With a distinct and easily identifiable face and voice, actor Kurt Russell has seen no shortage of notable and memorable roles throughout his illustrious and ongoing career of over 50 years.
Inspiring sports movies, gritty westerns, exciting thrillers, big-budget action flicks, goofy comedies, heart-warming family movies; if you can name a genre, it's likely been covered in Russell's diverse portfolio. Just as diverse as the movies he's starred in is the list of characters Russell has portrayed, several of which come with appearances as recognizable as Russell himself. To honor his work, we're recognizing ten of the legendary actor's most iconic character looks.
Herb Brooks - Miracle (2004)
Currently streaming on Netflix, Miracle tells the story of the 1980 U.S. Men's Olympic Hockey Team, which overcame incredible odds to defeat a Soviet team at the height of the Cold War. The team is led by their unconventional, inspiring, relentless, and quotable coach - Herb Brooks.
Russell's look as Brooks may not be as extreme, humorous, or badass as the other entries on this list, but the hairstyle and plaid jacket make it memorable, and it's incredibly accurate when compared side-by-side with the look of the real Coach Brooks.
Colonel Jack O'Neil - Stargate (1994)
Currently streaming on Starz, Stargate is a sci-fi adventure set in motion when Egyptologist Dan Jackson (James Spader) decodes an artifact discovered in Egypt, which turns out to be a portal to an alien planet inhabited by Ancient Egyptians.
Russell plays Jack O'Neil, a soldier sent in by the U.S. Military alongside Jackson in case the planet's inhabitants prove hostile. When Jackson discovers the Egyptians are being manipulated to keep a powerful alien god alive, O'Neil rallies them to rebel against their corrupt leader, and thanks to a badass set of gloves, sunglasses, and a beret atop his perfect flat-top haircut, he does it in style too.
Jack Burton - Big Trouble In Little China (1986)
When David Lo Pan (James Hong), an ancient Chinese sorcerer controlling a gang in modern San Francisco's Chinatown, kidnaps an innocent girl (Suzee Pai), it's the girl's future brother-in-law - hard-boiled truck driver Jack Burton - that must rescue her before she's ritually sacrificed, making for a supernaturally action-packed thrill ride.
Sporting a white tank top tucked into a pair of blue jeans, Russell's wardrobe resembles the one he'd later wear in Tango & Cash (1989), but the large and colorful Fu Manchu design on the front gives the sleeveless shirt an attention-grabbing pop, and Russell's sweet mullet makes for the perfect icing on this '80s beefcake.
Stuntman Mike - Death Proof (2007)
His first collaboration with director Quentin Tarantino sees Russell portraying the personification of toxic masculinity in Death Proof's antagonist - Stuntman Mike. The audience first meets this character at a bar, shoveling handfuls of nachos into his sober mouth while he stalks a group of young women he plans to murder.
The creepy demeanor, huge facial scar, and long, slicked-back hair all effectively convey Stuntman Mike's sliminess, but it's the silver satin biker jacket with the huge "IcyHot" logo adorned across the back that makes for this psycho killer's memorable pièce de résistance.
Wyatt Earp - Tombstone (1993)
Tombstone is loosely based on the events surrounding the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona and the four legendary U.S. lawmen who fought off outlaws there - Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), Morgan Earp (Bill Paxton), Virgil Earp (Sam Elliott), and their leader - Wyatt Earp.
Some argue that Tombstone is the best Western movie ever made, but one thing that's not debatable is this: the mustache game from the four leads is cinematically unparalleled. The best mustache in the movie is a tight battle between Russell and Elliott, but the grim reaper-like righteousness Russell brings to his Earp appearance is undeniably iconic.
Rudy Russo - Used Cars (1980)
While Russell's look in Miracle is meant to encapsulate the style of 1980, his look is hilariously perfected in the actual 1980 movie Used Cars, in which Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Back to the Future) tells the story of a hot-shot salesman tasked with saving a struggling used car lot from being taken over by the owner's ruthless brother and business rival (both played by Jack Warden).
It's difficult to envision a scenario in which Rudy doesn't accomplish his goal, as the smooth-talking, wise-cracking, feathery-haired, plaid jacket and sternum-length tie-wearing salesman could sell ice to Eskimos.
Captain Ron - Captain Ron (1992)
After Martin Harvey (Martin Short) inherits a yacht in the Caribbean, he treats his family to a tropical vacation to claim the vessel. Upon arrival in the islands, Martin sees the boat is in rough shape, so he hires the dubious Captain Ron to help fix up and pilot the ship.
Captain Ron gets the Harvey family into all sorts of trouble in a story full of raunchy laughs, all of which are personified by the dirty-blond dreadlocks, puka shell necklace, eye patch, and red speedo that only Russell could pull off.
The Commander - Sky High (2005)
Before he portrayed Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Russell first donned a cape as The Commander - one of the world's most famous superheroes and father to protagonist Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) in Disney's Sky High.
Will is shamed when his powers don't measure up to his legacy, but when his superhero parents are incapacitated, it's up to Will and his gang of low-level heroes to save the day, and it's a good thing they do because a world without The Commander around is a much less stylish one. You'll also be rocking out to the soundtrack for days.
John Ruth The Hangman- The Hateful Eight (2015)
If your handbill says "dead or alive", all other bounty hunters will shoot you in the back from the top of some perch and bring your body in over a saddle. But when John Ruth the Hangman catches you, you hang.
This information given by bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) at the beginning of The Hateful Eight gives the audience all they need to know about Kurt Russell's character in his second Tarantino collaboration. Covered from head-to-toe in fur with a thick mustache and mane of grey hair protruding from his head, this is the pinnacle of Russell's Western looks.
Snake Plissken - Escape From New York (1981)
Years before Big Trouble in Little China, Russell's first theatrical collaboration with John Carpenter (Halloween) was the action-packed Escape from New York, in which he plays a Special Forces soldier turned criminal who's forced by the US government to rescue the country's President, who's been taken hostage in Manhattan, which has become a maximum-security prison in 1997.
Muscles bulge from his tight black tank top and thick wristwatch, lusciously long locks flow from his head, and it's a good thing he only needs one eye to shoot the enormous gun nestled in his camouflage pants, because he also wears an eye patch. His name is S.D. Plissken, but you can call him "Snake".