Bye bye baby...
February 28, 2011 5:34 PM Subscribe
Jane Russell, Sex Symbol of the 1940's and 50's has passed on today; the stars shine a little dimmer today. Here she is in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
.
posted by functionequalsform at 5:36 PM on February 28, 2011
posted by functionequalsform at 5:36 PM on February 28, 2011
Minnesota native Jane Russell. Hopefully, unlike Minnesota native Peter Graves, the Academy Awards will actually include her in their in memorium section next year.
posted by Astro Zombie at 5:38 PM on February 28, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by Astro Zombie at 5:38 PM on February 28, 2011 [4 favorites]
I think the Is There Anyone Hear For Love segment made me bisexual. She was much hotter than Monroe.
posted by PinkMoose at 5:43 PM on February 28, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by PinkMoose at 5:43 PM on February 28, 2011 [4 favorites]
Pinkmoose, I could not agree more; she outshone Marilyn in that movie in so many ways.
posted by Jaymzifer at 5:44 PM on February 28, 2011
posted by Jaymzifer at 5:44 PM on February 28, 2011
.
posted by brundlefly at 5:47 PM on February 28, 2011
posted by brundlefly at 5:47 PM on February 28, 2011
.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:48 PM on February 28, 2011
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:48 PM on February 28, 2011
(.)(.)
posted by Joe Beese at 5:50 PM on February 28, 2011 [12 favorites]
posted by Joe Beese at 5:50 PM on February 28, 2011 [12 favorites]
RIP.
My father once had dinner with her at Scholz's in Austin, Texas. He said she was very nice, but very distracting.
posted by donpardo at 5:57 PM on February 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
My father once had dinner with her at Scholz's in Austin, Texas. He said she was very nice, but very distracting.
posted by donpardo at 5:57 PM on February 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
We seriously need to do some "nobituaries" that indicate famous people who are unexpectedly alive, even though you haven't heard of them in decades.
posted by DU at 6:03 PM on February 28, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by DU at 6:03 PM on February 28, 2011 [3 favorites]
Jane Russell "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love"
I did this number in a high school production. I adored Jane Russell. Rest in Peace, you goddess among actresses.
posted by dejah420 at 6:05 PM on February 28, 2011 [3 favorites]
I did this number in a high school production. I adored Jane Russell. Rest in Peace, you goddess among actresses.
posted by dejah420 at 6:05 PM on February 28, 2011 [3 favorites]
See also: "Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend" Always makes me smile!
posted by dejah420 at 6:06 PM on February 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by dejah420 at 6:06 PM on February 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
.
posted by New England Cultist at 6:14 PM on February 28, 2011
posted by New England Cultist at 6:14 PM on February 28, 2011
(o) (o) ∞
posted by nickyskye at 6:18 PM on February 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by nickyskye at 6:18 PM on February 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
Farewell to a classy broad.
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:22 PM on February 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:22 PM on February 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
.
Jane Russell made me proud to be a brunette. I idolized her in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, as well as Macao. Strong, sophisticated, always classy.
posted by Go Banana at 6:30 PM on February 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
Jane Russell made me proud to be a brunette. I idolized her in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, as well as Macao. Strong, sophisticated, always classy.
posted by Go Banana at 6:30 PM on February 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
.
posted by HumanComplex at 6:31 PM on February 28, 2011
posted by HumanComplex at 6:31 PM on February 28, 2011
.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:43 PM on February 28, 2011
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:43 PM on February 28, 2011
.
"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" is one of my girlfriend's and my favorite musicals, and totally agree with Jayzmifer that Russell outshines Monroe. Right now we're living apart for a few months (job complications), and we're using the opening few seconds of Russell singing "Bye Bye Baby" for our ringtones for each other.
posted by djwudi at 6:52 PM on February 28, 2011
"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" is one of my girlfriend's and my favorite musicals, and totally agree with Jayzmifer that Russell outshines Monroe. Right now we're living apart for a few months (job complications), and we're using the opening few seconds of Russell singing "Bye Bye Baby" for our ringtones for each other.
posted by djwudi at 6:52 PM on February 28, 2011
… "I was portrayed as a sex siren, and that changed my life forever." Yet it was a teenage sexual encounter when she was known as Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell, from Van Nuys, California, that was to change her life in a disastrous way." …
posted by unliteral at 6:53 PM on February 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by unliteral at 6:53 PM on February 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:24 PM on February 28, 2011
posted by shakespeherian at 7:24 PM on February 28, 2011
Requiescat en pace, sweet lady.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 7:47 PM on February 28, 2011
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 7:47 PM on February 28, 2011
My own favorite (with the always delightful Hoagy Carmichael)
posted by neroli at 7:58 PM on February 28, 2011
posted by neroli at 7:58 PM on February 28, 2011
.
She's great in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - what a fox! The dance numbers in that movie never fail to make me happy on even the worst of days.
posted by Bron-Y-Aur at 9:12 PM on February 28, 2011
She's great in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - what a fox! The dance numbers in that movie never fail to make me happy on even the worst of days.
posted by Bron-Y-Aur at 9:12 PM on February 28, 2011
.
posted by gingerbeer at 9:16 PM on February 28, 2011
posted by gingerbeer at 9:16 PM on February 28, 2011
She was great in her first movie paired with Robert Mitchum, His Kind of Woman. trailer Wiki has spoilers.
She sings several numbers including Five Little Miles from San Berdoo
Her second and last film with him was Macao. They made a great pair.
posted by warbaby at 9:58 PM on February 28, 2011
She sings several numbers including Five Little Miles from San Berdoo
Her second and last film with him was Macao. They made a great pair.
posted by warbaby at 9:58 PM on February 28, 2011
Pinkmoose, I could not agree more; she outshone Marilyn in that movie in so many ways.
I don't know about outshone, but she certainly provided an education in how brunette, smart and sexy was a viable alternative.
posted by Sparx at 10:37 PM on February 28, 2011 [3 favorites]
I don't know about outshone, but she certainly provided an education in how brunette, smart and sexy was a viable alternative.
posted by Sparx at 10:37 PM on February 28, 2011 [3 favorites]
Actresses like Russell, Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davies show we have regressed in many ways when it comes to the portrayal of women.
I don't think she 'outshone' Monroe in GPB as such. You have to remember that Marilyn was playing a 'type' while Russell was playing a person. I'm a great admirer of Marilyn's comic acting and she was fantastic in that film.
posted by Summer at 2:34 AM on March 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
I don't think she 'outshone' Monroe in GPB as such. You have to remember that Marilyn was playing a 'type' while Russell was playing a person. I'm a great admirer of Marilyn's comic acting and she was fantastic in that film.
posted by Summer at 2:34 AM on March 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Jane Russell was the tops. She could bring class and pizzazz to a Playtex commercial. RIP.
And Marilyn was indeed playing a type. She was playing the persona that 20th-Century Fox and Darryl Zanuck and 1950s America wanted her to play. She found her greatest success in those roles and America soon turned on her when she wanted to play anything other than that. Sorry for the derail, but I get sick of the "let's slag on Marilyn" stuff -- not from you, Summer, but from others who think that she was just a bimbo. Do people who think that Marilyn was a bimbo not think that Howard Hughes treated Jane Russell like a bimbo -- and that she fought like crazy against the stereotype?
posted by blucevalo at 9:43 AM on March 1, 2011
And Marilyn was indeed playing a type. She was playing the persona that 20th-Century Fox and Darryl Zanuck and 1950s America wanted her to play. She found her greatest success in those roles and America soon turned on her when she wanted to play anything other than that. Sorry for the derail, but I get sick of the "let's slag on Marilyn" stuff -- not from you, Summer, but from others who think that she was just a bimbo. Do people who think that Marilyn was a bimbo not think that Howard Hughes treated Jane Russell like a bimbo -- and that she fought like crazy against the stereotype?
posted by blucevalo at 9:43 AM on March 1, 2011
I personally don't like the blonde vs brunette, doll vs siren type of stereotyping that was typical of that time and still happens now. The great thing about Marilyn was that even when she was playing that type she still managed to transcend it with sheer force of personality.
If there's a message to come from that film, it's that women back then were all playing with the same limited deck of cards and the way they chose to play their hand was just another strategy and no cause for judgement or animosity. I liked the fact the two women in the film could see past all that rubbish to be great friends.
posted by Summer at 10:00 AM on March 1, 2011
If there's a message to come from that film, it's that women back then were all playing with the same limited deck of cards and the way they chose to play their hand was just another strategy and no cause for judgement or animosity. I liked the fact the two women in the film could see past all that rubbish to be great friends.
posted by Summer at 10:00 AM on March 1, 2011
Jane Russell had a wonderful sense of enthusiasm.
In the movie The Outlaw, the older male actors styles were all like: "I could be doing Shakespeare, but instead I'm just doing some generic 'oater' with Howard Hughes' girlfriend, oh well, it pays the bills, whatever..."
And Jane radiated: "Yay!!! I'm in a Hollywood Movie!!! This is Fun!!!"
posted by ovvl at 4:08 PM on March 3, 2011
In the movie The Outlaw, the older male actors styles were all like: "I could be doing Shakespeare, but instead I'm just doing some generic 'oater' with Howard Hughes' girlfriend, oh well, it pays the bills, whatever..."
And Jane radiated: "Yay!!! I'm in a Hollywood Movie!!! This is Fun!!!"
posted by ovvl at 4:08 PM on March 3, 2011
« Older Happy Birthday, Tele | Sub City New York Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by JeffK at 5:36 PM on February 28, 2011