Gail Russell--Tragic Death of a Classic Beauty

The first time I saw Gail Russell was in the film The Uninvited, starring Ray Milland. Russell was low on the billing list, but she easily captured the hearts of the viewing audience with her stunning looks and her shy, passive, on-screen behavior.

Though it was not her first film, her performance reveals the lack of training, experience, and skill of her co-stars. It is possible that her obvious naivety enhanced the eerie suspense of the film. Nevertheless, this shyness would eventually bring her downfall as she repeatedly turned to alcohol to calm her nerves before appearing on-screen and before the public.

Elizabeth L. Russell was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 21, 1924 to George and Gladys Russell. She was painfully shy, both as a child and an adult, which is apparent in most of her film appearances, and perhaps the reason why I feel so sympathetic to her plight, as I was painfully shy as a child, as well.

Russell's mother persuaded her to audition at Paramount Studios--unlike many early film stars, Russell did not spend her childhood flipping through Photoplay and Screenland magazines, filling her scrapbook with pictures of Hollywood stars, or hiding behind the curtains at theaters and studios, waiting to catch a glimpse of Bette Davis or Humphrey Bogart. Russell was interested in art and spent her childhood with a sketch pad.

Her great beauty may have attracted more attention than she could handle. She was the perfect target for gossip mongers, too shy to defend herself, too naive to protect herself. By the time she was cast alongside John Wayne in Wake of the Red Witch in 1948, she had matured into a beguilingly beautiful woman, and rumors of a relationship between Wayne and Russell spread faster than a wildfire in a Texas prairie. Unfortunately, Wayne's wife, Chata Bauer, believed these rumors and tried to shoot Wayne in the head when he returned from the cast party.
http://www.suite101.com/content/gail-russell-and-john-wayne-rumors-of-romance-a367857
Perhaps it was the stress of her appearance at Wayne's divorce trial, or maybe life in Hollywood was simply too much for the shy, passive girl from Chicago. Whatever the reason, shortly after the trial, her life began a downward and heartbreaking spiral. On August 26, 1961, Gail Russell died alone in her apartment from an alcohol-induced heart attack.

I also spent a few of my childhood years in Chicago. Thankfully, my family moved when I was young and I was raised to be a small town girl. Big cities can be cold, lonely places, and Hollywood, in spite of its palm trees and year-round blossoms, is known to be colder than most.

Gail Russell failed to blossom in California. She was not a survivor, but she did leave behind a long list of great movies--such as Angel and the Badman, and Our Hearts were Young and Gay--and many adoring fans...like me.