He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care."
He claims that he often felt an outcast in Hollywood because of his Libertarian beliefs, and so moved to live in an area outside Aspen, Colorado, where he started to try his hand at writing.
He is an FAA licensed Private Pilot holding single/multi- engine and instrument ratings.
His character Snake Plissken (of Escape from New York (1981)) is about to become a comic book. Published by theCrossGen imprint Code 6 Comics, the book will be known as The Snake Plissken Chronicles. It is marked for publication beginning in 2003.
In his audio commentary for The Thing (1982), he joked with director John Carpenter about the scene where he threw a stick of dynamite at the character Palmer (who was turning into the Thing) and how the explosion was more powerful than he had expected. In truth, he could have been seriously injured.
Is a big fan of Elvis Presley, Patrick Rondat and Tom Robinson.
Is a card carrying member of the NRA.
Is a libertarian.
Is good friends with director John Carpenter. The two have collaborated on five different films: Elvis (1979/I) (TV), Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982), Big Trouble in Little China (1986) and Escape from L.A. (1996).
Is good friends with stunt man Dick Warlock, who was his stunt double for over 20 years.
Made his film debut in the Elvis Presley film, It Happened at the World's Fair (1963). He later went on to play him in Elvis (1979/I) (TV), and to provide his voice in Forrest Gump (1994).
One of his heroes since boyhood was John Wayne. He was able to use his dead-on John Wayne impression (to twisted effect) in Grindhouse (2007).
Partner of Goldie Hawn (1983 - present) 1 child.
Performs many of his stunts himself.
Played pro baseball (2nd base, AA club- California Angels) until a torn shoulder muscle forced retirement in 1973. Was hitting .563 at the time. His friend, Ron Shelton wrote the Crash Davis role in Bull Durham (1988) for him - the studio insisted on Kevin Costner though.
Portrayed cult classic heroes in four different movies: Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982), Stargate (1994) and Escape from L.A. (1996).
Quit smoking cigars in 2006.
Received The Disney Legends Award 1998 for living up to the Disney principals of: The Disney Legends award has three distinct elements that characterize the contributions made by each talented recipient. The Spiral ... stands for imagination, the power of an idea. The Hand ... holds the gifts of skill, discipline and craftsmanship. The Wand and the Star ... represent magic: the spark that is ignited when imagination and skill combine to create a new dream.
Rode along with the Chicago Fire Dept.'s Squad 5 in preparation for his role in Backdraft (1991).
Said in his audio commentary for Big Trouble in Little China (1986) that the test audiences reacted so well to the film that he thought for sure that he and director friend John Carpenter had a box office hit on their hands. However, the studio put so little effort into advertising the film that it ultimately didn't do as well at the box office but became a cult favorite instead.