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GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES STAR JANE RUSSELL HAS DIED AT AGE 89. RUSSELL WAS DISCOVERED BY HOWARD HUGHES AND WENT ON TO BECOME ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC STARS OF THE 1940s AND '50s. HER DAUGHTER IN LAW ETTA WATERFIELD SAID THE ACTRESS DIED MONDAY AT HER HOME IN SANTA MARIA OF A RESPIRATORY-RELATED ILLNESS. SHE ALWAYS SAID 'I'M GOING TO DIE IN THE SADDLE, I'M NOT GOING TO SIT AT HOME AND BECOME AN OLD WOMAN', WATERFIELD SAID. 'AND THAT'S HOW SHE DIED, SHE DIED IN THE SADDLE.' HUGHES, THE ECCENTRIC BILLIONAIRE, CAST RUSSELL IN HIS SEXY, AND CONTROVERSIAL, 1941 WESTERN 'THE OUTLAW', ABOUT BILLY THE KID. THE MOVIE WAS INITIALLY SUBJECT TO STRICT CENSORSHIP LAW BECAUSE OF THE AMPLE CLEAVAGE DISPLAYED BY RUSSELL, BORN ERNESTINE JANE GERALDINE RUSSELL IN JUNE 1921 IN MINNESOTA. WHEN IT WAS RELEASED TWO YEARS LATER IT TURNED HER INTO AN OVERNIGHT STAR. 'THE OUTLAW', ALTHOUGH IT ESTABLISHED HER REPUTATION, WAS BESET WITH TROUBLE FROM THE BEGINNING. DIRECTOR HOWARD HAWKS, ONE OF HOLLYWOOD'S MOST EMINENT AND AUTOCRATIC FILMMAKERS, RANKLED UNDER PRODUCER HUGHES' CONSTANT SUGGESTIONS AND FINALLY WALKED OUT. 'HUGHES DIRECTED THE WHOLE PICTURE, FOR NINE BLOODY MONTHS!', RUSSELL SAID IN 1999. THE FILM'S RAMBLING, FICTIONAL PLOT FEATURED RUSSELL AS A FRIEND OF BILLY THE KID AS HE TUSSLES WITH DOC HOLLIDAY AND SHERIFF PAT GARRETT. THE LOS ANGELES TIMES CALLED IT 'ONE OF THE WEIRDEST WESTERN PICTURES THAT EVER UNREELED BEFORE THE PUBLIC'. WITH HER SULTRY LOOK AND GLOWING SEXUALITY, RUSSELL HAD ALREADY GAINED A LARGE FOLLOWING. THE HUGHES PUBLICITY MILL HAD SENT OUT PHOTOS OF THE BEAUTY IN LOW0CUT COSTUMES AND SWIM SUITS, AND SHE BECAME AN INSTANT PINUP FOR WORLD WAR II SOLDIERS. BUT HUGHES BOUGHT THE AILING RKO STUDIOS IN 1948, AND DEVOTED SPECIAL CARE TO HIS NO.1 STAR, USING HIS ENGINEERING SKILLS TO DESIGN A SPECIAL BRASSIERE (SHE SAID SHE NEVER WORE IT). THAT YEAR SHE MADE HER MOST SUCCESSFUL FILM, A LOAN OUT TO PARAMOUNT FOR 'THE PALEFACE'. BUT AT RKO SHE WAS CAST IN A SERIES OF POTBOILERS SUCH AS 'HIS KIND OF WOMAN', 'DOUBLE DYNAMITE', 'THE LAS VEGAS STORY' AND 'MACAU'. HUGHES REWARDED HER WITH A UNIQUE 20 YEAR CONTRACT PAYING $1,000 A WEEK, THEN HE SOLD RKO AND QUIT MAKING MOVIES. RUSSELL CONTINUED RECEIVING THE WEEKLY FEE, BUT NEVER MADE ANOTHER FILM FOR HUGHES. HER ONLY OTHER NOTABLE FILM WAS GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES', A 1953 MUSICAL BASED ON THE NOVEL BY ANITA LOOS. SHE AND MARILYN MONROE TEAMED UP TO SING 'TWO LITTLE GIRLS FROM LITTLE ROCK' AND 'SEEK ROMANCE IN PARIS'. SHE FOLLOWED THAT UP WITH THE 1954 MUSICAL 'THE FRENCH LINE', WHICH LIKE GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES HAS HER CAVORTING ON AN OCEAN LINER. IN 1955, SHE MADE THE SEQUEL GENTLEMEN MARRY BRUNETTES (WITHOUT MONROE) AND STARRED IN SEVERAL WESTERNS SUCH AS 'THE TALL MAN' AND FOXFIRE'. BUT BY THE 1960s, HER FILM CAREER HAD FADED. 'WHY DID I QUIT MOVIES', SHE REMARKED IN 1999, 'BECAUSE I WAS GETTING TOO OLD! YOU COULDN'T GO ON ACTING IN THOSE YEARS IF YOU WERE AN ACTRESS OVER 30.' ALTHOUGH HER LOOK AND HER HOURGLASS FIGURE MADE HER THE SUBJECT OF NUMEROUS NIGHTCLUB JOKES, UNLIKE MONROE, RITA HAYWORTH AND OTHER PINUP QUEENS OF THE ERA, RUSSELL WAS UNTOUCHED BY SCANDAL IN HER PERSONAL LIFE. RUSSELL REMAINED ACTIVE THROUGHOUT HER LIFE, STAYING BUSY IN HER CHURCH AND WITH CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION UNTIL HER HEALTH BEGAN TO DECLINE JUST A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO. IN RECENT YEARS FANS COULD SEE THE HOLLYWOOD LEGEND SINGING AT A HOTEL BAR NEAR HER SANTA MARIA HOME. RUSSELL ADOPTED THREE CHILDREN WHO SURVIVE HER ALONG WITH HER SIX GRANDCHILDREN AND TEN GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN. RUSSELL'S HAND AND FOOT PRINTS ARE IMMORTALIZED ON THE FORECOURT OF HOLLYWOOD'S LEGENDARY GRAUMAN'S CHINESE THEATER. SHE ALSO HAS A STAR ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME.
