50 facts about actor Kurt Russell

Kurt Russell's 50 facts.

1. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.

2. Russell is the son of actor Bing Russell.

3. His mother was a dancer Louise Julia (Crone) Russell.

4. In 1969, he graduated from Thousand Oaks High School.

5. His sister Jill is the mother of baseball player Matt Franco.

6. His middle name is Vogel.

7. His first roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters.

8. In the late 1960s, he signed a ten-year contract with The Walt Disney Company, where, according to Robert Osborne, he became the studio's top star of the 1970s.

9. In 1984, for his performance in Silkwood, Russell was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.

10. During the 1980s, he was cast in several films by director John Carpenter, including anti-hero roles such as army hero-turned-robber Snake Plissken in the futuristic action film Escape from New York and its 1996 sequel Escape from L.A., Antarctic helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady in the horror film The Thing, and truck driver Jack Burton in the dark kung-fu comedy action film Big Trouble in Little China, all of which have since become cult films.

11. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for the television film Elvis, also directed by Carpenter.

12. In 1993, he starred as Wyatt Earp in the western film Tombstone, and in 1994, Russell had a starring role in the military science fiction film Stargate.

13. In the mid-2000s, his portrayal of U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks in Miracle won the praise of critics.

14. In 2006, he appeared in the disaster-thriller Poseidon, and in 2007, in Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof segment from the film Grindhouse.

15. 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.

16. He played Peter Hall in the 1963 episode "Everybody Knows You Left Me" on the NBC medical drama about psychiatry The Eleventh Hour.

17. 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.

18. He appeared on NBC's 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. Russell played a similar role as a kid named Packy Kerlin in the 1964 episode "Blue Heaven" of the western series Gunsmoke.

19. He also appeared in five episodes of Daniel Boone in various roles.

20. At age 13, Russell played the role of Jungle Boy on an episode of CBS's Gilligan's Island, which aired on February 6, 1965.

21. He guest-starred on ABC's western The Legend of Jesse James.

22. In 1966, Russell played a 14-year-old Indian boy, Grey Smoke, adopted by the Texas Rangers in the episode "Meanwhile, Back at the Reservation" of the NBC western series Laredo. In the story line, he works for an outlaw gang, but the Rangers take him under their wing and the boy proves helpful when gunslingers try to occupy Laredo, Texas.

23. In 1966, before Walt Disney died, the final words he ever wrote were "Kurt Russell." No one knows why. Disney died soon after.

24. Russell was a child actor whom the Disney studio had just signed to a long term contract.

25. In January 1967, Russell co-starred as Private Willie Prentiss in the episode "Willie and the Yank: The Mosby Raiders" in Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Later, 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.

26. In a March 1966 episode of CBS's Lost in Space entitled "The Challenge", he played Quano, the son of a planetary ruler and Edward's son in Follow Me, Boys!.

27. In 1971, he co-starred as a young robber released from jail, alongside James Stewart in Fools' Parade.

28. Later, he guest-starred in an episode of Room 222 as an idealistic high school student who assumed the costumed identity of Paul Revere to warn of the dangers of pollution.

29. In 1966, Russell had been 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".

30. Russell, like his father, had a baseball career.

31. In the early 1970s, Russell was a switch-hitting second baseman for the California Angels minor league affiliates, the Bend Rainbows and Walla Walla Islanders in the short season Class A Northwest League, then moved up to Class AA in 1973 with the El Paso Sun Kings of the Texas League.

32. While in the field turning the pivot of a double play early in the season, the incoming runner at second base collided with him and tore the rotator cuff in Russell's right (throwing) shoulder.

33. Before his injury, he was leading the Texas League in hitting, with a .563 batting average.

34. He did not return to El Paso, but was a designated hitter for the independent Portland Mavericks back in the Northwest League late in their short season. The team was owned by his father, and he had been doing promotional work for them in the interim.

35. The injury forced his retirement from baseball in 1973 and led to his return to acting.

36. In the autumn of 1974, he appeared in the ABC series The New Land, inspired by the 1972 Swedish film of the same name.

37. During the 1980s, Russell teamed 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 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.

38. 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. The film was a financial failure like The Thing, it has since gained a cult audience.

39. Russell married actress Season Hubley.

40. He met Hubley on the set of Elvis in 1979.

41. They had a son, Boston.

42. 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.

43. They own a home in Palm Desert, California.

44. They have a son, Wyatt.

45. In 1987, the couple starred in the film Overboard.

46. Hawn's son and daughter with Bill Hudson, actors Oliver and Kate Hudson, consider Russell to be their father.

47. Russell is a libertarian.

48. In February 2003, Russell and Hawn moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, so that their son could play hockey.

49. Russell is an FAA licensed private pilot holding single/multi-engine and instrument ratings.

50. He is an Honorary Board Member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope.