directed by Wolfgang Petersen...
, and in 2007 Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
's Death Proof
Death Proof
Death Proof is a 2007 American action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film centers on a psychopathic stunt man who stalks young women before murdering them in staged car accidents using his "death-proof" stunt car...
segment from the film Grindhouse.
Early life
Russell was born on March 17, 1951, in Springfield, MassachusettsSpringfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
, the son of Louise Julia (née Crone), a dancer; and Bing Russell
Bing Russell
Bing Russell was an American actor and baseball club owner, and was the father of Golden Globe-nominated actor Kurt Russell.-Personal life:...
, a character actor, best known for playing Deputy Clem Foster on Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
. In the mid-1960s, Russell graduated from Thousand Oaks High School
Thousand Oaks High School
Thousand Oaks High School is a high school established in 1962 and located in Thousand Oaks, California. It is a California Distinguished School, and offers curriculum at all levels for Thousand Oaks students. The mascot is the lancer...
.
Late 1950s–1960s
Russell began his career in the late 1950s with an appearance as a child in the pilot of the ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
television series Sugarfoot
Sugarfoot
Sugarfoot is the title of a TV western that aired from 1957 to 1961. The series featured Will Hutchins as fledgling frontier lawyer Tom Brewster and Jack Elam as sidekick Toothy Thompson...
with Will Hutchins
Will Hutchins
Will Hutchins is an American actor most noted for playing the lead role of the young lawyer Tom Brewster in the Warner Brothers Western television series Sugarfoot on ABC from 1957-1961.-Biography:...
. His film career began at the age of eleven in an uncredited part in Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's It Happened at the World's Fair
It Happened at the World's Fair
It Happened at the World's Fair is a 1963 musical film starring Elvis Presley as a cropdusting pilot.The motion picture was filmed in Seattle, Washington, site of the Century 21 Exposition, the 1962 World's Fair. The governor of Washington at the time, Albert Rosellini, suggested the setting to...
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
Our Man Higgins
Our Man Higgins is a 34-episode situation comedy, the story of an English butler — portrayed by Stanley Holloway, who is inherited by a suburban American family, resulting in a cultural clash that grows into a cultural blending. A Screen Gems presentation, Our Man Higgins was seen on ABC television...
, starring Stanley Holloway
Stanley Holloway
Stanley Augustus Holloway, OBE was an English stage and film actor, comedian, singer, poet and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady...
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
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
medical drama
Medical drama
A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...
about psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
The Eleventh Hour
The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)
The Eleventh Hour is an American medical drama about psychiatry starring Wendell Corey, Jack Ging, and Ralph Bellamy, which aired sixty-two new episodes plus selected rebroadcasts on NBC from October 3, 1962, to September 9, 1964.-Series premise:...
.
Later in 1963, he landed a big part for a juvenile actor: the lead role as Jaimie in the ABC Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV series)
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters is a 26-episode western television series based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Robert Lewis Taylor. The show aired in the 1963-1964 television season and was produced by MGM Television....
(1963–1964). Based on a book by Robert Lewis Taylor
Robert Lewis Taylor
Robert Lewis Taylor was an American author and winner of the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.Taylor was born in Carbondale, Illinois and attended Southern Illinois University, which now houses his papers, for one year. He graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor...
, the series starred Dan O'Herlihy
Dan O'Herlihy
Daniel O'Herlihy was an Oscar nominated Irish film actor.-Early life:O'Herlihy was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1919. His family moved to Dublin at a young age...
, John Maloney and the young Osmond Brothers. Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson , born Charles Dennis Buchinsky was an American actor, best-known for such films as Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, Rider on the Rain, The Mechanic, and the popular Death Wish series...
became a semi-regular in the series. In 1964, he guest-starred in "Nemesis", an episode of the popular ABC series The Fugitive
The Fugitive (TV series)
The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
in which, as the son of police Lt. Phillip Gerard, he is unintentionally kidnapped by his father's quarry, Doctor Richard Kimble
Richard Kimble
Dr. Richard David Kimble is the fictional character and the protagonist featured in the television series The Fugitive. He was portrayed by actor David Janssen. Dr. Kimble, who was born on March 27, 1927 in Stafford, Indiana, is a doctor falsely convicted of the murder of his wife, Helen Kimble,...
. That same year he appeared on The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
as a mistaken orphan whose father was an outlaw played by Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun was an American television and film actor, screenwriter and producer, best known for his roles in Westerns.-Early life:...
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
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
.
On February 6, 1965, Russell, not quite fourteen, played the role of Jungle Boy on an episode of CBS's Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...
. He guest starred on ABC's western The Legend of Jesse James
The Legend of Jesse James (TV series)
The Legend of Jesse James is a 34-episode western television series starring Christopher Jones in the tile role of notorious outlaw Jesse James which aired on ABC from September 13, 1965, to May 9, 1966...
. In 1967, he, Jay C. Flippen
Jay C. Flippen
Jay C. Flippen is an American character actor who often played police officers or weary criminals in many films of the 1940s/'50s....
, and Tom Tryon
Tom Tryon
Tom Tryon was an American film and television actor, best known for playing the title role in the film The Cardinal and the Walt Disney television character Texas John Slaughter...
appeared in the episode "Charade of Justice" of the NBC western series The Road West
The Road West
The Road West is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from September 12, 1966 to May 1, 1967 for twenty-nine episodes with rebroadcasts continuing until August 28. The hour-long series, sponsored by Kraft Foods, aired in the 9 p.m...
starring Barry Sullivan
Barry Sullivan (actor)
Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
. In a March 1966 episode of CBS's Lost in Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
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!
Follow Me, Boys!
Follow Me, Boys! is a 1966 family film released through Walt Disney Pictures, based on the book God and My Country by MacKinlay Kantor. It was the last production released before Walt Disney died of lung cancer...
. He then went on to star in The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band is a 1968 musical film based on a biography by Laura Bower Van Nuys, directed by Michael O'Herlihy, with original music and lyrics by the Sherman Brothers...
and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes is a Disney film from 1969, starring Alan Hewitt, Kurt Russell, Frank Webb, and Joe Flynn. It is released by Buena Vista Distribution Company....
, the latter of which spawned two sequels: Now You See Him, Now You Don't
Now You See Him, Now You Don't
Now You See Him, Now You Don't is a 1972 Walt Disney film starring Kurt Russell, a student at the fictional Medfield College. It is the sequel to the 1969 film The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes....
in 1972 and The Strongest Man in the World
The Strongest Man in the World
The Strongest Man in the World is a 1975 film starring Kurt Russell, still a student in the fictional Medfield College. It is the sequel to the 1972 film Now You See Him, Now You Don't, itself a sequel to the 1969 film, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes.-Plot:Medfield College's Dean Higgins is being...
in 1975.
1970s
In 1971, he co-starred as a young robber released from jail, alongside James StewartJames Stewart
James Stewart was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart may also refer to:-Noblemen:*James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland*James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn James Stewart (1908–1997) was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart...
in Fools' Parade
Fools' Parade
Fools' Parade is a 1971 drama film directed by Andrew McLaglen and starring James Stewart, George Kennedy, Kurt Russell, and Strother Martin. It was based on the novel of the same name by Davis Grubb...
. Russell was soon signed to a ten-year contract with the Walt Disney Company, where he became, according to Robert Osborne
Robert Osborne
Robert Jolin Osborne is an American actor and film historian best known as the primary host for Turner Classic Movies, and previously a host of The Movie Channel.-Life and career:...
, the "studio's top star of the '70s". He later auditioned for the role of Han Solo
Han Solo
Han Solo is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise played by Harrison Ford. Introduced in the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot, Chewbacca , become involved in the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire...
in Star Wars
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
but lost the role to Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
.
In the autumn
Autumn
Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....
of 1976, Russell appeared with Tim Matheson
Tim Matheson
Tim Matheson is an American actor, director and producer. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the smooth-talking Eric 'Otter' Stratton in the 1978 comedy National Lampoon's Animal House and has had a variety of other well-known roles, including providing the voice of the lead character...
in the 15-episode NBC series The Quest
The Quest (TV series)
The Quest, a 15-episode Western television series which aired on NBC beginning September 22, 1976, starring Kurt Russell and Tim Matheson.-Overview:...
, the story of two young men in the American West seeking the whereabouts of their sister, a captive of the Cheyenne.
Russell, like his father, had a baseball career. In the early 1970s, Russell played second base for the California Angels
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
minor league affiliates, the Bend Rainbows
Bend Rainbows
The Bend Rainbows were a professional baseball team in Bend, Oregon from 1970 to 1971. They were a minor league affiliate of the California Angels and a member of the Northwest League. After the 1971 season, the Angels affiliate became the Walla Walla Islanders....
, Walla Walla Islanders, Portland Mavericks
Portland Mavericks
The Portland Mavericks were a minor league baseball team in Portland, Oregon, United States. They began play in the Class A Northwest League in 1973 after the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League moved to Spokane, Washington. The Mavericks were owned by ex-minor league player and television...
and El Paso Sun Kings
El Paso Diablos
The El Paso Diablos are a professional baseball team based in El Paso, Texas, in the United States. The Diablos are a member of the South Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Since the 2005 season to the...
. During a play, he was hit in the shoulder by a player running to second base; the collision tore the rotator cuff
Rotator cuff
In anatomy, the rotator cuff is the group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the shoulder. The four muscles of the rotator cuff, along with the teres major muscle, the coracobrachialis muscle and the deltoid, make up the seven scapulohumeral muscles of the human body.-Function:The...
in Russell's right/throwing shoulder. Before his injury, he was leading the Texas League
Texas League
The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892...
in hitting, with a .563 batting average. The injury forced his retirement from baseball in 1973 and led to his return to acting.
In 1979, Russell was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special for the made-for-television film Elvis. This would be his first pairing with John Carpenter
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
, the director of Halloween
Halloween (1978 film)
Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...
. Although Russell did not perform the singing vocals in the series—which were provided by country music artist Ronnie McDowell
Ronnie McDowell
Ronald Dean "Ronnie" McDowell is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1977 with the song "The King Is Gone", a tribute to Elvis Presley, who had died not long before the single's release. From that single onward, McDowell has charted more than thirty Top 40 hits on the Billboard...
—he would later go on to provide the voice of Elvis Presley in the 1994 film Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic comedy-drama romance film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise...
.
1980s
Over the 1980s, Russell would team with Carpenter several times, helping create some of his best-known roles, usually as anti-heroAnti-hero
In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
es, including the infamous Snake Plissken
Snake Plissken
S.D. Bob "Snake" Plissken is a fictional character in John Carpenter's films Escape from New York and Escape from L.A., played by Kurt Russell. He is an ex-special forces commando/war hero in World War III turned criminal...
of Escape from New York
Escape from New York
Escape from New York is a 1981 American science fiction action film directed and scored by John Carpenter. He co-wrote the screenplay with Nick Castle. The film is set in the near future in a crime-ridden United States that has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum security...
and its sequel, Escape from L.A.
Escape from L.A.
Escape From L.A. is a 1996 film directed by John Carpenter. The sequel to the action film Escape from New York, the film follows former war hero Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell...
. Among their collaborations was 1982's The Thing, based upon the short story Who Goes There?
Who Goes There?
Who Goes There? is a science fiction novella by John W. Campbell, Jr. under the pen name Don A. Stuart, published August 1938 in Astounding Stories. In 1973, the story was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the finest science fiction novellas ever written, and published with...
by John W. Campbell, Jr., which had been interpreted on film before, albeit loosely, in 1951's The Thing from Another World
The Thing from Another World
The Thing from Another World , is a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell . It tells the story of an Air Force crew and scientists at a remote Arctic research outpost who fight a malevolent plant-based alien being...
. In 1986, the two made Big Trouble in Little China
Big Trouble in Little China
Big Trouble in Little China is a 1986 American martial arts comedy film directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell as truck driver Jack Burton, who helps his friend Wang Chi rescue Wang's green-eyed fiancee from bandits in San Francisco's Chinatown...
, 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.
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
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
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
robbery in 3000 Miles to Graceland
3000 Miles to Graceland
3000 Miles to Graceland is a 2001 American crime film, starring Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Bokeem Woodbine, Christian Slater, and Kevin Pollak. It is a story of theft and betrayal, revolving around a plot to rob the Riviera Casino during a convention of Elvis...
and provided the voice of Elvis for a scene in Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic comedy-drama romance film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise...
.
Russell is one of the very few famous child stars in Hollywood who has been able continue his acting career past his teen years. Russell received award nominations well into middle age. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for his performance opposite Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
in the 1984 film, Silkwood
Silkwood
Silkwood is a 1983 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen was inspired by the true-life story of Karen Silkwood, who died in a suspicious car accident while investigating alleged wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant where she...
.
1990s–2000s
In 1994, Russell starred as Colonel Jack O'Neil in the military science fictionMilitary science fiction
Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction in which the principal characters are members of a military service and an armed conflict is taking place, normally in space, or on a planet other than Earth...
film Stargate
Stargate (film)
Stargate is a 1994 American adventure-military science fiction film released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco Pictures. Created by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, the film is the first release in the Stargate franchise...
.
His portrayal of U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks in the 2004 film, Miracle
Miracle (film)
Miracle is a 2004 American biographical sports film about the United States men's hockey team, led by head coach Herb Brooks, that won the gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics. The USA team's victory over the heavily favored Soviet team in the medal round was dubbed the Miracle on Ice...
, won the praise of critics. "In many ways," wrote Claudia Puig of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, "Miracle belongs to Kurt Russell." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun Times wrote, "Russell does real acting here." Elvis Mitchell
Elvis Mitchell
Elvis Mitchell is an American film critic, host of the public radio show The Treatment, and visiting lecturer at Harvard University. He has served as a film critic for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the LA Weekly, The Detroit Free Press, and The New York Times...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
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
Tombstone (film)
Tombstone is a 1993 American action film set in the Old West directed by George P. Cosmatos, along with uncredited directorial efforts by actor Kurt Russell and writer Kevin Jarre. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Jarre....
, 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
Rambo: First Blood Part II
Rambo: First Blood Part II is a 1985 action film. A sequel to 1982's First Blood, it is the second installment in the Rambo series starring Sylvester Stallone, who reprises his role as Vietnam veteran John Rambo...
. 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
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
's segment Death Proof
Death Proof
Death Proof is a 2007 American action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film centers on a psychopathic stunt man who stalks young women before murdering them in staged car accidents using his "death-proof" stunt car...
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
Gerard Butler
Gerard James Butler is a Scottish actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television. A trained lawyer, Butler turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies , which he followed with steady work on television, most notably in...
for his signature character, Snake Plissken
Snake Plissken
S.D. Bob "Snake" Plissken is a fictional character in John Carpenter's films Escape from New York and Escape from L.A., played by Kurt Russell. He is an ex-special forces commando/war hero in World War III turned criminal...
, as he believed the character 'was quintessentially [...] American.'
Personal life
Russell married actress Season HubleySeason Hubley
-Biography:Hubley was born Susan Hubley in New York City, the daughter of Julia Kaul and Grant Shelby Hubley, a writer and entrepreneur. Her brother is actor Whip 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
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...
on the set of the film Swing Shift
Swing Shift (film)
Swing Shift is a 1984 feature film directed by Jonathan Demme and produced by and starring Goldie Hawn with Kurt Russell. It also starred Christine Lahti, Fred Ward and Ed Harris...
, 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
Overboard (1987 film)
Overboard is a 1987 American romantic comedy film starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. It was directed by Garry Marshall, produced by Roddy McDowell and loosely inspired by the 1974 Italian film Swept Away...
. Hawn's son and daughter with Bill Hudson, actors Oliver
Oliver Hudson
Oliver Rutledge Hudson is an American actor. He is the son of Goldie Hawn and Bill Hudson, and brother of Kate Hudson...
and Kate Hudson
Kate Hudson
Kate Garry Hudson is an American actress. She came to prominence in 2001 after winning a Golden Globe and receiving several nominations, including a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Almost Famous. She then starred in the hit film How to Lose a Guy in 10...
, consider Russell to be their father.
It was long reported that the final written words of Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
were Kurt Russell's name scribbled on a piece of paper. Russell confirmed that he had seen the paper himself, but did not know what Disney was trying to convey.
Russell is a Libertarian
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
. In 1996, he stated: "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." He claims he was often viewed as an outcast in Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
because of his libertarian views, so he and Hawn moved to an area outside Aspen, Colorado
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
.
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 rating
Instrument rating
Instrument rating refers to the qualifications that a pilot must have in order to fly under IFR . It requires additional training and instruction beyond what is required for a Private Pilot certificate or Commercial Pilot certificate, including rules and procedures specific to instrument flying,...
s and is an Honorary Board Member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope
Wings of Hope (charity)
Founded in 1962, Wings of Hope is the oldest and largest volunteer, humanitarian, aviation based charity in the world. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, they organize and maintain over 3,000 volunteers in 154 bases in 45 countries. Wings of Hope is strictly humanitarian, meaning they have no...
. Former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
player Matt Franco
Matt Franco
Matthew Neil Franco is a former professional baseball player who played first base in the major leagues from 1995–2003, and in Nippon Professional Baseball from 2004-2006. Franco started his pro career in 1987 with the Rookie League Wytheville Cubs in the Appalachian League...
is his nephew.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | It Happened at the World's Fair It Happened at the World's Fair It Happened at the World's Fair is a 1963 musical film starring Elvis Presley as a cropdusting pilot.The motion picture was filmed in Seattle, Washington, site of the Century 21 Exposition, the 1962 World's Fair. The governor of Washington at the time, Albert Rosellini, suggested the setting to... |
Boy who kicks Mike | Uncredited |
| 1964 | The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement... |
Christopher Larson | Episode 1.10, "The Finny Foot Affair" |
| 1964 | The Fugitive (TV series) The Fugitive (TV series) The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death... |
Philip Gerard Jr. | Episode 2.5, "Nemesis" |
| 1964 | Gunsmoke Gunsmoke Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West.... |
Packy | Episode 1.10, "Blue Heaven" |
| 1964 | Guns of Diablo Guns of Diablo Guns of Diablo is a Metrocolor 1965 Western directed by Boris Sagal, starring Charles Bronson, Susan Oliver and Kurt Russell. Charles Bronson is a wagon scout , who runs into difficulties when he meets old flame Maria , now married to corrupt lawman Rance Macklin .This was actually an expanded... |
Jamie McPheeters | Lead role |
| 1964 | Toby Shea | Episode 3.8, "A Father For Toby" | |
| 1965 | Gilligan's Island Gilligan's Island Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for... |
Jungle boy | Episode 1.19, "Gilligan Meets Jungle Boy" |
| 1965 | Andy Denning | Episode 4.1, "The Brothers" | |
| 1965–1969 | Daniel Boone (TV series) Daniel Boone (TV series) Daniel Boone is an American action/adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel Boone that aired from September 24, 1964 to September 10, 1970 on NBC for 165 episodes, and was made by 20th Century Fox Television. Ed Ames co-starred as Mingo, Boone's Native American friend, for the... |
Various | Five episodes ("The First Stone", "The Price of Friendship", "The Young Ones", "Bickford's Bridge", "Target Boone") |
| 1966 | Follow Me, Boys! Follow Me, Boys! Follow Me, Boys! is a 1966 family film released through Walt Disney Pictures, based on the book God and My Country by MacKinlay Kantor. It was the last production released before Walt Disney died of lung cancer... |
Whitey | |
| 1966 | Lost In Space Lost in Space Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968... |
Quano | Episode 1.22, "The Challenge" |
| 1966 | Laredo Laredo (TV series) Laredo is an NBC Western television series starring Neville Brand, William Smith, Peter Brown, and Philip Carey as Texas Rangers. The program premiered on September 16, 1965, and the final new episode was broadcast on April 7, 1967. The series was produced by Universal Television.-Synopsis:Laredo... |
Grey Smoke | Episode 1.20, "Meanwhile Back at the Reservation" |
| 1968 | Sidney Bower | ||
| 1968 | Ronnie Gardner | ||
| 1969 | Guns in the Heather Guns in the Heather Guns in the Heather is a 1969 British-American family film directed by Robert Butler. It stars Glenn Corbett and Alfred Burke.-Cast:*Glenn Corbett as Tom*Alfred Burke as Kersner*Kurt Russell as Rich*Patrick Dawson as Sean*Patrick Barr as Lord Boyne... |
Rich | |
| 1969 | Dexter Riley | ||
| 1970 | Men at Law | Jerry Patman | Episode 1.10, "This is Jerry, See Jerry Run" |
| 1971 | Steven Post | ||
| 1971 | Fools' Parade Fools' Parade Fools' Parade is a 1971 drama film directed by Andrew McLaglen and starring James Stewart, George Kennedy, Kurt Russell, and Strother Martin. It was based on the novel of the same name by Davis Grubb... |
Johnny Jesus | |
| 1972 | Now You See Him, Now You Don't Now You See Him, Now You Don't Now You See Him, Now You Don't is a 1972 Walt Disney film starring Kurt Russell, a student at the fictional Medfield College. It is the sequel to the 1969 film The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes.... |
Dexter Riley | |
| 1973 | Charley and the Angel Charley and the Angel Charley and the Angel is a 1973 Disney family/comedy film set in an unidentified small city in the 1930s Depression-era Midwestern United States and starring Fred MacMurray in one of his final film appearances... |
Ray Ferris | |
| 1973 | Superdad Superdad Superdad is a 1973 American comedy film by Walt Disney Productions and starring Bob Crane, Barbara Rush, Kurt Russell, Joe Flynn, and Kathleen Cody... |
Bart | |
| 1974 | Gunsmoke Gunsmoke Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West.... |
Buck Henry Woolfe | Episode "Trail of Bloodshed" |
| 1975 | Dexter Riley | ||
| 1975 | Charles Whitman | television film | |
| 1975 | Search for the Gods Search for the Gods Search for the Gods is a 1975 television film directed by Jud Taylor. It stars Kurt Russell and Stephen McHattie.-Cast:*Kurt Russell as Shan Mullins*Stephen McHattie as Willie Longfellow*Ralph Bellamy as Dr. Henderson*Victoria Racimo as Genera Juantez... |
Shan Mullins | television film |
| 1979 | Elvis | Elvis Presley Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King".... |
Nominated—Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie |
| 1980 | Used Cars Used Cars Used Cars is a 1980 comedy satire film. It stars Kurt Russell, Jack Warden , Deborah Harmon, and Gerrit Graham.Kurt Russell portrays a devious car salesman working for affable but monumentally unsuccessful used car dealer Luke Fuchs . Luke's principal rival, located directly across the street, is... |
Rudolph "Rudy" Russo | |
| 1981 | Escape from New York Escape from New York Escape from New York is a 1981 American science fiction action film directed and scored by John Carpenter. He co-wrote the screenplay with Nick Castle. The film is set in the near future in a crime-ridden United States that has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum security... |
Snake Plissken Snake Plissken S.D. Bob "Snake" Plissken is a fictional character in John Carpenter's films Escape from New York and Escape from L.A., played by Kurt Russell. He is an ex-special forces commando/war hero in World War III turned criminal... |
|
| 1981 | Adult Copper | Voice Only | |
| 1982 | R.J. MacReady | ||
| 1983 | Silkwood Silkwood Silkwood is a 1983 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen was inspired by the true-life story of Karen Silkwood, who died in a suspicious car accident while investigating alleged wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant where she... |
Drew Stephens | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture |
| 1984 | Swing Shift Swing Shift (film) Swing Shift is a 1984 feature film directed by Jonathan Demme and produced by and starring Goldie Hawn with Kurt Russell. It also starred Christine Lahti, Fred Ward and Ed Harris... |
Mike "Lucky" Lockhart | |
| 1984 | Terror in the Aisles Terror in the Aisles Terror in the Aisles is a 1984 documentary film about horror films featuring clips from Friday the 13th I and/or II, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween I and II, Jaws 1 and 2, Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Shining and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and The Birds. The film is hosted by... |
R.J. MacReady | archival footage |
| 1985 | Malcolm Anderson | ||
| 1986 | Big Trouble in Little China Big Trouble in Little China Big Trouble in Little China is a 1986 American martial arts comedy film directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell as truck driver Jack Burton, who helps his friend Wang Chi rescue Wang's green-eyed fiancee from bandits in San Francisco's Chinatown... |
Jack Burton | |
| 1986 | Reno Hightower | ||
| 1987 | Overboard Overboard (1987 film) Overboard is a 1987 American romantic comedy film starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. It was directed by Garry Marshall, produced by Roddy McDowell and loosely inspired by the 1974 Italian film Swept Away... |
Dean Proffitt | |
| 1988 | Tequila Sunrise Tequila Sunrise (film) Tequila Sunrise is an American crime thriller film written and directed by Robert Towne, and starring Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell, with support from Raúl Juliá, J. T... |
Det. Lt. Nicholas 'Nick' Frescia | |
| 1989 | Winter People Winter People Winter People is a 1989 romantic drama film directed by Ted Kotcheff. It stars Kurt Russell and Kelly McGillis.The film is based on the novel by John Ehle. Wayland Jackson, a widower with a young daughter, moves to a small, impoverished mountain village in North Carolina, circa 1934... |
Wayland Jackson | |
| 1989 | Tango & Cash Tango & Cash Tango & Cash is a 1989 American buddy cop film starring Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Jack Palance and Teri Hatcher. It was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, although Albert Magnoli took over in the later stages of filming.... |
Detective Gabriel "Gabe" Cash | |
| 1991 | Backdraft Backdraft (film) Backdraft is a 1991 action thriller film directed by Ron Howard and written by Gregory Widen. The film stars Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca De Mornay, Donald Sutherland, and Robert De Niro. Jason Gedrick and J. T. Walsh co-star in the film... |
Stephen 'Bull' McCaffrey / Dennis McCaffrey | |
| 1992 | Unlawful Entry Unlawful Entry (film) Unlawful Entry is a 1992 American thriller film directed by Jonathan Kaplan starring Kurt Russell, Ray Liotta and Madeleine Stowe. Involving a couple who befriend a lonely policeman, only for him to develop a fixation on the wife .Ray Liotta was nominated for an MTV Movie Award in 1993 for his... |
Michael Carr | |
| 1992 | Captain Ron Captain Ron Captain Ron is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Thom Eberhardt, produced by David Permut, and written by John Dwyer for Touchstone Pictures. It stars Kurt Russell as the title character, a sailor with a quirky personality and a checkered past, and Martin Short as a middle-class family man... |
Captain Ron | |
| 1993 | Tombstone Tombstone (film) Tombstone is a 1993 American action film set in the Old West directed by George P. Cosmatos, along with uncredited directorial efforts by actor Kurt Russell and writer Kevin Jarre. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Jarre.... |
Wyatt Earp Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known... |
Also (Uncredited) Director |
| 1994 | Stargate Stargate (film) Stargate is a 1994 American adventure-military science fiction film released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco Pictures. Created by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, the film is the first release in the Stargate franchise... |
Col. Jonathan "Jack" O'Neil | |
| 1994 | Forrest Gump Forrest Gump Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic comedy-drama romance film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise... |
Voice of Elvis Presley | Uncredited |
| 1996 | Executive Decision Executive Decision Executive Decision is a 1996 action film, directed by Stuart Baird and starring Kurt Russell, Halle Berry and Steven Seagal. The original music was composed by Jerry Goldsmith... |
Dr. David Grant | |
| 1996 | Escape from L.A. Escape from L.A. Escape From L.A. is a 1996 film directed by John Carpenter. The sequel to the action film Escape from New York, the film follows former war hero Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell... |
Snake Plissken | Sequel to Escape from New York Also Writer/Producer |
| 1997 | Breakdown Breakdown (film) Breakdown is a 1997 American thriller film, written and directed by Jonathan Mostow. The film stars Kurt Russell, J. T. Walsh and Kathleen Quinlan. The original music score was composed by Basil Poledouris... |
Jeffrey "Jeff" Taylor | |
| 1998 | Soldier Soldier (film) Soldier is a 1998 science fiction-action film directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. The film stars Kurt Russell as Sgt. Todd, a soldier trained from birth... |
Todd | |
| 2001 | 3000 Miles to Graceland 3000 Miles to Graceland 3000 Miles to Graceland is a 2001 American crime film, starring Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Bokeem Woodbine, Christian Slater, and Kevin Pollak. It is a story of theft and betrayal, revolving around a plot to rob the Riviera Casino during a convention of Elvis... |
Michael Zane | Nominated - Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple (with either Kevin Costner Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J... or Courteney Cox Courteney Cox Courteney Bass Cox is an American actress, she is best known for her roles as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom Friends, Gale Weathers in the horror series Scream and as Jules Cobb in the ABC sitcom Cougar Town, for which she earned her first Golden Globe nomination.... ) |
| 2001 | Vanilla Sky Vanilla Sky Vanilla Sky is a 2001 American psychological thriller film directed, co-produced and co-written by Cameron Crowe. The film is an English-language remake of the 1997 Spanish movie Abre los ojos , the screenplay for which was written by Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil... |
McCabe | |
| 2002 | Interstate 60 Interstate 60 Interstate 60: Episodes of The Road is a 2002 metaphysical comedy/drama road film starring James Marsden, Gary Oldman, and Amy Smart, with cameos by Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Chris Cooper, and Kurt Russell. The film was written and directed by Bob Gale.- Plot :The movie begins with two men... |
Capt. Ives | |
| 2003 | Dark Blue | Eldon Perry | |
| 2004 | Miracle Miracle (film) Miracle is a 2004 American biographical sports film about the United States men's hockey team, led by head coach Herb Brooks, that won the gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics. The USA team's victory over the heavily favored Soviet team in the medal round was dubbed the Miracle on Ice... |
Herb Brooks Herb Brooks Herbert Paul Brooks, Jr. was an American ice hockey player and coach. He notably coached the United States' men's hockey team to a 4-3 upset of the heavily favored Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York on February 22, 1980... |
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| 2005 | Sky High Sky High (2005 film) Sky High is a 2005 American comedic superhero family film about an airborne school for teenage superheroes. It was directed by Mike Mitchell and written by Paul Hernandez, Robert Schooley, and Mark McCorkle... |
Steve Stronghold / The Commander | |
| 2005 | Dreamer Dreamer (2005 film) Dreamer is a 2005 American family drama film starring Kurt Russell and Dakota Fanning, inspired by the true story of an injured Thoroughbred racehorse named Mariah's Storm. It marked the directing and screenwriting debut of John Gatins.-Plot:... |
Ben Crane | |
| 2006 | Poseidon Poseidon (film) Poseidon is a 2006 disaster film directed by Wolfgang Petersen, the third film adaptation of the novel The Poseidon Adventure written by Paul Gallico, and a loose remake of the 1972 film of the same name. It stars Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas and Richard Dreyfuss. It was directed by Wolfgang Petersen... |
Robert Ramsey | |
| 2007 | Death Proof Death Proof Death Proof is a 2007 American action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film centers on a psychopathic stunt man who stalks young women before murdering them in staged car accidents using his "death-proof" stunt car... |
Stuntman Mike | |
| 2007 | Cutlass Cutlass (short film) Cutlass is a short drama film which was filmed in 2007, written and directed by Kate Hudson.-Plot:Little Lacy , a big music fan, discovers a great but expensive guitar in a music shop. She's very excited by the guitar, and asks her mother, Robin , to buy it... |
Dad | |
| 2011 | Touchback | Coach Hand | Post-production |