European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 13, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                V Kurt Russell As col. Jack o Neil in the top Box office hit 5to/ynre, which opens Friday at cafes  Russell the Star of no. 1 film at the Gate by Michael Mills Palm Beach Post Urt Russell thinks he has had a richly varied career and Why not after All his first major movie role was As an obnoxious kid who kicks Elvis pres Ley in 1963 s it happened at the world s Fajr. He then went on to play the King in the 1979 to movie Elvis. He spent his adolescence growing up on screen in a string of Disney features then skewered his wholesome image with a Trio of rugged roles in escape from new York Tutje thing and big trouble in link China i d like to think that i can keep having an Eclectic and i think that s a Good word for it career says Russell. But Russell does t define himself solely by his work which has spanned More than three decades and in stargaze review on Page 12 eluded 30 feature films. It s a career he sums up by saying the honest truth is yes i can take it or leave it."". A. " Don t get him wrong. Russell loves his work. It s just that he has never taken his Job As seriously As so Many in Hollywood do. I Don t even try to explain my 34 years of existence in this Industry other than to say that i know what i get out of it and Igeta Ellof a kick out of playing different peo ple in different types of  Russell s latest role is that of a Tough military Man col. Jack o Neil who Heads a top secret team investigating a mysterious artefact in Stargatt. The movie is no. 1 at the Box office in the United states arid opens Friday at cafes Heaters. One of Russell s More recent successes was last year s Tombstone a production he says was fraught with obstacles not the least of which was being compared in Advance with Kevin Costner s Harf Earp. I m pleased that ours did Well. I m not pleased that theirs did to but i also can t concern myself with that. There was a great Competition set up and once you re in that there s nothing you can do or " say i Felt that i could be a Good Wyatt Earp and that Val Kilmer could be a Good Doc Holliday. My vindication came in the fact that the movie got made and the audience liked  maybe Russell muses career in t even the right word for something subject to so Many Varia Bles so Many unpredictable whims As acting. It s Tough to look at it As a career except that it is How you make your living. But i always tend to think of careers As something you control and you cannot control a career in hol Lywood i Don t  now baseball that was a real career , an aspiring Pitcher who had signed to play for the san Diego padres until a shoulder injury forced him from thes game in his Early 20s. I did look at baseball As the career i would Pur sue with the most vengeance. There s a Way to control your growth there. The More you he the better you Field the faster you run the More Chance you have of succeeding in that Field. And you can do something about that you can practice you can work at it. It s not a matter of hmm he s just too tall for this part " -. Con  " "  . Networks ride the tube Tiden. By Lynn elber a television writer. A american is in France for a getaway vacation and finds a to reminder of Home in his hotel Katie Couric and Jay Leno beaming at him from Abc s today and tonight shows. Or visits Asia in january and discovers a new mandarin language version of mtg in which a Mariah Carey pop music video might be tucked in among the hottest chinese love songs. Welcome to the exploding world of International television in which . Companies already entrenched overseas arc expanding and others Are scrambling to gain a foothold. Popular culture has always been one of the great american exports says Tom Friston chairman and chief executive officer of mtg Fretwork a Leader in foreign to development. Many , companies Are very Well positioned to take the expertise they be developed Here and Export  mtg took its first step in 1986, Selling a few hours of programming to Japan s Asahi network. Now it is the Only to Channel available on every continent says Christopher Dixon an Industry analyst with Pai Dewebber. V increasing deregulation in countries that once had Only government controlled to stations has made such growth possible. It s Only in the past several years that we be seen a valid privatization of foreign television stations Dixon says. Meanwhile Cable and satellite technology have created More channels to fill. Entrepreneurial Cable firms such As mtg net works a division of Viacom International inc., and Ted Turner s can jumped in Early. Some eager broadcast companies now Are getting their piece of the global pie. Capital cities Abc inc. Invested in such Compa Nies As scandinavian broadcasting system a owner operator of four commercial to stations in Norway Sweden and Denmark and in eur sport a european Cable sports network. Last year Abc acquired super Channel available in 32 countries and to More than 50 million viewers through Cable and satellite. Other ventures include canal de not ictus Abc. A 24-hour Spanish language news service that reaches 20 latin american coun tries plus Spain. The glaring exception is lbs. The company has refrained from foreign investment continuing the traditional approach of Selling its programs abroad instead. By moving to establish itself in diverse markets Abc Hopes to create the kind of Brand identity that encourages viewers worldwide to seek it out for news sports and entertainment Rogers says. Strong company identification is for example what helps sell Disney films worldwide Dixon says. That s especially important in a multichannel uni verse where viewers May receive dozens of stations but usually watch the same half dozen or so. J foreign to investment can be Steep. One source who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was a $23 million Deal that gained Abc management control of super Channel from its italian owners. But the potential rewards make the investment Worth making and the risks Worth taking. . Companies face a mature Domestic to Market with fewer immediate opportunities for growth. They can look outward to a world with an estimated 1 billion to Homes a number that s grow ing rapidly november 13,1994 sunday Page 11