Gail Russell

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Gail Russell (born September 21, 1924 in Chicago , Illinois , † August 27, 1961 in Brentwood , California ) was an American film actress .

biography

Russell was born in Chicago, Illinois and moved to Los Angeles , California as a teenager . Because of its extraordinary beauty, Paramount Studios became aware of it in 1942 . Despite her shyness and even though she had no experience, Paramount had high expectations in Russell and employed a trainer to work with her.

At the age of 19, Russell starred in her first film in 1943 , the family comedy Henry Aldrich Gets Glamor . She then had other appearances in various films in the early and mid-forties. One of the most notable was the gripping horror film Der unheimliche Gast (The Uninvited) by Lewis Allen from 1944 , which ran on German television as The Uninvited Guest , alongside Ray Milland , Ruth Hussey and Donald Crisp . Gail Russell was considered the most beautiful woman in Hollywood at the time . She starred with Diana Lynn in the 1944 film Our Hearts Were Young and Gay . Russell later starred in such successful films as Kalkutta (Calcutta) in 1947 with Alan Ladd and in two films with John Wayne The Black Rider (Angel And The Badman) 1947 and Wake of the red witch (Wake of the red witch) 1948 . In the same year she was seen alongside Edward G. Robinson and John Lund in the female lead in the very successful film noir The Night Has a Thousand Eyes , which was based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich .

Russell continued working as an actress after 1947 and married actor Guy Madison in 1949 . In 1950 it became known that she had a drinking problem and had become a victim of alcoholism . Paramount then no longer extended their contract.

For the next ten years, Russell tried to regain control of her life. She settled in 1954 divorced Madison and took after a five year absence from acting again a role, in the Western Seven Men from Now ( Seven Men from Now ) with Randolph Scott - produced by her friend John Wayne. She took on another major role in 1957 in the crime drama Das Kreuzverhör (The Tattered Dress) .

She then starred in four other films but was unable to control her alcohol addiction and was found dead in her Brentwood, California apartment on August 26, 1961, at the age of 36. She died of a heart attack attributed to alcohol. When she was found, she was also found to be malnourished at the time of death because she did not eat regularly but drank more.

DVD

On the DVD The Seventh is Turned - Special Collector's Edition from Paramount Pictures from 2010 , a 13-minute short documentary about Gail Russell with photos and film excerpts from Angel and the Badman and can be found under Special features in the sub-heading The John Wayne Stock Company Wake of the Red Witch .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Gail Russell  - Collection of Images
personal data
SURNAME Russell, Gail
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film and television actress
DATE OF BIRTH September 21, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois , United States
DATE OF DEATH August 26, 1961
Place of death Brentwood , California , United States