biographical data
"she suffered throughout her career from stage fright, and her inability to cope with the pressures of film work finally drove her to alcoholism. after several well-publicized arrests for drunken driving in the early 50�s and a romantic scandal involving john wayne, she found film assignments elusive. in 1954 she divorced guy madison, whom she had married in 1949. in august of 1961 she was found dead in her apartment, surrounded by empty liquor bottles."
(found at: ephraim katz, "the international film encyclopedia", macmillan press limited, 1987)
"date of birth (location)
21 september 1924, chicago, illinois, usa
date of death (details)
26 august 1961, los angeles, california, usa
mini biography
an angelically beautiful leading lady with a demure and melancholy screen persona which reflected a deeper sadness in her real life. russell attended high school in santa monica, california, where she was spotted by a paramount talent scout and signed to a contract immediately upon graduation. she was given considerable coaching and subsequently appeared in important roles in a number of prestigious paramount films. however, she suffered from an intense and almost crippling stage fright which she began to combat with alcohol. conflicts with the law, particularly drunk driving, damaged her reputation and her star began to dim. befriended by john wayne, with whom she was later accused (apparently unjustly) of conducting an adulterous affair, she played a few roles in films he produced. but her drinking began to affect not only her work but her appearance and her personal life. married in 1949 to actor guy madison, she was divorced by him in 1954. in 1961, at the age of 36, she died alone in her apartment of acute alcoholism, surrounded by empty liquor bottles. she will be remembered, however, as an incredible doe-eyed beauty who presented a screen image of great innocence and vulnerability.
biography
writer:
jim beaver
<bajw32a@prodigy.com>"
many thanks for your permission to put this on my page, jim!
(jim�s bio and accurate dates taken from the internet movie database)
detailed biography:
gail russell was a frail and beautiful heroine of the 40s, and one of the movies' most pathetic creatures. she was born in 1924 in chicago and moved to california with her parents in her teens. she was educated at santa monica high, and it was a chance meeting between two schoolmates and a paramount executive which brought her into films: they boasted of her looks – 'the hedy lamarr of santa monica' – and he arranged a test. she was painfully shy and had had no acting experience, but she photographed well enough for paramount to offer the standard seven-year contract; they gave her a small role as a high-school beauty in 'henry aldrich gets glamour' (43), with jimmy lydon, one of their b series about the aldrich family. they also gave her a drama coach. a year later, she had a bit as ginger rogers' rival in 'lady in the dark' (44), though that was in fact released a few days after her first starring role, in 'the uninvited', a cornish ghost story with ray milland, and a film with a rather endearing 'atmosphere.' she played a girl apparently possessed: not a role which required much emotional depth. but the film was very successful, and she was regarded as paramount's next big female star.
with another paramount hopeful, diana lynn, she was paired in 'our hearts were young and gay,' a comedy about two us flappers coping with europe in the 20s, from a best-seller by cornelia otis skinner (who was in 'the uninvited') and emily kimbrough. there was a sequel, after: 'the unseen' (45), another supernatural tale, with joel mccrea; 'salty o'rourke', leading lady to alan ladd; and 'duffy's tavern', in a guest spot. it was called 'our hearts were growing up' (46), and was by no means as well liked as the earlier film. paramount loaned her out to play one of a quartet of gold-diggers in 'bachelor's daughters' (the others were claire trevor, jane wyatt, ann dvorak), and then again to be john wayne's love interest in an indifferent western, 'the angel and the badman.' (47)
no studio loaned out its star-properties for two consecutive films unless things were not entirely satisfactory, and the truth was that russell's screen personality, because of her inhibitions, was rather blah. they tried her as a villainess, opposite alan ladd in 'calcutta', but she did not have the 'fatal beauty' appeal of a mary astor, or even that of a hedy lamarr. she guested in 'variety girl,' and then, after a year's absense, was again a haunted heroine, in 'the night has a thousand eyes' (48), a confused melodrama with edward g. robinson. she returned to john wayne and republic for 'wake of the red witch', a sea story, and became mired in a series of indifferent action melodramas: 'song of india' (49), filmed in sepia tones by columbia, with sabu, as princess tara; 'el paso,' a cinecolor western with john payne, produced by pine-thomas for paramount; and 'the great dan patch,' also in sepia, at united artists, a racing story with dennis o'keefe. at republic she was in frank borzage's 'moonrise,' an unsuccessful mood piece about a young man (dane clark), haunted by murder, who falls in love with a schoolteacher. her last two films for paramount were 'captain china,' a pine-thomas junk where she was fought over by john payne and jeffrey lynn, and 'the lawless' (50), a joseph losey-directed story of mob violence. losey later spoke of 'poor, desperate, lonely, tragic gail russell's eyes' as contributing to the film.
paramount did not renew her contract, because, for one thing, russell was drinking heavily – a habit begun as early as 'the uninvited', when she found that alcohol stilled her nerves. it was hoped that she might stablize when she married guy madison, a young actor of strictly pin-up boy appeal. after a long courtship they were married in 1949. a year later she was convicted on driving charges.
universal took a chance on her and let her play stephen mcnally's estranged wife in 'air cadet' (51), but she didn't make 'flaming feather' for paramount as announced, nor 'loan shock,' opposite george raft; the latter was to have been her 'comeback' film – a b – but she suffered nervous shock when her brother was in a car crash and withdrew.
she was out of the news until john wayne's wife named her in her divorce suit (1953); both wayne and russell denied this, but the flurry of scandal sent russell into a sanitorium. in 1954 she and madison were divorced. she was in and out of sanatoria, and now when she was on a driving charge (one in 1955 was said to be the sixth in two years) there was no studio to cover up the fact that she was drunk. hollywood tried to help. a cure was said to be effected, and wayne put her into a film being made by his company, 'seven men from now', (56) a western with randolph scott. she looked much older. universal used her now rather dramatic appearance in a full-blooded role, in 'the tattered dress' (57), where she lied under oath and shot her lover (jack carson) on the courthouse steps. for republic she did an incredible flying story, 'no place to land,' with mari blanchard and john ireland.
as these films went the rounds she was fined again for drunken driving and given a suspended jail sentence. in an occasional interview she spoke humbly of her alcoholism, saying it was caused because "everything happened so fast." 1961 20th gave her top-billing in a b, 'the silent call,' a boy-and-dog picture (she was the boy's mother). in the august of that year, she was discovered dead in her one-room apartment, surrounded by empty bottles. she had died some days earlier, from natural causes. she was 36.
(gratefully taken from: david shipman, "the great movie stars: the international years" , 1972)
whole lots of thanks and greetings go to tracy riddle for typing and mailing this pretty detailed bio!!
if you have any furthergoing biographical information about gail russell - please e-mail it to me. you will not only be the special guest on my nighttime prayers, but, of course, also gratefully mentioned on this page!