A Disney Kid's0dyssey FromBatter's BoxTo Boffo Box

urt Russell is sitting in a cornerbooth at a New York art-deco deli,eating stuffed cabbage and a bowlof borscht topped by a beet the

size of a softball, when the bartender asksfor an autograph. "For my girlfriend, Sus-anne," the guy says, and then backs off,chatting with someone. Russell politely in-quires if it's Susanne with an "s" or a"2."The bartender doesn't hear. Russell asksagain. The bartender's still oblivious. Rus-sell is not. He's gonna get it right, dammit."Hey, pall" he yells like Snake Plissken inEscape from New York. "Is that an s or az?"

instant freeze-frames Russell'sWhole meandering career in tele-vision and the movies. Getting itright has helped save him from a

future obit that might've endedshortly after the phrase 'Juvenilestar in several 1960s Walt Dis-ney films." Together with hislooks, gruff charm, and surpris-ingly extensive range, getting itright has turned him into an ath-letic leading man or co-lead indramas (Silkwood, The MeanSeason), comedies (The Best ofTimes, Used Cars), and ac-tion-adventure flicks (T he T hing,Escape from New York).

His latest moie, Big Troublein Little China, is undiluted Rus-sell. It's a high action cartoonwith Russell as Jack Burton, a

truck driver who discovers a

mysterious labyrinth underneathSan Francisco's Chinatown."Burton cares, he's trying tohelp everybody out," says Rus-

Susse/l's latest,'8ig Trouhlein Liftle China'

sell about his character. "Snake Plisskenwould have said, 'Screw you.' "

Virtually all Russell's adult work, and asmattering of his early stuff, is available onvideo. Ironically absent are the two TVmovies that took him from Disneyworld toHollyworld: The Deadly Tower (1975),where he played Texas sniper CharlesWhitman, and the blockbuster E/ais(1979), which blind-sided the critics,earned Russell an Emmy nomination, andmade him, after 19 years in the business,an overnight star. "By the time I got toEluis," he relates in the slangy drawl of thestreet-corner kid he never was, "mentallyI was prepared to blow it out. I said I'mdoin' this exactly the way I wanna do it. Ifnobody likes it, tough shit, that's the way itgoes-if everybody hates me, I'm gone,out of the business. But, " he understates,"it didn't work out that way. "

No, it didn't. Instead, Russell took overthe family business and branched out prof-itably. He was raised in a performers'home, the son of (still-active) characteractor Bing Russell. "I just went to Portlandto see him play the sheriff in Best LittleWhorehouse in Texas," says Russell //s."When I was a kid in Thousand Oaks[Calif.], my dad was known on our block;he'd do a Bonanza and everybody wouldsee it and they'd say'nice show'or some-thing. He's very gracious and took it all instride. But even though he's the sort ofperson who enjoys a certain amount ofrecognizability, I knew that factor wasn't abig deal to him. I guess I got my ownfeelings about it from him. I realized at anearly age that recognizability was not im-portant to me. Money is, because beingable to live my life the way I want to live itis. So if recognizabrhty goes with that, youweigh what it's worth. So far, it's worth it. "

Fame, money, and the subsequent

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Busse// with Meryl Streep and Cher in 'Silkwood' (above);with Bobin Williams in 'The Best 0t Times' (left); andwith Heather North in 'The Bareloot Executive' (below).

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irlrris for Uncle Walt, grorving up from pre-cocious-krd roles to nice-guy boy{riendsand llances. Taking time off from Disney,he also filmed Fools' Parttde (1971) withJinnry Stewart, George Kennedy, AnneBaxter, and William Windont.

FAMILY AFFAIBA couple of years earlier, while shooting

The Onc and Only Genui.na Originol Fanti-11' I)ttnd (1968), the 17-year-old Russellhad met Goldie Hawn, a 23-year-old ac-tress rnaking her film debut in a small roleas a dancer. Fourteen years later, on theset of Sruir.rg Shi.tt, they would nieet againand tall in love. 'l'his

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K,'aperks lveren't supposed to come from act-ing, but ti-om baseball. After Russell's fanii-I,v rnoved fronr Massachusetts, where hewas born in 1951, to Maine, and finally tosouthern California, he became siniultane-ously a child actor and a sandkrt hero. Hervas eventually drafted into the minorleagues and, 1iom 1971 to '74 (when a bumshoulder benched hint for good), Russellspent springs and summers playing secondbase for the Hawaiian Islanders. the ElI'aso Sun Kings, and the Portland Maver-icks. During the winters, he kept up anacting career that began when he was nineyears old and sarv that his father "was mak-ing real good ntoney and it wasn't taking upa lot of tinre. I saicl, "'l'hat's for nte'." helaughs.

Episodic TV wasn't exactly Shake-speare in the Park, but then, a lot ofactorsrvho'r'e tried to ntake a living in televisioncouldn't. With his father's connections andhrs orvn natural talent and smarts, Russellgot u'crrk on shows fromDe nnis the Menacekt Dit h I'oue ll Theatre. He later got to kickElvis Presley in the shins (It Happened atthe lVorld's Foir, 1963).'lhat same year,he starred in his orvn'1'V shou', a rvag-

on-train drarna called ZlcTraucls o.i J uinieMcPheeters. "'l'he seriestook me out of publicschool for the first time,"says Russell who, like oth-er child actors, continuedhis education'n'ia tutors onthe studio lot. "Until then,if I did, say, two televisionshows a year, that mighthave taken five days. Lat-er on, it would be nraybe three rveeks or, atthe most, ten weeks a year. 1'he rest of thetime I was rvith m-v friends and going topublic school and hanging out. Son.retimesI'd be doing those m<-rvies during the sr,tm-

mei when er ervbody else u'as on vlt ation.so they didn't even knorv I was gone. "

Jairnie McPheeters dtdn't take him au'avfrorn that routine for long; it rvas cancelledafter six months, killed in the ratings bvWalt Disnels Wondertul lVorld o,l'Color.The Disne-v people must have been keep-ing tabs on the competition-a year or solater, they offered Russell a place in theirinfonnal l'V and movie repertor,v* compa-ny. He eventually did over half a dozen

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"Goldie and I started having fun rightfrom the start [of Swing Shift] and neverstopped, " says Russell, smiling peacefully.He has a son, Boston, from a previousmarriage. "Having another kid now is real-ly fun. I'm really glad. It's one of thosethings at onr age you think about. It's a

tougher decision for the gal than the guy,but it just makes you feel so good whenyou're comfortable with it.There's nothingthat will split a home faster if it's in questionthan a baby; there's nothing greater for it ifyou're sure. " Hawn and Russell, for theirown reasons, aren't married and live moreor less together in Aspen. Russell, a 15-year resident, is having a luxury log cabinbuilt for the two of them. Hawn's children,Oliver and Kate, from her marriage to mu-sician Bill Hudson, are enrolled in a privateschool in the area.

Russell's parallel baseball career was notanyuvhere near as propitious. As a player inthe minors, his specialty was being traded.When his shoulder injury finally put a finishto whatever career he might have had,Russell became "shattered. Baseball wasall over. Gone. I knew I had another outletin acting, but I didn't think it would be asfulfiiling. For about three years while I wasplaylng ball, I'd sort of just gone aboutmaking TV shows and the Disney pictures.But after the injury I realized that I wasgonna make a career out of the picturebusiness, that acting really was what I didlike the best. And I realized that, like inbaseball, I was going to have to get into a

different league. I had to become a differ-ent kind of actor than I was. I knew I couldplay many types of characters, " he recalls,"because in life I could do that."

NEW ATTITUDERussell's new outlook began by affecting

a Swedish accent for a shortlived TV se-ies, The N ew Land (197 4), and, except forthe occasional schlock foray-a HollywoodSquareshere, aBattle of the Network Starsthere-it continued through several TVmovies, episodic shows (including an effec-tive Then Came Bronson where Russellplayed an injured ballplayer), and one morequick-death series (Ifte Quest). "At thispoint I was beginning to not just take what-ever jobs were offered. I was beginning tohave an idea of how I wanted my career togo. I said to mysell I want to do characterleads in movies." After Ehtis-in whichRussell's father played Elvis' father, andRussell's then-wife Season Hubley playedPriscilla Presley-the TV utility-playerwas finally able to bid bye-bye to the box.His subsequent movies haven't exactlybeen Star lllars successes, but he's donewell, and even when his fikns are panned,everybody likes Kurt.

If they hadn't, Russell swears he'd havebeen perfectly satisfied in some less cele-brated career than acting-just so long asthe pay was very good. "One of the things Iliked about Reno Hightower [The Best of

Times ex-high-school football starl wasthat here was a guy who reached the peak

of his popularity early on in life, and hewasn't bitter or regretful that he didn'thave that anymore. He was comfortablejust being a guy who painted vans for a

living, and he was damned good at it."The view seems romanticized, seen

through the eyes of someone who's been a

celebrity all his life. Russell admits that,"Sure, this is easy for me to say. But I wentthrough it myself with baseball. I knowwhat it feels like. And there are so manythings that I really enjoy in life outside mywork that I'd have been able to deal withnot being known. I don't like to work, but

there are jobs that you can make plent-v ofmoney at that don't take a lot of time. Iwould've gone after one of those."

Kurt Russell has worked with directorJohn Carpenter four times: on E/urs, whichCarpenterjoined after the major roles hadbeen cast, The Thing (1982), Big Trottblein Little China (L986), and the movie thatconsolidated the elements of success thatElur first drew together: Escape.iron ){ eu,York.

Carpenter's 1981 cult classic about a

near-future New York Citir turned maxi-mum-security prison is a cheert'ully nihilis-tic romp. Adorned with an e1'e-patch and a

continued on page 142

SELECTED VIDEOGNAPHYfHE BANEFOOT EXECUTIVE1971. Russell, Joe Flynn, Harry Morgan,Wally Cox, John Ritter; dir. Robert Butler.95m. (G) $69.95. Disney.

THE BEST OF TIMES1986. Robin Williams, Russell, PamelaReed, Donald Moffat; dir. Roger Spottis-woode. (PG-13) Hi cc $79.95. LV cc $34.95.Embassy.

THE COMPUTEN WONE IENNIS SHOES

1969. Russell, Cesar Romero, Joe Flynn;dir. Robert Butler. (G) $69.95. Disney.

ESCAPE FROM IIEW YONK1981. Russell, Lee Van Cleei Donald Plea-sence, Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton,Adrienne Barbeau, Season Hubley; dir. JohnCarpenter. 99m. (R) $79.95. LV ST ss

$34.95. Embassy

FOUOW ME, BOYS!1966. Fred MacMurray, Vera Miles, LillianGish, Charlie Ruggles, Russell; dir. NormanTokar. 120m. (G) $69.95. Disney.

THE MEAII SfNSO,I'1985. Russell, RichardJordan, Mariel Hem-ingway; dir. Phillip Borsos. 106m. (R) Hi$79.95. Thom

NOW YOU SEE HIM, NOW YOU DON'r1972. Russell, Cesar Romero, Joe Flynn,Jim Backus, William Windom; dir. Robert

Butler. Sequel to ComPuter Wore TennisSftoss. 88m. (G) $69.95. Disney.

THE ONE AND ONLY GENUINE ONIGWALFAMILY BAI,ID

1968. Walter Brennan, Buddy Ebsen, Les-ley Ann Warren, John Davidson, Russell,Goldie Hawn; dir. Michael O'Herlihy. 110m.

$69.95. LV $34.95. Disney.

silJ(w00D1983. MerylStreep, Russell, Cher, CraigT.Nelson; dir. Mike Nichols. 131m. (R)$79.95. LV $44.95. Embassy.

SWING SHIFT1984. Goldie Hawn, Russell, ChristineLahti, Ed Harris; pr. Hawn; dir. JonathanDemme. 100m. (PG) $79.95. LV CX$34.98. Warner.

THE THING

1982. Russell, Wilford tsrimley, RichardMasur; dir. John Carpenter. 108m. (R) St I)$79.95. LV St ss CX $29.98. MCA.

usfo cIPs1980. Russell, Jack Warden, Gerrit Graham;dir. RobertZemeckis. 113m. (R)$69.95. LV$29.95. RCtuColumbia.

SOURCESFor key to abbreviations and address infor-mation on video companies, see "Program-ming Sources" after "Directory."