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Stage Name: Jane Russell
Birth Name: Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell
Occupation: actress, model, pinup model
Years Active: 1943–1986
Notable Works: "The Outlaw" (1943)"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953) and other musicals;. "The Paleface" (1948) with Bob Hope and with Robert Mitchum in "His Kind of Woman" (1951); She founded the World Adoption International Fund (WAIF) in 1956, which helped find homes for over 50,000 children. A political conservative and born-again Christian, she also launched the Hollywood Christian Group and sponsored a weekly Bible study in her home. In 1989, she received the Living Legacy Award from the Women's International Center for her tireless work for adoption groups.
Date/Place Birth: June 21, 1921 / Bemidji, Minnesota, U.S.
Date/Death/Cause: Spent her "golden" years retired living at her home Santa Maria Valley on the Califronia Central Coast. "Jane Russell passed away peacefully today at home (2/28/2011) surrounded by her children at her bedside," Russell's son Buck Waterfield said in a statement according to REUTERS: Buxom actress Jane Russell dead at 89
The cause was a respiratory-related illness, her daughter-in-law, Etta Waterfield, said according to New York Times: Jane Russell, Star of Westerns, Dies at 89
The actress, whose career was launched by Howard Hughes and his film "The Outlaw," was 89 according to the Hollywood Reporter: 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' Star Jane Russell Dies
Daughter-in-law Etta Waterfield said that Russell was a "pillar of health" but caught a bad cold and died of respiratory difficulties. According to CNN: VIDEO AND STORY AT CNN:
Spouse(s) & Children: Bob Waterfield (1943–1967); Roger Barrett (1968–1968); John Calvin Peoples (1974–1999)
Short Biography: Russell was exceptionally popular during the early 1940's as a WWII pinup. The extensive promotional campaign for "The Outlaw" had given her wide exposure even before the movies release using the famous images of her seductively posed seductively against a haystack and in the hay. By the time "The Outlaw" was finally released in its finished form, she was already a star, though one known largely for her physique rather than her acting abilities.