When it comes to the legend of Walt Disneys final statement, Kurt Russell has the last word.Disney Studios has always been a huge part of the actors career. He signed a 10-year contract with the studio early on and now Russell is starring as Star-Lords dad, Ego, in Disney and Marvels upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Still, his connection to the company goes well beyond business.As a kid, Russell had a close, personal relationship with Walt Disney. The industry pioneer thought so highly of the young actor that a legend surfaced claiming Disneys last words were actually Kurt Russell.In fact, its more than legend, according to Russell. Its true.Disney died in 1966 when Russell was still a teen. The actor says he learned about Disneys last words a couple of years later.In a recent interview, Russell told HuffPost, They pulled me into the office a couple years after he died, and this womanwho I dont believe it was his secretary, but it mightve been, I dont know ' pointed to [something he wrote]and she said, Do you know what thats about' And I said, No, I dont.[She said], Because he wrote something after it. But then he went back up and he wrote your name. That was the last thing he wrote. And I said, Oh gee. I dont know what its connected to.Was it because Disney considered Russell a friend' Was it for a movie role' Who knows' Russell said hes been asked about it for years,but he doesnt know any more than that. She was pointing out that thats the last thing he wrote. Thats the only thing I know.The actor said Disney was very important in his life and he learned a tremendous amount from him. Russells stories are even more unbelievable than learning Disneys last words.We did have a personal relationship. We played Ping-Pong at lunch sometimes. Hed come down to set. Wed go watch movies that the studio was making, and hed come down and ask if I wanted to go see them. Hed took me around and introduced me to all the different departments at Disney,and at one point gave me a bunch of original photo cells that they make the backdrop drawings of the characters and stuff like that, said Russell.There were many, many things that I connected with him [on], he continued. He reminded me a lot of my own grandfather. My grandfather was a creative and sort of inventive man, and they were not dissimilar in their demeanor,too.Apparently, Disney even liked to give Russell career advice. The actors family has adeep connection to professional baseball;his dad, Bing Russell, ended up owning a minor league baseball teama unique minor league baseball team (which is the subject of the documentary The Battered Bastards of Baseball). Kurt played pro baseball himself for a while, too. Disney told him early on that he didnt think it was for him.I was very comfortable around him, and I had a great time with him, great relationship, and it was very important. He said to me, Baseball might not be something that you end up doing as a career. He said, I think you might want to look at things in this business because I think youre going to have a long career. So he did have a strong effect on me, recalled Russell.After an injuryreportedly slowed his baseball dreams, Russell became an actor again, and Disneys prediction of a long career came true.Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is now set to be one of the biggest box-office successes of the actors career, and its coming on the heels of another one of the his movies, Fate of the Furious, which issoon passing $1 billion worldwide.Russell said, Its just serendipitous the fact that theyre coming out literally back-to-back, so thats kind of [an] amazing event.Or perhaps its just a bit of Disney magic. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 hits theaters in May. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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