Anecdotes

Snake Plissken, the anti-hero of New-York 1997 (1981) and Los Angeles 2013 (1996) is his favorite character of all he has played.

Said in his audio commentary for Les Aventures de Jack Burton dans les griffes du Mandarin (1986) that the test audiences reacted so well to the film that he thought for sure that he and director friend John Carpenter had a box office hit on their hands. However, the studio put so little effort into advertising the film that it ultimately didn't do as well at the box office but became a cult favorite instead.

For his role on Tombstone (1993), he was trained by renowned Hollywood Gun Coach Thell Reed, who has also trained such actors as: Val Kilmer, Bill Paxton, Sam Elliott, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Foster and Girard Swan.

Son of Bing Russell, a baseball player and actor, who played the deputy sheriff on Bonanza (1959) for six years.

He claims that he often felt an outcast in Hollywood because of his Libertarian beliefs, and so moved to live in an area outside Aspen, Colorado, where he started to try his hand at writing.

Kate Hudson, daughter of his longtime companion Goldie Hawn, named her son Ryder Russell Robinson. The middle name is an homage to Kurt, whom Hudson always considered to be her father.

Dating Goldie Hawn since February 14, 1983: Valentine's Day 1983.

He acted as father to Kate Hudson by walking her down the aisle and giving her away at her wedding to rock star Chris Robinson.

One of his heroes since boyhood was John Wayne. He was able to use his dead-on John Wayne impression (to twisted effect) in Grindhouse (2007).

The lead role in Invasion Los Angeles (1988) was originally written with him in mind. However, John Carpenter, having cast him in three films previously - New-York 1997 (1981), The Thing (1982) and Les Aventures de Jack Burton dans les griffes du Mandarin (1986) - decided to give someone else a go and cast Roddy Piper.

Rode along with the Chicago Fire Department's Squad 5 in preparation for his role in Backdraft (1991).

Was one of the first actors to do audio commentary on DVDs.

Made his film debut in the Elvis Presley film, Blondes, brunes et rousses (1963). He later went on to play him in Le Roman d'Elvis (1979), and to provide his voice in Forrest Gump (1994).

Has portrayed cult classic heroes in five different movies: New-York 1997 (1981), The Thing (1982), Les Aventures de Jack Burton dans les griffes du Mandarin (1986), Stargate : La Porte des étoiles (1994) and Los Angeles 2013 (1996).

Is an FAA licensed Private Pilot holding single/multi-engine and instrument ratings and is an Honorary Board Member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope.

He was offered the role of Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (1993), but his asking price was too high. The role went to Sam Neill.

He was Sylvester Stallone's original choice for Church in Expendables : Unité spéciale (2010), which he turned down. The role went to Bruce Willis.

Received The Disney Legends Award 1998 for living up to the Disney principals of: The Disney Legends award has three distinct elements that characterize the contributions made by each talented recipient. The Spiral ... stands for imagination, the power of an idea. The Hand ... holds the gifts of skill, discipline and craftsmanship. The Wand and the Star ... represent magic: the spark that is ignited when imagination and skill combine to create a new dream.

Is good friends with director John Carpenter. The two have collaborated on five different films: Le Roman d'Elvis (1979), New-York 1997 (1981), The Thing (1982), Les Aventures de Jack Burton dans les griffes du Mandarin (1986) and Los Angeles 2013 (1996).

The presence of Lee Van Cleef on the set of New-York 1997 (1981) inspired him to talk in a raspy voice similar to Clint Eastwood's from the Man With No Name trilogy.

He turned down the role of Connor McLeod in Highlander (1986) in order to star in Les Aventures de Jack Burton dans les griffes du Mandarin (1986). The role went to Christopher Lambert.

Began Cosmic Entertainment with partner Goldie Hawn, her daughter Kate Hudson, and her son Oliver Hudson. (2003)

Graduated from Thousand Oaks High School in Thousand Oaks, California, with Michael Richards. Class of 1969, who voted him "Best Looking".

Is good friends with stuntman Dick Warlock, who was his stunt double for over 20 years.

Played pro baseball (second base, AA club- California Angels) until a torn shoulder muscle forced retirement in 1973. Was hitting .563 at the time. His friend, Ron Shelton wrote the Crash Davis role in Duo à trois (1988) for him. The studio insisted on Kevin Costner, though.

Tom Cruise wanted him for the role of Rowdy Burns in Jours de tonnerre (1990). It was through Cruise that Russell became aware of Backdraft (1991).

He and longtime companion Goldie Hawn appeared together in Five films: The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968), Swing Shift (1984), Un couple à la mer (1987), Les chroniques de Noël (2018), and Les chroniques de Noël 2 (2020).

In his audio commentary for The Thing (1982), he joked with director John Carpenter about the scene where he threw a stick of dynamite at the character Palmer (who was turning into the Thing) and how the explosion was more powerful than he had expected. In truth, he could have been seriously injured.

During the filming of Destination: Graceland (2001) in Vancouver, he visited the nearby set of Stargate SG-1 (1997) and met the cast. Russell starred as Colonel Jack O'Neil in the original Stargate : La Porte des étoiles (1994). His role was adopted by Richard Dean Anderson in the spin-off series and the character's name was changed slightly (to Colonel Jack O'Neill).

In Le Roman d'Elvis (1979), he played Elvis Presley while his real life father Bing Russell played Elvis' father Vernon Presley.

He was considered for Kevin Costner's roles in Les Incorruptibles (1987) and Jusqu'au bout du rêve (1989).

The last filmed appearance of Walt Disney was on October 27, 1966. Disney was promoting Demain... des hommes (1966), and he closed by saying, "you're about to meet a 15-year-old boy, for whom I predict a great acting future. His name is Kurt Russell".

Was originally cast to play the cursed heroic knight Navarre in Ladyhawke, la femme de la nuit (1985), while Rutger Hauer, who played the role of Navarre in the film, was the original choice to play the evil captain, even though Hauer had no interest in the role and was actually more interested in the role of the hero Navarre. When Russell dropped out of the project, Hauer took the role.

He was considered for the role of Martin Riggs in L'Arme fatale (1987), which went to Mel Gibson.

He was considered for Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars, épisode I : La Menace fantôme (1999).

He was considered for the role of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976), which went to Robert De Niro.

He was considered for Bill in Kill Bill: Volume II (2004).

He was considered for Jack Traven in Speed (1994).

He was originally cast as Crash Davis in Duo à trois (1988) and even helped Ron Shelton develop the script. But the role went to Kevin Costner. After the film was made, Russell was so impressed, he actually wrote fan letters to Costner and Shelton.

He was considered for Jeff Bridges' role in Blown Away (1994).

He was offered John Ritter's role in Junior le terrible (1990), but he was busy with Tango & Cash (1989).

His character Snake Plissken (of New-York 1997 (1981)) is about to become a comic book. Published by theCrossGen imprint Code 6 Comics, the book will be known as The Snake Plissken Chronicles. It is marked for publication beginning in 2003.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on May 4, 2017.

Has 2 de facto stepchildren: de facto stepson, Oliver Hudson (b. September 7, 1976) & de facto stepdaughter, Kate Hudson (b. April 19, 1979) with girlfriend, Goldie Hawn.

Is a huge fan of Elvis Presley, Patrick Rondat and Tom Robinson.

He and his Tombstone (1993) co-star, Val Kilmer, have both played Elvis Presley. Val Kilmer played him in True Romance (1993), while Russell played him in a television movie, and provided his voice in Forrest Gump (1994). In Tombstone (1993), he plays Wyatt Earp. In Destination: Graceland (2001), he works with Kevin Costner, who played the role a mere six months later in the film Wyatt Earp (1994).

Is a card carrying member of the NRA.

When he and director John Carpenter were discussing the character of MacReady in The Thing (1982), they thought about making MacReady a former Vietnam chopper pilot who felt displaced by his service in the war and, as a result, was much more isolated than the other characters. This ultimately did not make it into the film.

John Carpenter wanted to cast him in the horror film Fog (1980).

He was considered for the role of Alan Parish in Jumanji (1995), which went to Robin Williams.