Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor before transitioning to leading roles as an adult in various genres such as action adventures, science-fiction, westerns, romance films, comedic films, and family dramas. He is known for collaborating with filmmakers such as John Carpenter and Quentin Tarantino, and has received a Critics' Choice Super Award as well as various award nominations, including for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. At the age of 12, he began acting in the Western TV series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (1963–1964). In the late 1960s, he signed a ten-year contract with Walt Disney Productions, starring in films such as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972), and The Strongest Man in the World (1975). For his portrayal of rock and roll superstar Elvis Presley in the television film Elvis (1979), he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. Russell was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his role in Mike Nichols's Silkwood (1983). He collaborated with director John Carpenter playing antiheroes in the action films Escape from New York (1981) and its sequel Escape from L.A. (1996), the horror film The Thing (1982), and the comedy action film Big Trouble in Little China (1986). Russell also acted in Used Cars (1980), The Fox and the Hound (1981), The Best of Times (1986), Overboard (1987), Backdraft (1991), Captain Ron (1992), Tombstone (1993), Stargate (1994), Vanilla Sky (2001), Miracle (2004), Dreamer, Sky High (both 2005), Death Proof (2007), The Hateful Eight (2015), Bone Tomahawk (2015), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). Russell has also acted in several franchises, portraying Mr. Nobody in three films of the Fast & Furious franchise from 2015 to 2021, Ego in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) installments Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and What If...? (2021), and Santa Claus in the Netflix films The Christmas Chronicles (2018) and The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020).