JANE RUSSELL BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
 
Jane Russell was born on June 21st, 1921 in Bemidji, Minnesota with the birth name Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell.  Her father, Roy William Russell was employed as a United States Army lieutenant and her mother, Geraldine Jacobi, was an actress who traveled with a troupe. 
 
After her father completed his military service the family briefly moved to Canada until Russell's father found work out in California as an office manager for a soap manufacturing plant.  Russell and four brothers and she was the only female sibling.  Her mother enrolled her in piano lessons and at Van Nuys High School she was involved in drama and performing in the school plays.
 
Upon completing school, Russell found work for a doctor as a receptionist.  Her original plan was to go to University and study design, however, her father passed away and she had to help support the family financially.  She did continue to study drama, modeling and acting with Max Reinhardt's Theatrical Workshop.
 
In 1943, Howard Hughes signed Russell for his production of, "The Outlaw", the film however was not released  until 1946 and it was difficult to get it to pass censorship due to the way it portrayed Jane's physical assets.  When finally released, the film was a box office hit.  Her next film was, "Young Widow" (1946) for RKO productions.
 
Even though Jane Russell was in a seven year contract with Hugh's, the only time he would use her in films was if it would flatter her physical appearance.  The films, "His Kind of Woman" (1951) and "The Las Vegas Story" (1952) in no way showed any type of acting talent she possessed.  The one film that did show her comedic talent was the film, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953) with Marilyn Monroe.  Two other films to demonstrate her acting talents were, "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes" (1955) and "The Revolt of Mamie Stover" (1956).
 
Jane did another film in 1957, "The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown", but it was unsuccessful and therefore she decided to take a break from the film industry and focus on television work.  Returning to film in the 60's, she only did a total of four films and all were not successful.  Her final film role was in 1970, on "Darker Than Amber".  
 
Jane Russell married three times throughout her life, first to her high school sweetheart, Bob Waterfield on April 24th, 1943 to July 30th, 1968.  The couple adopted three children together, Tracy, Thomas and Buck.  Her second marriage was to Roger Barrett on August 25th, 1968 but he passed away just 3 months after they were married.  Russell's final marriage was to John Calvin Peoples on January 31st, 1974 and they were married until he passed away on April 9th, 1999.  
 
Jane Russell chose to retire after the death of her husband and move to Santa Maria closer to her son.  While living there she put together a musical stage show called, "The Swinging Forties" and it would perform twice a month at the Radisson Hotel featuring local Santa Maria residents and herself.     
 
Jane Russell had also started an organization called World Adoption International Fund (WAIF) and to date, 51,000 children have been placed with adoptive families.  Jane Russell passed away on February 28th, 2011 in Santa Maria, California. 
 

Filmography

1986   Hunter
1984   The Yellow Rose  
1970   Darker Than Amber  
1967   The Born Losers  
1966   Waco  
1966   Johnny Reno  
1959-1963  The Red Skelton Hour
1960   Death Valley Days 
1959   Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse 
1958   Colgate Theatre
1957   The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown  
1956   The Revolt of Mamie Stover  
1956   Hot Blood  
1955   Gentlemen Marry Brunettes  
1955   The Tall Men  
1955   Foxfire 
1955   Underwater! 
1953   The French Line 
1953   Gentlemen Prefer Blondes  
1952   Road to Bali  
1952   Montana Belle  
1952   Son of Paleface 
1952   Macao
1952   The Las Vegas Story  
1951   Double Dynamite
1951   His Kind of Woman  
1948   The Paleface  
1946   Young Widow  
1943   The Outlaw