Rosalind Russell
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| Rosalind Russell | |
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Russell in publicity photo for General Electric Theatre (1956)
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| Born | Catherine Rosalind Russell[1] June 4, 1907 Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | November 28, 1976 (aged 69) Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
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Cause of death
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Breast cancer |
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Resting place
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Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City |
| Occupation | Actress, singer, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1929–1972 |
| Spouse(s) | Frederick Brisson (m. 1941–76) |
| Children | Lance (b. 1943) |
Russell was known for playing character roles, exceptionally wealthy, dignified ladylike women, as well as for being one of the few actresses of her time who regularly played professional women, such as judges, reporters, and psychiatrists.[3] She had a wide career span from the 1930s to the 1970s, and attributed her long career to the fact that, although usually playing classy and glamorous roles, she never became a sex symbol.[4]
Contents
Early years
Rosalind Russell was one of seven children born in Waterbury, Connecticut, to James Edward and Clara A. (née McKnight) Russell,[5] an Irish-American Catholic family.[6] She was named after a ship on which her parents had traveled,[6] not for the character from As You Like It. She attended Catholic schools, including Marymount College in Tarrytown, New York, before attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. Her parents thought Russell was studying to become a teacher, and were unaware that she was planning to become a stage comedienne.[7]Career
In the early 1930s, Russell went west to Los Angeles to be a contract actress for Universal Pictures. When she first arrived on the lot, she was ignored by most of the crew and later told the press she felt terrible and humiliated at the studio, which had influence on her self-confidence.[8] Unhappy with Universal's leadership, and second-class film status at the time, Russell set her sights on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and was able to get out of her Universal contract on her own terms. When MGM first approached her for a screen test, Russell was not enthusiastic, remembering Universal. When she met MGM's Benny Thau and Ben Piazza, she was surprised, as they were "the soul of understanding."[8] Her screen test was directed by Harold S. Bucquet, and she later recalled that she was hired because of a closeup he took of her.[8]
In her first years at Hollywood, Russell was, both in her personal life and film career, characterized as a sophisticated lady. This dissatisfied Russell, who claimed in a 1936 interview:
Being typed as a lady is the greatest misfortune possible to a motion picture actress. It limits your characterizations, confines you to play feminine sops and menaces and the public never highly approves of either. An impeccably dressed lady is always viewed with suspicion in real life and when you strut onto the screen with beautiful clothes and charming manners, the most naive of theatergoers senses immediately that you are in a position to do the hero no good. I earnestly want to get away from this. First, because I want to improve my career and professional life and, secondly because I am tired of being a clothes horse – a sort of hothouse orchid in a stand of wild flowers.[12]Russell approached director Frank Lloyd for help changing her image; but, instead of helping her, Lloyd cast her as a wealthy aristocrat in Under Two Flags (1936).[12] In 1939, she was cast as catty gossip Sylvia Fowler in the all-female comedy The Women, directed by George Cukor. The film was a major hit, boosting her career and establishing her reputation as a comedienne.
In the 1940s, she made comedies such as The Feminine Touch (1941) and Take a Letter, Darling (1942), dramas including Sister Kenny (1946), and Mourning Becomes Electra (1947), and a murder mystery The Velvet Touch (1948).
Over the course of her career, Russell earned four Academy Award nominations for Best Actress: My Sister Eileen (1942); Sister Kenny (1946); Mourning Becomes Electra (1947); and the movie version of Auntie Mame (1958). She received a Special Academy Award, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in 1972. The awarded trophy for the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is an Oscar statuette.
Russell scored a big hit on Broadway with her Tony Award-winning performance in Wonderful Town (1953), a musical version of her successful film of a decade earlier, My Sister Eileen. Russell reprised her starring role for a 1958 television special.
She continued to appear in movies through the mid-1960s, including Picnic (1955), A Majority of One (1961), Five Finger Exercise (1962), Gypsy (1962), and The Trouble with Angels (1966). Russell was the logical choice for reprising her role as Auntie Mame when its Broadway musical adaptation Mame was set for production in 1966, but she declined for health reasons. In addition to her acting career, Russell also wrote the story (under the name C. A. McKnight) for the film The Unguarded Moment (1956), a story of sexual harassment starring Esther Williams.[citation needed]
Personal life
On October 25, 1941, Russell married Danish-American producer Frederick Brisson, son of actor Carl Brisson.[14] Cary Grant was responsible for the couple having met, and was the best man at Fredrick and Rosalind's wedding. Brisson had been traveling from England to the United States by ship in 1939, and The Women was playing on an endless loop during the voyage. After hearing the audio for the film day after day while traveling, Brisson decided he had better sit down and watch the whole film. He became so enamored with Russell's performance as Sylvia Fowler, that he turned to his friends and proclaimed: "I'm either gonna kill that girl, or I'm gonna marry her." (Or so he liked to say.)[15]Brisson stayed with Cary Grant in his guest house during which time Grant was filming His Girl Friday. Upon hearing that Grant was making the movie with Russell, Brisson asked his friend if he could meet her. [16] Cary Grant then spent weeks greeting Russell each morning on set with the question, "Have you met Freddie Brisson?" in an effort to pique the actress's curiosity. One night, when Russell opened her door to let Grant in before they went dancing, as they often did, she found him standing next to a stranger. Grant sheepishly explained that the odd fellow was Freddie Brisson, the man whom he had mentioned so often, and they set off for dinner, with Freddie in tow. Russell and Brisson's marriage lasted 35 years, ending with her death. They had one child in 1943, a son, Carl Lance Brisson.[1][17]
She was a Roman Catholic, and a member of the Good Shepherd Parish and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills, California.[18]
Death
Russell died of breast cancer on November 28, 1976.[17] She was survived by her husband and her son. She is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.[19]Rosalind Russell has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1708 Vine Street.
Her autobiography, written with Chris Chase, Life Is a Banquet, was published a year after her death. In the foreword (written by her husband), he states that Russell had a mental breakdown sometime in 1943. Details are scant (she made no films in 1944), but it indicates that her health problems paired with the deaths of a sister and a brother, can be traced back to the 1940s.[20]
In 2009, a documentary film Life Is a Banquet: The Life of Rosalind Russell, narrated by Kathleen Turner, was shown at film festivals across the U.S. and on some PBS stations.
Work
Film
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Guest | episode: Never Wave at a WAC |
| 1955 | The Loretta Young Show | Guest Hostess | episode: Week-End in Winnetka episode: Fear Me Not |
| 1956 | General Electric Theater | Cynthia | episode: The Night Goes On |
| 1958 | Wonderful Town | Ruth Sherwood | TV movie |
| 1959 | Startime | Host | episode: The Wonderful World of Entertainment |
| 1972 | The Crooked Hearts | Laurita Dorsey | TV movie |
Theatre (Broadway)
| Dates of production | Title | Role | Genre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 16, 1930 – October 1930 | The Garrick Gaieties | Musical revue | ||
| April 20, 1931 – April 1931 | Company's Coming | Miss Mallory | Comedy | |
| February 25, 1953 – July 03, 1954 | Wonderful Town | Ruth Sherwood | Musical | Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical |
| October 31, 1956 – June 28, 1958 | Auntie Mame | Auntie Mame | Comedy | Nominated—Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play |
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