Bing Russell
Biography
Neil Oliver "Bing" Russell (May 5, 1926 – April 8, 2003) was an American actor and Class A minor-league baseball club owner. He was the father of Hollywood actor Kurt Russell. Although best known as the deputy on Bonanza (1959) and Robert in The Magnificent Seven (1960), Russell's was also well known on a national level as the owner of the Portland Mavericks Baseball Club. Helming the only independent team in the class A Northwest League, Russell was an innovator. Before Bull Durham (1988), there were the Mavericks. Russell kept a 30 man roster because he believed that some of the players deserved to have one last season. His motto was simply one three lettered word - not WIN - although the Mavericks did just that - no, the word was FUN. He created a park that kept all corporate sponsorship outside the gates, hired the first female general manager in professional baseball, and the following year hired the first Asian American GM/Manager. That same season his team set a record for the highest attendance in Minor league history, and went on to win the pennant. Ex-major leaguers and never-weres who couldn't stop playing the game flocked to his June tryouts, which were always open to anyone that showed up. From as far away as Capetown, and France, players would head to Portland for a chance with Russell's Mavericks.
Known For
Tom Rayburn
One Man's Way
Vernon Presley
Elvis
Skag, Belden Hand
Last Train from Gun Hill
George Fletcher
Good Day for a Hanging
Braden's Telegraph Operator (uncredited)
Cheyenne Autumn
Dunker, Yankee Soldier Amputee
The Horse Soldiers
Greybeard
Journey to Shiloh
Man (uncredited)
How the West Was Won
A Gathering of Eagles
Rol King (as Neil Russell)
Yuma
Sheriff
A Taste of Evil
Medic
Attack
Public Relations Man
The Sex Symbol
Lt. Chet Hall
Suicide Battalion
Chuck
Set This Town on Fire
Bartender (uncredited)
A Life at Stake
Robert
The Magnificent Seven
Radio Operator (uncredited)
The Land Unknown
State Trooper
The Deadly Mantis
Lieutenant with Supply Wagon
Drango
Cowboy Murdered in Saloon (uncredited)
Rio Bravo
Studio Guard
Sunset
Elk Cove: Sheriff Earl
Overboard
Cult of the Cobra
Joe
Stakeout!
Douglas Hamilton
Cattle Empire
Horner
The Hallelujah Trail
Mr. Griffey
A Cry in the Wilderness
Sergeant Riley
Madame X
Angelo
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
Alfred
Now You See Him, Now You Don't
Operator (uncredited)
Bombers B-52
Herm Dally
The Apple Dumpling Gang
Club Ritz Patron
Dick Tracy
Mr. Smith
The Million Dollar Duck
Sheriff
Satan's School for Girls
Second Track Meet Official
Blackbeard's Ghost
Fred Dawkins
The Loneliest Runner
Van Driver
Tango & Cash
Corporal Norman
Ride a Violent Mile
Mr. Mulvaney
The Stripper
Used-Car Salesman
Teenage Thunder
Fireman
Runaway!
Himself (Archive Footage)
The Battered Bastards of Baseball
Trooper
Death Sentence
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe
Big Leaguer
Hogan
Flashing Spikes
Morgan (uncredited)
The Great Impostor
Without Incident
Harry - Griffin Bartender (uncredited)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
51
Gender
Male
Birthday
1926-05-05
Place of Birth
Brattleboro, Vermont, USA
Also Known As
Neil Oliver "Bing" Russell