Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Death of a Full-Figured, Teetotal, Mean-Spirited, Right-Wing, Narrow-Minded, Conservative Christian Bigot Gal

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Jane Russell died this week at the age of eighty-nine.  The legendary Hollywood starlet was discovered by the equally legendary Howard Hughes who signed her to a seven-year-contract in 1940.  Hughes put Russell in his movie, The Outlaw, in 1941, but the film was not released until 1943 - and then only to limited circulation - due to the censors' concern over Miss Russell's 36-D assets.  All of the hoopla over her statuesqueness resulted in Jane Russell becoming one of the GI's favorite pin-up girls during World War II.

But, The Outlaw aside, Jane Russell is primarily remembered for playing opposite of Marilyn Monroe in 1953's Gentlemen Prefer Blonds, proving that she was capable of singing and being funny on film.  Russell and Monroe wowed moviegoers as the "Two Little Girls from Little Rock" who had the commonsense to know that "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend."

Miss Russell didn't do much professionally during the last few decades, and is best remembered in her later years for being the television spokesperson for Playtex Cross-Your-Heart Bras for "us full-figured gals."

Jane Russell underwent a "back-alley" abortion when she was nineteen, a procedure that resulted in her never being able to conceive again.  She and her high school sweetheart went on to adopt three children, and she became an advocate for adoption.

In reading the obituaries on this Hollywood icon I was surprised to learn that she was from the conservative wing of the film industry, perhaps a true acolyte of her mentor, Mr. Hughes.  Unbelievably, she was an opponent of abortion, even though she had personal experience with the horrors of the types of practice that often result when the procedure is made illegal or inaccessible.  She came of age in the film industry when America was focused on fighting communism, and she allied herself with the political philosophies of people like Charlton Heston and Ronald Reagan.  She said that she regarded Hollywood Democrats as "crazy."  She was also a supporter of George Bush's wars in the Middle East.

In 2003 Jane Russell went a long way toward penning her own epitaph when she described herself as "a teetotal, mean-spirited, right-wing, narrow-minded, conservative Christian bigot."  It's a good thing that she was blessed with a 36-D to balance things out!

As for me, I choose to remember Jane Russell as one of the "Two Little Girls from Little Rock" - a delightful comedienne who could hold her own on film with the likes of Marilyn Monroe.


2 comments:

Phillipia said...

And I was just wondering if she was on anyone's Dead Pool:(

Anonymous said...

Nah, I had Howard Hughes by mistake.