Kurt Russell Became A Dependable Dad To Oliver And Kate Hudson After Their Father Deserted Them

Sep 30, 2022

Throughout the years, Kurt Russell has proven that he is a versatile actor ready to take on the most challenging roles or even the silliest ones. We’ve seen him transform from a Disney child star to an award-winning actor. As The Atlantic described him in 2017, he is still a "one-of-a-kind movie star." But outside being an actor, Kurt plays a more important role: a family man. 

Kurt has been dating his partner, Goldie Hawn, for more than 40 years. The couple has been together since 1983 after initially meeting in 1966 while filming together. However, they reconnected on the set of their film "Swing Shift," and have been inseparable ever since, even going on to star in more movies together after becoming romantically involved. However, the couple never chose to get married. 

They each brought children into their partnership — Hawn with Oliver and Kate Hudson, and Kurt with Boston Russell, whom he shares with ex-wife Season Hubley. Together, the couple shares a son, Wyatt Russell. With many of the kids following in their parents’ footsteps and becoming actors, the showbiz family is often seen supporting each other at premieres or spending quality time together, some of which they share on social media. 

With such a large and mixed family, one would wonder how everyone gets along, but photos on social media from Hawn and Kurt show that the family continues to be extremely close even today. Even though Kurt is not Oliver and Kate's biological father, Kate has shown time and again that the love she shares with her "pa" is strong and unwavering. 

With their blended family, Kurt wanted to ensure that he was a great father figure to Hawn's children. This was a conscious choice on the part of the couple, as Kurt said in an interview with the Daily Mail in 2018:

"Everyone has their marker on what is really important and where you draw the line. For Goldie and me, that core value was this: the kids come first. That big movie I turned down came at an age when they really needed one of us around."

But as much as Kurt has always been a loving father to his children, he can be very strict, too. He came into Kate and Oliver’s lives at a time when they needed a father by their side. The famous siblings have been estranged from their father, Bill Hudson, since the 1990s. 

In 2015, Bill told his children via an interview with Inside Edition to stop using his last name and “shut up already” after he admitted to getting hurt over Oliver’s post on Instagram. “Change your name to Russell. I’ll throw a party for you,” he said. The photo showed Oliver, Kate and Bill at Disneyworld with the caption, “Happy Abandonment Day.” “It makes me feel horrible,” Bill said at that time. 

In January 2022, Kate said in an interview on "Today with Hoda & Jenna," as reported by Hello Magazine that she got her strictness towards her children from Kurt. “Kurt was pretty strict. I definitely got a lot more of the Kurt side,” she remarked. 

She has three kids: Ryder, with her ex-husband Chris Robinson, Bingham, with her former partner Matt Bellamy, and Rani with her fiancé Danny Fujikawa.  

Kate went on to say that she’s far more strict as a parent than her brother Oliver. She said, “I’m definitely more strict than Oliver Hudson!" 

Oliver, on the other hand, has three children with his wife Erinn Bartlett. They are Wilder, Bodhi, and Rio.  

Kurt's strictness as a parent became even more apparent when Oliver got arrested as a teen. He and his friends were brought down to a police station after shooting a group of people with fully-loaded paintball guns. In an interview on "Live with Kelly and Ryan," Oliver recalled the unforgettable moment. 

"I did get arrested when I was 16 years old. It was a crazy story 'cause they had to call the parents, and they said, 'What's your dad's name?' and I said, 'Oh my God. Kurt Russell,'" said Oliver, adding: "They're like, 'No, kid, what's your dad's name?' And I said, 'It's Kurt Russell.’ They started fighting over who was gonna make the phone call. It was crazy." 

Oliver admitted Kurt wasn’t happy with what happened at that time. "Look, we were stupid. We had paintball guns. We were doing dumb things, as kids do. He understood what it was like for him when he was that age; he did stupid stuff as well. But he was not a happy dad, let's just say that."

He also shared the punishment he got from Kurt following the incident in an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live! back in 2018. 

“My punishment was to shoot up my Honda Prelude with a blue leather interior,” he said. “I had to shoot up my car, dent it up, and drive that for the rest of my existence.”   

“His philosophy is, I know what I did was wrong, right? So why ground me?” Oliver added. “So at point-blank range you’re going to destroy your car and you’re going to have to drive it for the rest of however long you own this car.”

Despite his strictness as a father, Kurt always gets the sweetest father’s day greetings from his children. In June 2022, Kate shared a photo of her hugging Kurt on social media. “Fun, adventurous, passionate, determined, honest, devoted, amazing father and the best head of hair in Los Angeles! Lucky us! Love you Pa! Happy Fathers Day,” Kate wrote in the caption of her post. 

That photo made Kurt feel emotional, and he admitted he cried the moment he saw it. "Wow … it's a killer. Lotta water under the bridge … it's kinda hard to see it though cause all that water seems to somehow have found its way into my eyes," Kurt told Kate via Hawn, who shared his message in the comments section. 

Meanwhile, Kate, in an interview with Howard Stern, admitted that while Kurt is not perfect, he earned her trust. “He’s not a perfect man. Like no one is. But the trust that I got from him in terms of dependability, was just priceless,” Kate said. 

Indeed, Kurt is an inspiring dad. And even though Oliver and Kate aren’t his biological children, he considered them as his own. And it shows in the way the Hudson siblings see him as a dad. More than anything else, he was there when they needed him the most.   

What do you think about the way Kurt Russell raised Oliver and Kate Hudson? Do you also find him inspiring as a dad? Let us know your thoughts and pass this on to your family members!