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An avid thrill-seeker, he spends his leisure time surfing, skiing, bike-riding and hang-gliding. He’s also working toward his license as an airline pilot.
In a career that stretches back to 1978 when he portrayed Burt McGowan on the soap opera Another World, Russ has appeared in numerous feature films, television shows and TV movies. He’s shared the screen with great names such as Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Burt Lancaster, Vanessa Redgrave, Joanne Woodward, Rutger Hauer, Mary Steenburgen, Rueben Blades, and Sam Elliott. He landed the starring role in 1991’s Pastime, a film that won the Audience Award that year at the Park City Film Festival. 
His most recent big-screen appearance came in last year’s dramatic American History X as Edward Norton’s influential father.
His television movie credits include Replacing Dad with Mary McDonnell, When Danger Follows You Home with JoBeth Williams, and A Promise to Keep with Dana Delaney. He also appeared in miniseries such as Blood and Orchids, V, Night Sins, and the critically acclaimed The Long Hot Summer, one of several ventures with his friend Don Johnson.
As for television dramas, Russ may be most recognized for personifying the dazzling Roger Lococco in Wiseguy; and he was a series regular on CBS’s Middle Ages and ABC's Capital News. He also played the soulful and competent Ben Farlow in the pilot for Nasty Boys, a short-lived 1989 series. In the area of guest spots, he was superb as Sgt. Earl Ray Michaels in a 1987 episode of Tour of Duty, and is well-remembered as Evan Freed, Crockett's old partner, in a 1985 Miami Vice.
Russ studied acting with the Neighborhood Playhouse and performed in Broadway and off-Broadway plays for ten years. Among those credits are Dumping Ground in November of 1981 and The Brixton Recovery in February of 1982.
His most recent regular gig was as series anchor Alan Matthews in the ABC comedy Boy Meets World, a sitcom which he occasionally directed and which is now in syndication. 
In November 2000, he appeared as an aging suitor for Ally McBeal and has also had roles in television movies such as Replacing Dad; Come On, Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story; A Secret Life; and Blackout. His next venture will be Life As A House, a feature film he's working on in Los Angeles with Kevin Kline and Kristen Scott Thomas.
Russ, who turned 50 on October 20 last year 
, currently lives in Los Angeles with his companion, actress Clare Wren, and their daughter, Georgie.