He was a successful child star and later a successful adult actor — a mid-range star of big budget action films and the occasional comedy

Kurt Russell was born Kurt Vogel Russell on March 17, 1951, in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. As a youth, Russell aspired to follow the footsteps of his father, Bing Russell, who, in addition to being a big league baseball player, was also an actor. That his heroes Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris did the same thing only strengthened Kurt’s resolve to have both a baseball and acting career.

He first broke into acting on television, starring in the series ‘The Travels of Jamie McPheeters’, and made his film debut playing the boy who kicks Elvis in the 1963 Elvis Presley vehicle ‘It Happened at the World’s Fair’. After signing a 10-year contract with Disney, Russell got his big break as a juvenile actor in 1966, starring opposite Fred MacMurray in Disney’s live-action feature ‘Follow Me Boys!’.

His association with the studio lasted through 1975, and produced such comedic family movies as ‘The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit’ (1968), ‘The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes’ (1969), ‘The Barefoot Executive’ (1971), and ‘The Strongest Man in the World’ (1975). The last film marked Russell’s final collaboration with Disney, aside from his voicing the character of Copper in the studio’s ‘The Fox and the Hound’ (1981).

Still an avid baseball enthusiast during those years, Russell nurtured his dreams of becoming a professional ball player until a shoulder injury permanently changed his plans.

After ending his association with Disney, Russell disappeared from features — he did, however, appear in a few television movies — until playing the title role in ‘Elvis’. His next role as a sleazy used car salesman in Robert Zemeckis’ hilariously caustic ‘Used Cars’ (1980) allowed him to counter his wholesome, all-American nice guy image, and proved that he was an actor of untapped range.

In 1983, however, he moved to serious drama, playing opposite Cher and Meryl Streep in ‘Silkwood’. The success of that film helped him break into a more mainstream arena. However, it is with his performances in action films that Russell remains most widely associated. In 1996, he reprised his Snake Plissken character for ‘Carpenter’s Escape From LA’. The following year, he starred opposite Kathleen Quinlan in the revenge thriller ‘Breakdown’ before returning to the sci-fi/ action realm with ‘Soldier’ in 1998.

It would be two years before movie-going audiences would again catch a glimpse of Russell, though with his roles in ‘2000 Miles to Graceland’ again carrying on the Elvis associations that have haunted his career. The versatile actor proved that he was still very much on the scene. As for his personal life from wife Season Hubley (married in 1979) he has a son Boston, born in 1980. They got divorced in 1984.