1963–1979: Child actor with Disney and stardom in a 1964 episode of
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Russell made his film debut with an uncredited part for ''
It Happened at the World's Fair, playing a boy who kicked a pilot (Elvis Presley) in the leg. 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. Later, he played the title role in the ABC Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' (1963–64). The show was based on
Robert Lewis Taylor's eponymous novel, which
won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1959. In 1964, Russell guest-starred in "Nemesis", an episode of the 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. In
NBC's
The Virginian, he played the mistaken orphan whose father, played by
Rory Calhoun, was an outlaw 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" for the Western series
Gunsmoke. 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. In 1966, Russell was signed to a ten-year contract with
Walt Disney Productions, where he became, according to
Robert Osborne, the "studio's top star of the '70s". in what would prove to be Disney's last filmed appearance before his death in December 1966. One of the last things Disney ever wrote was the name "Kurt Russell" (though misspelled as "Kirt") on a piece of paper. In January 1967, Russell played Private Willie Prentiss in the episode "Willie and the Yank: The Mosby Raiders" in ''
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, released theatrically in some markets as Mosby's Marauders (1967). During this time, Russell continued to guest star on non-Disney TV shows. 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. In a March 1966 episode of CBS's
Lost in Space entitled "The Challenge", he played Quano, the son of a planetary ruler. While filming the
Sherman Brothers musical
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968), Russell met his future partner
Goldie Hawn. For Disney, he made
The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (1969) and
Guns in the Heather (1969). Disney promoted Russell to star roles with
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969) which was a big hit. He followed it with
The Barefoot Executive (1971), another success. In 1971, he co-starred as a young robber released from jail alongside
James Stewart in ''
Fools' Parade. 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. However, the bulk of his film work was for Disney in films such as Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1971), Charley and the Angel (1973), and Superdad (1973). In the autumn of 1974, he appeared in the ABC series The New Land, inspired by the 1972 Swedish film of the same name. Critically acclaimed, it suffered very low ratings and aired only six of the 13 episodes. He returned to Disney for The Strongest Man in the World'' (1975).
1980–1999: Transition into Hollywood Russell played the title character in the 1979 television film
Elvis, in which his then-wife
Season Hubley played
Priscilla. This would transition Russell's Hollywood career after years as a child actor. It was directed by
John Carpenter and led to a series of collaborations between the two men. His performance earned him a nomination for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. He returned to Disney to provide the voice of Copper as an adult for
The Fox and the Hound (1981) then reunited with Carpenter for
The Thing (1982), 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. He was nominated for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his performance in
Silkwood (1983). Russell made
Swing Shift (1984) co-starring Goldie Hawn, who became his romantic partner. He starred in
The Mean Season (1985) and
The Best of Times (1986), then played an antihero truck driver caught in an ancient Chinese war in
Big Trouble in Little China (1986), another Carpenter film which, like
The Thing, was initially a critical and commercial disappointment but has since gained a cult audience. More popular at the box office was
Overboard (1987), a comedy with Goldie Hawn. Russell credited his performance in
Tequila Sunrise (1988) with getting Hollywood to regard him differently. He starred in
Winter People (1989) and co-starred with
Sylvester Stallone in
Tango & Cash (1989). Russell followed this up by playing Lt. Stephen "Bull" McCaffrey in the drama
Backdraft (1991), Michael Carr in the psychological thriller
Unlawful Entry (1992), a sailor in the comedy
Captain Ron (1992), and
Colonel Jack O'Neil in the
military science fiction film
Stargate (1994). He also played
Wyatt Earp in the hit Western film
Tombstone (1993). Russell later claimed in a 2006 interview that he had ghost-directed
Tombstone on behalf of credited director
George P. Cosmatos, saying he gave Cosmatos shot lists. Russell claimed Stallone recommended Cosmatos to him after the removal of the first director, writer
Kevin Jarre, but Cosmatos had also worked with
Tombstone executive producer
Andrew G. Vajna before on
Rambo: First Blood Part II. Russell said he promised Cosmatos he would keep it a secret as long as Cosmatos was alive; Cosmatos died in April 2005. and again played Snake Plissken in Carpenter's follow-up to
Escape from New York,
Escape from L.A. He then starred as the husband of a kidnapped woman in the action thriller
Breakdown (1997), and as a genetically enhanced soldier in the science fiction film
Soldier (1998).
2000–present: Franchise films and resurgence In 2001, Russell played a court psychologist in the thriller film
Vanilla Sky. His portrayal of U.S. Olympic hockey coach
Herb Brooks in the 2004 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 New York Times wrote, "Mr. Russell's cagey and remote performance gives
Miracle its few breezes of fresh air." In 2005, he played a horse trainer father in the family sports film
Dreamer and a father with superhuman strength in the superhero film
Sky High. Russell starred in
Wolfgang Petersen's
Poseidon (2006). He also played the villainous Stuntman Mike in
Quentin Tarantino's segment
Death Proof of the film
Grindhouse (2007), and was in two more Tarantino films,
The Hateful Eight (2015) and
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). After a remake of
Escape from New York was announced, Russell was reportedly upset that
Gerard Butler was attached to play his signature character, Snake Plissken, as he believed the character "was quintessentially [...] American." Russell appeared in
The Battered Bastards of Baseball, a documentary about his father and the Portland Mavericks, which debuted at the
Sundance Film Festival in 2014. In 2015, Russell garnered attention for his portrayal of Sheriff Franklin Hunt in the Western-horror film
Bone Tomahawk. During this time, Russell also appeared in the
Fast & Furious franchise playing Mr. Nobody, starring in three of its films,
Furious 7 (2015),
The Fate of the Furious (2017), and
F9 (2021). On May 4, 2017, Russell and Goldie Hawn received stars in a double star ceremony on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame for their achievements in motion pictures, located at 6201
Hollywood Boulevard. In 2017 he played
Star-Lord's father Ego in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe film
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). Todd McCarthy of
The Hollywood Reporter praised the chemistry between
Chris Pratt and Russell writing, "the scenes between the well-cast Russell and Pratt are the best in the film". Russell played
Santa Claus in the
Netflix films
The Christmas Chronicles (2018) and
The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020). From 2021 to 2023, he reprised his role as Ego in the MCU
Disney+ animated series
What If...? voicing the role in the episodes "
What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?", "
What If... the Watcher Broke His Oath?" and "
What If... Peter Quill Attacked Earth's Mightiest Heroes?". In 2025, it was announced that Russell would join the cast of the
Yellowstone spin-off
The Madison. == Other ventures ==