Bing Russell was a ball player, minor league baseball team owner and the father of Kurt.
Oh, and he acted as well. Very well, as a matter of fact.
The BONANZA and Walt Disney regular was born on May 5th, 1926.
He passed away on April 8th, 2003.
Russell was 76.
Bing and Kurt worked together often, in several Disney pics (NOW YOU SEE HIM, NOW YOU DON'T, THE COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES) as well
as John Carpenter's ELVIS
in which Bing played Vernon Presley & Kurt was the King
He also played small roles in his son's films TANGO & CASH and OVERBOARD
Bing's most famous screen role: Robert, opposite Val Avery as Henry, 2 traveling salesmen in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
That's Whit Bissell to the left
From 1963 to 1972 Russell played Deputy Clem Foster in
over 50 episodes of BONANZA
L to R: Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, guest star Lou Frizzell and
Russell
Russell made dozens of appearances on many other TV westerns like
THE VIRGINIAN with Doug McClure
and THE RIFLEMAN
Besides oaters, Russell appeared in all other genres on TV, as well as film.
He played henchmen, cops, military types, sheriff's, deputy's, bartenders, reporters, ballplayer's, security guards, etc. in over 150 films and TV shows.
Russell worked with some of my favorite film directors and movie stars: John Ford, John Wayne, Steve McQueen, Robert Aldrich, Blake Edwards, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Howard Hawks, John Sturges, his son and more.
Ford directed Russell in my favorite of his performances: The Yankee soldier Sgt. Dunker, who has to have his leg amputated by William Holden in THE HORSE SOLDIERS.
Holden gives Russell the bad news in
THE HORSE SOLDIERS
The colorful cast of THE HORSE SOLDIERS
Besides THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, Sturges used Russell effectively in GUNFIGHT AT O.K. CORRAL and THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL.
His many other Disney film appearances include: THE LOVE BUG, BLACKBEARD'S GHOST, THE MILLION DOLLAR DUCK and THE APPLE DUMPLING GANG.
THE LOVE BUG
Russell's other big screen credits included: KISS ME DEADLY, CULT OF THE COBRA, TARANTULA, GOOD DAY FOR A HANGING, MADAME X, THE LAND UNKNOWN, RIO BRAVO, JOURNEY TO SHILOH, FEAR STRIKES OUT, RIDE TO HANGMAN'S TREE, BEAU JAMES, Red in BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA, INCIDENT AT PHANTOM HILL, CHEYENNE AUTUMN, RIDE A VIOLENT MILE, THE DEADLY MANTIS, DRANGO, BOMBERS B-52, ONE MAN'S WAY, SUICIDE BATTALION, THE STRIPPER, STAKEOUT, THE GREAT IMPOSTOR, SAINT OF DEVIL'S ISLAND, CATTLE EMPIRE, DICK TRACY. SUNSET and more.
His many other TV movie and series appearances included: THE LONELIEST RUNNER, ARTHUR HAILEY'S THE MONEYCHANGERS, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, PETROCELLI, MANNIX, THE SEX SYMBOL, DEATH SENTENCE, GUNSMOKE, SATAN'S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, LONGSTREET, A TASTE OF EVIL, THE ROCKFORD FILES, YUMA, DEATH VALLEY DAYS, ADAM-12, THE BIG VALLEY, THE GUNS OF WILL SONNETT, HONDO, THE MUNSTERS, I DREAM OF JEANNIE, IRONSIDE, THE MONKEES, THE FUGITIVE, THE DONNA REED SHOW, BRANDED, COMBAT!, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, HAZEL, LARAMIE, BRONCO, SUGARFOOT, HAVE GUN-WILL TRAVEL, THE UNTOUCHABLES, MAVERICK, STAGECOACH WEST, ZANE GREY THEATER, YOU ARE THERE, THE PUBLIC DEFENDER, WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE, NAVY LOG, CODE 3, HIGHWAY PATROL, BLACK SADDLE and many, many more.
With Richard St, John on
THE MONKEES
Did you know...?
A League of Their Own
Bing and Kurt both played minor league baseball.
The elder Russell played for the Carrollton Hornets in 1948 & '49.
In 89 games he had a .247 batting average.
Bing also owned the 1970's minor league Portland Mavericks, the only independent team in the Class A Northwest league.
He had the distinction of hiring the first female and Asian American General Managers in the history of professional baseball.
From 1971 to 1973, Kurt played for such California Angel Class A & AA teams as the Bend Rainbows, Walla Walla Islanders and El Paso Sun Kings.
He also played for his dad's team at the same time he was Vice President of the Mavericks!
Kurt hit .292 in 110 games.
Bing's grandson and Kurt's nephew is former professional baseball player
Matt Franco, who holds the major league record for most pinch hit walks in a season.
Bing at work:
http://youtu.be/F8Eb3a_BbZk Spoiler Alert! Amputation Scene from THE HORSE SOLDIERS Russell is great
http://youtu.be/Nv7_-bKWeac Before he played Deputy Clem, Russell was Major Reynolds in
The Honor Of Cochise episode of BONANZA
http://youtu.be/yHpWRwvRO20 CATTLE EMPIRE 1958 the full movie
http://youtu.be/Ge5BiS_VnlI A scene from the rotten DRACULA VS. BILLY THE KID
http://youtu.be/utxpoRcxNtc Russell & Russell in ELVIS
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