From the Tiger Beat Archives, April 1970
There were two reasons Kurt Russell enjoyed working in an episode of “Then Came Bronson” recently. One was because he was able to play baseball for three weeks in his role for the program and the other was Michael Parks himself!
Unlike most of the actors who find Mike difficult to work with, Kurt enjoyed the experience tremendously! “I just loved the show and I thought he really did some great acting,” Kurt says.
Of course, Kurt and Mike are two different people, yet there are a few ways in which they are quite similar! For instance, they both seem to radiate a sort of friendliness and both have a certain touch of quiet intensity and a faraway look that frequently comes into their eyes. And speaking of eyes, they both got that beautiful blue that seems to penetrate right through you!
In addition, they both measure 5’11” tall and weigh about 160 pounds! But if that isn’t enough, the one that tops everything is that they are both outstanding baseball players and were both once sought after by leading professional baseball teams!
Perhaps it was the similarities that made Kurt and Mike hit it off together, or maybe it was simply the mutual respect that each had for the other!
Before working with Mike, Kurt knew him only as Bronson. Not one to gossip or listen to rumors, Kurt did not have a preformed opinion of what Mike would be like. “He’s a little bit strange to work with and he works like no one else. If he doesn’t like what the scripts calls for he will do it his way and it usually turns out better because he knows what Bronson would do–he is Bronson!”
One thing Michael Parks is well known for is his habit of suggestion ways for other actors in the script to do their lines. Some take this as an insult, some get mad, according to Kurt, but some just laugh at it. “At first I resented it because I was taken a bit off guard, but he always left it up to you whether you wanted to take his advice or not. Sometimes I did sometimes I didn’t. I think he was actually right with most of his suggestions but if I didn’t think so I told him, and he said okay!”
Kurt found working with Mike easy mostly because he took the attitude that “If I know my lines and do my part that’s all that counts. If they don’t like my interpretation, they can get someone else!”
Kurt says he learned a lot from working on “Then Came Bronson,” But then “I think you learn something in living every day,” he’ll tell you. “I think TV directors are a little too fussy. If an actor can improvise a little, the way Mike likes to, instead of following the script to a T, it usually comes out more natural. I think pictures are headed toward more realism!”
One thing Kurt really did learn during the “Bronson” filming, was to ride a motorcycle, and he fell in love with it! “I kept bugging everyone to show me how to and finally Michael did! Once I learned how, I didn’t want to get off but my role in the show didn’t call for me to ride at all.”
Another thing Kurt learned was that Mike is pretty good at “putting you on.” “He says things real seriously or just sort of stares at you and he’s kidding, but people don’t see it like that. I thought it was fun and every once in a while, I would just have to start laughing because I knew what he was doing and he knew that I knew! After a while I was just doing it back to him and we would both crack up just putting each other on!”
Kurt thinks there is only one reason Mike has become so disillusioned with Bronson. “He doesn’t like the scripts and this is his mistake. I think he overestimates the potential of TV. He’s very, very artistic and he wants to be good and he is. But sometimes you just can’t get a good script and I don’t think he understands that. He’s right, but what can you do? The program has got to go on regardless!”
Of course Kurt hopes he’ll have another chance to work with Mike for he “had a great time!” And recalls his last meeting with Mike in the airport terminal.
Kurt was finished with the shooting and was heading back to Los Angeles when he bumped into Mike in the terminal. He wasn’t sure at first what Mike’s reaction would be to seeing him, but Mike greeted him with a big smile and a warm handshake.
“He was smiling and really happy,” recalls Kurt. “He was wearing nice fitting slacks and was clean-shaven, even his hair was combed. We went to the coffee shop and just talked and laughed about some of the scenes for about half an hour! We didn’t get wrapped up in any deep conversations or anything, just casual talk. I don’t get too involved in news and politics and I didn’t want to bother him with it and I’m sure he didn’t want me to. We had a good time and I really like him a lot!”
Kurt himself would like to work in a Western next–preferably a movie. “I daydream a lot,” Kurt admits, “and my favorite dream is about the old Western days. I never got it out of my system, cowboys and Indians. I think those days have a sort of romantic attraction. You can imagine yourself diving into rescue a stagecoach with a beautiful girl on board!” Kurt claims he dreams quite a bit about his future and hope someday the dreams will be possible! He has just finished work on “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes,” a movie from Walt Disney Productions in which he takes on an upbeat comedy role. He plays a hip collegian who is jolted to genius by a backfiring computer!
Kurt himself will tell you he’s not really too intelligent himself so he had loads of fun playing someone with “smarts!” Don’t believe him though, for he’s likely to be “putting you on!” After all, look how far he’s come in his 18 years!
Again, Kurt claims he’s not a romantic, but there’s definitely a lot of girls around who feel romantic about him! Maybe it’s because of his deep blue eyes or the sincerity in his voice or maybe it’s just because he’s a beautiful, groovy and talented guy! Yes!
Kurt isn’t one to sit still for long, so look for him in an upcoming “Wonderful World of Color” TV segment, where he’ll display even another talent–singing. Is there anything he can’t do?
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