Biography - Kurt Russell

Since appearing in the 1963 Elvis Presley film “It Happened at the World’s Fair” and receiving a ten-year contract with Walt Disney, Kurt Russell has been a heavyweight Hollywood star, headlining popular films like “Escape from New York” and “Backdraft”.

Russell was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 17, 1951, and his father Bing was a well-known character actor in the 1960s due to his role on the hit series “Bonanza”. Russell became a popular child actor when he starred in the TV western “The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters” at only 12 years old, and soon signed the aforementioned contract with Disney which saw him appear on a slew of TV shows and star in films like “Follow Me, Boys!”, “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes”, “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t”, and “The Strongest Man in the World”. Russell also had a brief career as a professional baseball player in the early 70s, playing in the minor league for the California Angels. Though he showed extraordinary promise, a serious injury in 1973 forced him to return to acting.

Enormously prolific during this period, Russell became a popular face in westerns, fantasy films, and comedies. He soon moved on to leading man status, starring as the King himself in 1979’s made-for-TV “Elvis”, which earned him an Emmy nomination. “Elvis” director John Carpenter began regularly casting Russell in his films, and together they created a string of memorable films. Particularly notable is the pair’s 1981 action/sci-fi classic “Escape from New York”, which saw Russell playing against type as the post-apocalyptic anti-hero Snake Plissken. Two more hits followed for the actor, Carpenter’s 1982 “The Thing” and an impressive supporting turn in the Meryl Streep drama “Silkwood” that earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

A notorious drought followed for Russell as nearly all of his remaining films in the 80s proved to be major failures, including his third team-up with Carpenter, “Big Trouble in Little China”, which is now considered a cult classic. Nonetheless his turn in the box office flop “Swing Shift” in 1984 produced one of his greatest successes in life – his long relationship to actress Goldie Hawn. Russell was previously married to actress Season Hubley, but the two divorced shortly before Russell and Hawn began dating on the set of “Swing Shift”. The famous couple is still together and has a son, Wyatt, in addition to Russell’s son Boston with Hubley and Hawn’s famous daughter Kate Hudson. The adorable pair starred together for a second time in 1987’s romantic comedy “Overboard”.

Russell’s career was back on track by the 90s after he managed to nab lead roles in the hits “Tango & Cash” and “Backdraft”. The two popular action films reinvigorated his career, and he has once again become a major box office draw with films like “Tombstone”, “Stargate”, “Executive Decision”, “Dark Blue”, and 2005’s surprisingly good Dakota Fanning vehicle “Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story”. Russell is currently playing father to Emmy Rossum in the ensemble cast of “Poseidon”, and lives with Hawn in Vancouver, British Columbia.