Kurt Russell: Five decades of Hollywood, three with Goldie Hawn

Kurt Russell
Five decades of Hollywood, three with Goldie Hawn

Kurt Russell with his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

© carrie-nelson / ImageCollect

In Hollywood, Kurt Russell is part of the inventory. He has played many roles, lived many lives, and lived through great times with great names.

He has one of the most distinctive faces in Hollywood, and that's saying something. Whether with a mane, glasses, with a wildly growing beard or without – you can always recognize him straight away, although his name is not one of the big names among the actors.

He's just Kurt Russell, and everyone in Hollywood knows him because he's been part of the inventory for well over 50 years. Like someone who has always been there. On March 17th this Kurt Russell will be 70 years old.

A star even as a child

He has played many roles and lived through great times with great names. Was a child star, baseball player, pop singer, and finally an actor of all stripes: action star, lone wolf, comedian. His character skull shaped every role.

Already at the age of six he had an appearance in the series "Sugarfoot", and at twelve he was allowed to kick the then leading actor and megastar Elvis Presley (1935-1977) as a rascal in the movie "Ob blond, ob braun". At the same age he met the later notorious Charles Bronson (1921-2003, "Play me the song of death") in the series "The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters" (1963-1964).

When he was 13 he got a ten-year contract with the Walt Disney Company and made many films such as "Forty Daredevils" and "Super brain in tennis shoes". The old, legendary Walt Disney had made a fool of him. "We saw each other almost every day at lunch in the studio. Sometimes we played a game of table tennis against each other," said Russell in an interview with the "Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung" (FAZ). "After he died, for some reason I was called from the studio compound to Walt Disney's office. His secretary led me to the desk and showed me a piece of paper with my name written on it. It said 'Kurt Russell'. And she asked me : 'Can you imagine what that could mean?' To this day I have no idea what that meant. "

He hired himself as a singer, even recorded an (unsuccessful) pop album in 1970 – and (like his father) played baseball professionally until a shoulder injury ended his sports career in 1973. Actually it shouldn't have worked with the film either, he told the "FAZ". "When it comes to a Hollywood career, there are two things that keep you out of the scene. First, being a professional baseball player; that disqualifies you completely. Second, coming from Disney. It's an eyesore."

Carpenter brought him to Hollywood

But he had met the director John Carpenter (73, "Halloween") when he played the rock'n'roll star in "Elvis" in 1979. Carpenter starred with him in the dystopian drama "The Rattlesnake" in 1981. That was the breakthrough: Kurt Russell as a muscular Snake Plissken with an eye patch. For this he had to work in the gym for months, but it was worth it: Russell had arrived in Hollywood.

He shot the well-known horror film "The Thing from Another World" and "Big Trouble in Little China" with Carpenter, played with Goldie Hawn (75, "The Devil's Club") in "Overboard – a goldfish falls into the water" and Sylvester Stallone (74, "Rocky") in "Tango and Cash". He worked with cult director Quentin Tarantino (57, "Kill Bill") for the action thriller "Death Proof" and the bloody chamber play western "The Hateful Eight" as well as for the blockbuster series "Fast & Furious". Most recently (2018) he played the white-bearded Santa Claus in the Christmas film "The Christmas Chronicles".

Despite all his popularity: He never won an Oscar, probably other things were more important to him than awards. For "Silkwood" he was nominated in 1984 for a Golden Globe in the category "Best Supporting Actor". After all, Disney Studios declared him a "Disney Legend" in 1998.

To do this, he looked beyond his professional nose: since 2007 he has been producing his own Pinot noir red wines in the Santa Rita Hills wine-growing region in California. And he loves flying. In the "FAZ" he told how his 80-year-old grandfather had taught him "how to land my double-decker more gently". However, "I don't drink and fly at the same time!"

Happy with Goldie Hawn for over 38 years

The inconspicuousness of his private life is also noticeable. Kurt Russell was first married to actress Season Hubley (1973-1983, one son). Then he met the Hollywood joke Goldie Hawn. And he's been happy with her for over 38 years. The couple met in 1968 while filming. Goldie was 21 and Kurt was just 16. In 1982, it sparked on the set of "Swing Shift". Since then, the two have been a couple (one son).

The recipe for their completely scandal-free relationship was revealed by the twice-divorced Goldie Hawn "Radio Times": "Laugh a lot. Take time out from the kids. Go somewhere and do something that is fun. Take a hike. Go to a hotel room. Let something happen, that's unusual. For me, that's the way to start new flames. " Hawn and Russell would advise against marriage: "We're not married," Goldie said years ago. "I would have been divorced long ago if I had married Kurt."

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