Hollywood Darling

JANE RUSSELL (1921 — 1911)

The famous star of Howard Hughes ’ lm “Outlaw” (1943) was none other than “Jane Russell.” Soon after the movies’ release, a case was led against her, on the grounds of indecency. She had hoped that exposed cleavage would serve as a sales point, but the outraged reaction from a portion of her rigid audience proved her wrong. This episode cost her and her production an expensive three year delay.

Jane Russell & Danny Thomas Jane Russell & Bob Waterfield Jane Russell & Marilyn Monroe

Jane Russell

Jane Russell & Bob Waterfield

The judge in that case even went ahead to make fun quips of the case, describing the image in question as “hung over the picture like a thunderstorm over a landscape.” They were everywhere. In review, it was a publicity “Home Run.” Away from the controversy, Jane Russell was a humanitarian. She and her husband founded the WAIF (World Adoption International Fund), intending to ease the adoption process of non-native children for Americans. They took the lead by adopting three children themselves in the 1950s. In the attempt and effort to clear her tainted name and reputation, she pioneered Hollywood Christian-based efforts. Russell was inuential in starting a Hollywood Christian Group that offered Bible study classes. Jane Russel died on February 28, 2011, in Santa Maria, California.