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| Birth Name(s) : Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell |
Date of Birth: June 21, 1921 |
| Status:
Married
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Partner:
John Calvin Peoples |
| Profession:
Actor/Model |
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Full Jane Russell Biography
Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell was born on June 21, 1921 in Bemidji, Minnesota. Her father was an US Army lieutenant and her mother had been a student of drama and an actress with a traveling troupe. Once Mr. Russell was mustered out of the service, the family took up residence in Canada, but moved to California when he found employment there. The family was well-to-do and although Jane was the only girl among four brothers, her mother saw to it that she took piano lessons. In addition to music, Jane was interested in drama much as her mother had been and participated in high school stage productions. Upon graduation, Jane took a job as a receptionist for a doctor who specialized in foot disorders. Although she had originally planned on being a designer, her father died and she had to go to work to help the family. Jane modeled on the side and was very much sought-after especially because of her figure.
She managed to save enough money to go to drama school, with the urging of her mother. She was ultimately signed by Howard Hughes for his production of Outlaw, The (1943) in 1941, the film that was to make Jane famous. The film wasn't a classic by any means, but was geared to show off Jane's ample physical assets. Although the film was made in 1941, it wasn't released until two years later and then only on a limited basis due to the way the film portrayed Jane's assets. It was hard for the flick to pass the censorship board. Finally, the film gained general release in 1946. The film was a smash at the box-office.
Jane didn't make another film until 1946 when she played Joan Kenwood in Young Widow (1946). She had signed a seven year contract with Hughes and it seemed the only films he would put her in were those that displayed Jane in a very flattering light due to her body. Films such as 1951's _His Kind of Women (1951)_ and Las Vegas Story, The (1952) did nothing to showcase her true acting abilities. Probably the pinnacle of her career was in 1953's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) as Dorothy Shaw, with Marilyn Monroe. This film showed Jane's comedic side very well. Jane did continue to make films throughout the 1950s, but the films were at times not up to par, particularly with Jane's talents being wasted in forgettable movies in order to show off her sexy side. Films such as Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955) and Revolt of Mamie Stover, The (1956) did do Jane justice and were able to show exactly the fine actress she was.
After Fuzzy Pink Nightgown, The (1957) (a flop) in 1957, Jane too a hiatus from films, to dabble a bit in television, returning in 1964 to film Fate Is the Hunter (1964). Unfortunately, the roles were not there anymore as Jane appeared in only four pictures during the entire decade of the sixties. Her last film of the decade was 1967's Born Losers, The (1967). After three more years away from the big screen she returned to make one last film called Darker Than Amber (1970) in 1970. Her last play before the public was in the 1970s when Jane was a spokesperson for Playtex bras. Had Jane not been wasted during the Hughes years, she could have been a bigger actress than what she was allowed to show. |
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Additional Jane Russell Biography
Born Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell in Bemidji, Minnesota, she was 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).
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.
Together with Lana Turner and Rita Hayworth, Russell personified the sensuously contoured sweater girl look, though Jane Russell's measurements of 38D-24-36 and height of 5'7 were more statuesque than her contemporaries. 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.
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. The film was well received 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).
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.
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.
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.
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 herself 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. In her 1985 autobiography Russell revealed that she had in fact got pregnant at age 19, and had had a back alley abortion that was so badly botched she almost died. Upon inspecting her in the emergency room her doctor exclaimed "What butcher did this to you!" After that Russell was unable to conceive. Since then Jane has taken a staunch pro-life stance against abortion.
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.
She has appeared occasionally on the Praise The Lord program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, a Christian television network based in Costa Mesa, California.
Features:
- The Outlaw (1943)
- Young Widow (1946)
- The Paleface (1948)
- 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)
- 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)
- Hollywood on Fire (2007) (documentary) |
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Jane Russell Quote(s)
| These days (2003) I am a teetotal, mean-spirited, right-wing, narrow-minded, conservative Christian bigot, but not a racist. |
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