Tuesday, March 01, 2011

RIP, Jane Russell

Late-in-life "teetotal(er), mean-spirited, right-wing, narrow-minded, conservative Christian bigot" -- "but not a racist" -- or not, I wouldn't dream of not mentioning the passing of Jane Russell. To most she will be remembered for "The Outlaw," but to me she'll always be one of two little girls from Little Rock, a nod to the classic song she performed with Marilyn Monroe in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," one of my favorite movies of my childhood. Hard to be too broken up for someone who lived 89 long years, but it's a sad reminder to think that Jane was five years older than Marilyn, yet outlived her by nearly 50. Here's hoping they're staging a reunion performance as I write this ...

2 comments:

  1. She was complicated, like a real person! I was okay with her fervent Christianity until the mid-80's, when she started using her celebrity to push school prayer and public posting of the 10 commandments (the latter rather hypocritical, given her own experience with multiple marriages, abortion, alcoholism, etc.). You have to guess that if she were a generation younger, she'd be all over Scientology. But on the other hand, she didn't publicly judge others or try to pass herself off as superior. Everyone that knew her took exception to her self-description as "mean-spirited" -- apparently she was lovely to friends and adored "the gays." And I have to love that she totally didn't take herself or Hollywood seriously and loved to tweak the self-importance of other movie actors. Most importantly, she was great with a sassy come-back or one-liner, making her the perfect foil for Bob Hope.

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  2. Sorry to hear of her loss. Like so many of Hollywood's famous sex symbols, her image was very different from who she was in her personal life. She never considered herself a sex symbol at all. She was very religious, but did struggle with a drinking problem. She had an unwanted pregnancy as a teenager and was able to have children after that, so all her children were adopted. She also wasn't the tough broad she may have appeared to be. She was a very sweet, tender-hearted person. Rest in peace, Jane.

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