Kurt Russell

Infobox actor

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imagesize = 250px
caption = Russell at the premiere of "Grindhouse" in Austin, Texas, March 2007 ("Photo by Jeff Balke")
birthname = Kurt Vogel Russell
birthdate = birth date and age|1951|03|17
birthplace = Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
yearsactive = 1963 — present
spouse = Season Hubley (1979 - 1983)
domesticpartner = Goldie Hawn (1983 - present)|

Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an Emmy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated American actor. He started acting as a child in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has continued appearing in a wide variety of films since, including "Escape from New York", "Silkwood", "Stargate", "Backdraft", "Tombstone" and "Grindhouse".

Biography

Early life

Russell was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, the son of Louise Julia (née Crone), a dancer, and Bing Russell, a character actor known as Deputy Clem Foster on "Bonanza". [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/39/Kirk-Russell.html Kirk Russell Biography (1951-)] . Film Reference.com.] Russell considers Rangeley, Maine, to be his hometown. [Horrigan, James V. [http://www.maine.rr.com/07/portmag/russell/default.asp "Escape from LA: Kurt Russell's Secret Life in Maine."] "Portland Magazine". 2007.] Graduate of Thousand Oaks High School in the mid-sixties, Thousand Oaks, California.

Career

Russell began his film career at the age of ten in an uncredited part as "Ugly Child" in Elvis Presley's "It Happened at the World's Fair". On April 24, 1963, Russell guest starred in the ABC series "Our Man Higgins", starring Stanley Holloway as an English butler to an American family. Later in 1963, he landed a big part for a juvenile actor: the lead role as the orphan Jaimie in the TV western "The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters" (1963–1964). Based on a book by Robert Lewis Taylor, the series also starred Dan O'Herlihy, John Maloney, Joe Baldassarre, and the young Osmond Brothers. Russell played the role of Jungle Boy on an episode of "Gilligan's Island" that aired on February 6, 1965. In a March 1966 episode of the TV series "Lost in Space" titled "The Challenge", he also played Quano, the son of a planetary ruler. The young actor 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." [Introduction by Robert Osborne to the TCM premiere of "The Barefoot Executive", 13 April 2007.] Russell starred in many Disney films, such as "Follow Me, Boys!" (1966), "The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band" (1968) with newcomer Goldie Hawn, "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" (1969), and "The Strongest Man in the World" (1975). He auditioned for the role of Han Solo in "Star Wars" (1977) but lost the role to Harrison Ford.

Russell, like his father before him, had a baseball career. In the early 1970s, Russell played second base for the California Angels (now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) Double-A minor league affiliate, the 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". Over the next decade, 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 "John Carpenter'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 was also similar in that it has since gained a cult audience.

Elvis Presley has had a presence in 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 the Oscar-winning film "Forrest Gump".

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". His portrayal of U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks in the 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 "The New York Times" wrote, "Mr. Russell's cagey and remote performance gives "Miracle" its few breezes of fresh, albeit methane-scented, air." (Mitchell's use of the word "remote" here is not a criticism of Russell's acting so much as a description of Russell's portrait of an emotionally reserved man.)Fact|date=December 2007

In 2006, Kurt Russell revealed that he was the actual director of "Tombstone", not George P. Cosmatos, as credited.Beck, Henry Cabot. [http://web.archive.org/web/20070122213246/http://www.truewestmagazine.com/archives/westerns/2006/western-russell_godfather_10_06.htm "The "Western" Godfather."] "True West Magazine". October 2006.] According to Russell, Cosmatos was recommended by Sylvester Stallone and was, in effect, a ghost director, much as he had been for "". 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 furious over the casting of Gerard Butler for his signature character, Snake Plissken. [ [http://movies.ign.com/articles/775/775013p1.html "IGN: Kurt Blasts "Escape" Remake."] IGN.com. 22 March 2007.] [ [http://www.pr-inside.com/russell-enraged-with-new-snake-plissken-r75552.htm "News Russell Enraged with New Snake Plissken".] PR-Inside.com. 25 March 2007.] In late October 2007, Gerard withdrew from the "Escape From New York" remake due to creative differences.

Personal life

Russell married actress Season Hubley, whom he had met on the set of "Elvis" in 1979 and they had a son, Boston Oliver Grant 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. The couple filmed the comedy "Overboard" together in 1987. Hawn's son and daughter with Bill Hudson, actors Oliver and Kate Hudson, consider Russell to be their father. [ [http://uk.hollywood.com/website/interview.phtml?uid=103 "Kate Hudson Interview"] . uk.Hollywood.com.]

Russell is a prominent member of the Libertarian Party. He claims that he was often an outcast in Hollywood because of his libertarian views, so he and Hawn moved to an area outside Aspen, Colorado where he has tried his hand at writing (he co-wrote the screenplay for "Escape from L.A."). In February 2003, Russell and Hawn moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, so that their son could play hockey. Russell is an FAA licensed private pilot holding single/multi-engine and instrument ratings.

Filmography

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0000621|name=Kurt Russell
*tv.com person|id=8010|name=Kurt Russell
* [http://www.moviehole.net/news/20050728_6003.html Kurt Russell interview]

Persondata
NAME= Russell, Kurt
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Russell, Kurt Vogel
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= March 17, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH= Springfield, Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=