Jane Russell
Jane Russell (born
June 21,
1921) is an
American actress and
sex symbol. She was born
Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell in
Bemidji, Minnesota.
Jane Russell was born in Bemidji, Minnesota, the only daughter of Roy William Russell (
January 5,
1890-
July 18,
1937) and Geraldine Jacobi (
January 2,
1891-
December 26,
1986). Her four younger brothers are Thomas Ferris Russell (born
April 16,
1924), Kenneth Steven Russell (born
September 2,
1925), James Hyatt Russell (born
February 9,
1927) and Wallace Jay Russell (born
January 31,
1929).
Her parents were both born in
North Dakota. Three of her grandparents were born in
Canada, while her paternal grandmother was born in
Germany. Her parents married in
1917. Her father was a former commissioned
First Lieutenant in the
U.S. Army and her mother was a former actress with a road troupe. When Jane was a child they moved temporarily to Canada, then moved to the
San Fernando Valley of
Southern California. They lived in
Burbank in
1930 and her father worked as an office manager at a soap manufacturing plant.
Jane's mother arranged for her to take
piano lessons. In addition to music, she was interested in
drama and participated in stage productions at
Van Nuys High School. Her early ambition was to be a designer of some kind, until the death of her father at forty-six, when she decided to work as a
receptionist after graduation. She also
modeled for photographers and, at the urging of her mother, studied drama and acting with
Max Reinhardt's Theatrical Workshop and with famed
Russian actress
Maria Ouspenskaya.
In
1940, Russell was signed to a seven year
contract by millionaire
Howard Hughes and made her
motion picture debut in
The Outlaw (
1943), a story about
Billy the Kid that went to great lengths to showcase her voluptuous bust. Although the movie was completed in
1941, it was released for a limited showing two years later. There were problems with the
censorship of the
production code over the way her ample cleavage was displayed. When the movie was finally passed, it had a general release in
1946. During that time, Russell was kept busy doing publicity and became famous.
Together with
Lana Turner, Russell personified the sensuously contoured
sweater girl look. Besides the thousands of quips from
radio comedians, including
Bob Hope once introducing her as "the two and only Jane Russell," the photo of her on a haystack glowering with sulking beauty and youthful sensuality as her breasts push forcefully against her bodice was a popular
pin-up with
Service men during
World War II.
Though
The Outlaw was not a spectacular
Western, it did well at the box-office. It appeared that Hughes was only interested in her being cast in movies that showcased her sensational figure, however, reportedly refusing an offer from
Darryl Zanuck for her to play Doña Sol in
Blood and Sand. She was not in another movie until
1946, when she played Joan Kenwood in
Young Widow for
RKO. Though her early movies did little to show her true acting abilities, they helped parlay her into a
career portraying smart, often cynical, tough "broads," with a wisecracking attitude.
In 1947, Russell attempted to launch a musical career, recording a single with the
Kay Kyser Orchestra, "As Long As I Live".
She went on to perform with proficiency in an assortment of roles, which includes playing
Calamity Jane opposite
Bob Hope in
The Paleface (
1948) on loan out to
Paramount; and Mike Delroy opposite Hope in
Son of Paleface (
1952), again at Paramount.
Russell had three husbands,
NFL quarterback and producer
Bob Waterfield (married
April 24,
1943-divorced July
1968),
actor Roger Barrett (married
August 25,
1968-his death
November 18,
1968) and real-estate broker John Calvin Peoples (married
January 31,
1974-his death
April 9,
1999). She and Peoples lived in Sedona, Arizona.
In February
1952 she and Waterfield adopted a baby girl, Tracy. In December
1952 they adopted a fifteen-month-old boy, Thomas, and in
1956 she and Waterfield adopted a nine-month-old boy, Robert John.
Russell was unable to have children and, in
1955, she founded World Adoption International Fund (WAIF), an organization to place children with adoptive families that pioneered adoptions from foreign countries by Americans.
Though her screen image was that of a sex goddess, her private life lacked the sensation and scandal that followed other actresses of the time, such as
Lana Turner. At the height of her career, Russell started the "Hollywood Christian Group," a weekly
Bible study at her home for
Christians in the movie business that was attended by some of the biggest names. Russell was a prominent Republican who attended the Eisenhower inauguration, along with
Lou Costello,
Dick Powell,
June Allyson,
Anita Louise,
Louella Parsons, and other conservatives.
Russell was at the height of her wry comedic talents with her performance as Dorothy Shaw in
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (
1953) opposite
Marilyn Monroe at
20th Century Fox, which is one of her most memorable roles. It was an excellent movie and showed her as a talented actress.
She appeared in two movies opposite
Robert Mitchum,
His Kind of Woman (
1951) and
Macao (
1952). Other co-stars include
Frank Sinatra and
Groucho Marx in the comedy
Double Dynamite (
1951);
Victor Mature,
Vincent Price and
Hoagy Carmichael in
The Las Vegas Story (
1952);
Jeff Chandler in
Foxfire (
1955); and
Clark Gable and
Robert Ryan in
The Tall Men (
1955).
Russell and her first husband, Waterfield, formed Russ-Field Productions in
1955. They produced
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (
1955),
The King and Four Queens (
1956) starring
Clark Gable and
Eleanor Parker,
Run for the Sun (
1956) and
The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (
1957).
Her performances in
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, opposite
Jeanne Crain, and in the drama
The Revolt of Mamie Stover (
1956) displayed her fine acting ability. But after making
The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (
1957), which failed at the box-office, she did not appear on the silver screen again for seven years.
In October
1957, she debuted in a successful solo
nightclub act at the
Sands Hotel in
Las Vegas. She also fulfilled later engagements in the
U.S.,
Canada,
Mexico,
South America and
Europe.
In the Summer of
1961, she debuted with a tour of
Janus in
New England. In the Fall of
1961, she performed in
Skylark at the
Drury Lane Theatre,
Chicago. And in November
1962, she performed in
Bells Are Ringing at the Westchester Town House in
Yonkers, New York.
Her next movie appearance was in
Fate Is the Hunter (
1964), in which she was Jane Russell performing for the
USO in a flashback sequence. Unfortunately, she made only four more movies after that, playing character parts in the final two.
In
1971, she starred in the musical drama
Company on
Broadway, replacing
Elaine Stritch. Russell performed the role of Joanne in the play for six months. Also in the
1970s, she started appearing in
television commercials as a spokeswoman for
Playtex "cross your heart bras for us full-figured gals."
She wrote an autobiography in
1985,
Jane Russell: My Path and My Detours. In
1989, she received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award.
Jane Russell's hand and foot prints are immortalized in the forecourt of
Grauman's Chinese Theater and she has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6850
Hollywood Boulevard in
Hollywood.
The Outlaw (
1943)
Young Widow (
1946)
The Paleface (
1948)
Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Rodeo (
1949) (short subject)
Hollywood Goes to Bat (
1950) (short subject)
His Kind of Woman (
1951)
Double Dynamite (
1951)
The Las Vegas Story (
1952)
Macao (
1952)
Son of Paleface (
1952)
Montana Belle (
1952)
Road to Bali (
1952) (Cameo)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (
1953)
The French Line (
1954)
Underwater! (
1955)
Foxfire (
1955)
The Tall Men (
1955)
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (
1955)
Screen Snapshots: Playtime in Hollywood (
1956) (short subject)
Hot Blood (
1956)
The Revolt of Mamie Stover (
1956)
The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (
1957)
Fate Is the Hunter (
1964)
Johnny Reno (
1966)
Waco (
1966)
The Born Losers (
1967)
Darker Than Amber (
1970)
The Yellow Rose (
1983-
1984) (TV series)
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Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Jane Russell*
Article detailing Russell's work with WAIF
