Kurt Russell | Biography, Movies, TV Shows, & Facts (2024)

Kurt Russell (born March 17, 1951, Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.) is an American actor who became a child star in the 1960s, appearing in a number of Disney films, and then transitioned to a successful career as a leading man, perhaps best known for his action dramas.

When Russell was four, his family moved from Massachusetts to California. There his father, Neil (“Bing”) Russell, a former professional baseball player, pursued an acting career, notably appearing in the television series Bonanza. The younger Russell was interested in sports, especially baseball, though he also occasionally acted. In 1962 he made his television debut, appearing on Dennis the Menace and The Dick Powell Theatre. He auditioned for the movie Safe at Home! (1962), hoping to meet baseball legends Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, but was not cast. Russell later starred in the TV series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (1963–64) and had roles on such shows as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Gilligan’s Island. In addition, in 1963 he appeared in his first film, It Happened at the World’s Fair.

In 1966 Russell acted in Follow Me, Boys!, the first of his Walt Disney movies, which also included The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969) and Superdad (1973). During this time he continued to play baseball, and he later was a member of several minor-league teams. In 1973, however, he tore his rotator cuff, and the injury effectively ended his baseball career. He subsequently focused on his acting, and, unlike many child performers, he easily transitioned to adult roles. He earned particular acclaim for two TV movies: The Deadly Tower (1975), in which he portrayed Charles Whitman, a mass murderer responsible for the attack known as the Texas Tower shooting of 1966, and Elvis (1979), a biopic about the legendary performer. The latter was directed by John Carpenter, and the duo collaborated on several subsequent films, perhaps most notably Escape from New York (1981). In that action thriller, Russell played Snake Plissken, a war hero turned criminal who is sent to Manhattan, which has become a maximum-security prison. Officials, however, vow to release him if he can save the U.S. president, whose plane has crashed in the borough. The film became a cult classic, and Russell solidified his status as a star.

Russell reteamed with Carpenter on The Thing (1982), a sci-fi horror film, and then starred with Meryl Streep in Mike Nichols’s acclaimed drama Silkwood (1983). In 1984 he appeared in the romantic comedy Swing Shift, which also featured Goldie Hawn. Although the film was a disappointment, Russell and Hawn became one of Hollywood’s most enduring couples. He then starred in a series of crime dramas, including The Mean Season (1985) and Tequila Sunrise (1988); the latter, a commercial hit about drug dealing, also featured Mel Gibson and Michelle Pfeiffer. Russell teamed with Sylvester Stallone for the action comedy Tango & Cash (1989), which was critically panned but became a box-office hit.

Russell earned better reviews for Backdraft (1991), Ron Howard’s action drama about firefighters in Chicago. Also popular was the western Tombstone (1993), in which he portrayed Wyatt Earp. After appearing in the sci-fi Stargate (1994), Russell reprised his role as Snake Plissken in Carpenter’s Escape from L.A. (1996), though the film failed to connect with moviegoers.

Russell remained a sought-after actor into the 21st century. In 2004 he starred in the crowd-pleaser Miracle, about the U.S. men’s ice hockey team that upset the Soviets at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Two years later he appeared in Poseidon, a remake of the 1972 cult classic about an ocean liner that capsizes. He then was cast in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof (2007), playing a murderous stunt driver. He reunited with Tarantino on The Hateful Eight (2015) and then appeared in the action drama Deepwater Horizon (2016), about the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. During this time he was also cast in several installments of the blockbuster series the Fast and the Furious: Furious 7 (2015), The Fate of the Furious (2017), and F9: The Fast Saga (2021). In addition, Russell had a role in the box-office hit Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), which features a Marvel Comics superhero team. In the family comedy The Christmas Chronicles (2018), he portrayed Santa Claus, with Hawn as Mrs. Claus; the couple also appeared in the sequel (2020). In 2019 Russell made a brief appearance as a stunt coordinator in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, a dramedy set in 1969 Los Angeles.