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Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He became known during the late 1970s and 1980s, having starred in several Hollywood films, and has continued appearing in leading roles since, including Executive Decision, Poseidon and most recently Grindhouse.
BiographyEarly lifeRussell was born in Springfield, Massachusetts to Louise Crain, a dancer, and Bing Russell, who was a character actor known as Deputy Clem Foster on Bonanza. His grandfather was a professional baseball player.[2] He is the 4th great-grandson of Jason Russell, a Revolutionary War patriot who was killed by the British at the Battle of Menotomy, April 19 1775. The site of the battle, the Jason Russell House still stands and is a historic site and museum in Arlington, Massachusetts. Russell is also a distant cousin of author John Steinbeck. Both Russell and Steinbeck are descendants of William Russell of Cambridge (Massachusetts), who emigrated from England abt. 1640. Career
Russell also had a baseball career (his father also having been a baseball player). In the early 1970s, Russell played second base for the minor league affiliate of the California Angels (now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim). He led his league in hitting with a .563 batting average. During a play, he was hit in the shoulder by another player running to second base. The collision tore the rotator cuff in one of Russell's shoulders. The injury forced his retirement from baseball in 1973, and he returned to acting. Russell was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special (1979) 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, and help create some of his best-known roles, usually as anti-heroes, including the infamous Snake Plissken of Escape from New York. Among their collaborations was the 1982 remake of The Thing. In 1986 the two made Big Trouble in Little China, a dark kung-fu comedy in which Russell played a truck driver caught in an ancient Chinese war. The movie, while a flop (much like The Thing), gained a cult audience, and even inspired a few other films, as well as the video game Mortal Kombat. Russell appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care". Image:Kurt Russel.jpg Russell as Colonel Jonathan "Jack" O'Neil in Stargate He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (1984) for his performance opposite Meryl Streep in Silkwood. His portrayal of 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 air." (Note: 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.)
Personal lifeRussell married actress Season Hubley, whom he had met on the set of Elvis in 1979 and they had a son, Boston. 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. The couple also filmed the comedy Overboard together in 1987. They had a son, Wyatt, in 1986 and Hawn's daughter with Bill Hudson, Kate Hudson, considers Russell to be her father.[3] Russell is a prominent member of the United States Libertarian Party. He claims that he was often an outcast in Hollywood because of his Libertarian views so 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 classes Rangeley, Maine, as his hometown.[4] Russell is an FAA licensed Private Pilot holding single/multi-engine and instrument ratings. He is also a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) Former Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Franco is his nephew. Filmography
Footnotes
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