On June 23, 2010, the Hollywood Heritage Museum welcomed Jane Russell, one of Hollywood's loveliest leading ladies whose career began in the early 1940s.
After spending “An Evening With Jane Russell” at the Hollywood Heritage Museum, I realize she was the first woman to show me what it means to own your sexuality without it owning you.
During his introduction of her, Jane Russell‘s friend and former president of the Museum Nick Beck called her one of the most beautiful women in the world. She moaned. Then during the fascinating bio of her life at the beginning of the program, a dear friend of Jane’s remarked that she does not consider herself a sex symbol, despite a career built on sexy roles and pinup posters, primarily at the hand of Howard Hughes.
In his search for the next Jean Harlow, Hughes signed Jane to an exclusive contract at $50 a week to start and cast her in The Outlaw starring, for all intents and purposes, Jane’s breasts. Hughes even went so far as to have a special bra designed for their optimal appearance on camera. True to character, Jane refused it and wore her own bras instead; Hughes was none the wiser.
I don’t like the term “sex symbol” any more than Jane Russell does, particularly in reference to her. She is not a symbol of sex. As the details of her life reveal, she is a symbol of beauty, faith, strength, class, wit, self-respect and compassion. Only incidentally does this represent the sexiest combination of traits any woman can possess.
It was her birthday so the Museum’s sold-out, standing-room only crowd sang happy birthday to Jane, then she sang a song for us that she and her movie crew sang back in the day. It went something like this: “We’re flat on our asses, our rent is due; but never mind about us, happy birthday to you.”
In his search for the next Jean Harlow, Howard Hughes signed Jane Russell to an exclusive contract and cast her in The Outlaw. Hughes also directed the picture, notoriously insisting on 100 takes of the same scene.
In those days the same crew traveled from one production to the next, no doubt creating a sense of family that I suspect someone like Jane cherished greatly. Her father died when she was 16, leaving her and her mother to raise Jane’s four younger brothers on their own. Later in life, when Jane could not have children of her own, she adopted. The process revealed to Jane a desperate need for reform that she gladly took on, founding the World Adoption International Fund (WAIF) in 1952.
For the event, I had the good fortune of sitting in the second row, just a foot away from Jane’s seat up front. After the film bio finished playing, I heard her remark to a friend, “It’s amazing to have your whole life story told.”
Sitting that close I was also privy to the paparazzi-style pandemonium all around Jane during the break, and these were just regular people with phone cameras who wanted a momento for their photo album or, more likely, their Facebook pages. But it wasn’t just pictures they wanted. It was Jane’s attention. Her acknowledgement of them.
One man wanted Jane to know one of her movies was his first. One woman asked if Jane remembered so-and-so who interviewed her back in the day; he said to say hello. Another woman who overheard Jane asking for a straw for her drink brought her a cup, hoping that would somehow do the trick. And another woman handed her a birthday card and thanked her for not being religious, referencing Jane’s faith in God that evidentally transcends any specific religious affiliation.
Jane spoke on a number of topics that night, from her famous leading men to her faith.
Jane said…
… of Bob Hope: “It was heaven working with him.”
… of Clark Gable: “He was the biggest tease there ever was.”
… of Howard Hughes: “He was a very polite man and didn’t like to fight people face-to-face. I often yelled at him.”
In 1953, Jane Russell starred with Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. In it Jane showcased her expert comic timing first seen in 1948's Paleface with Bob Hope.
On a more serious note, Jane shared details of a dark time in her life. She spoke candidly of a pre-marital pregnancy and the abortion that followed. She was unable to have children as a result.
“If you fall off the Lord’s path, he’ll rub your nose in it,” Jane said. “I fell off his path. I was unmarried so I got an abortion and I damn near died. When I did get married, I couldn’t have children of my own.”
That’s when Jane started the adoption process, which turned out to be a logistical nightmare. When she asked agencies about adopting a 1 or 2 year old, they told Jane they only placed babies. Meanwhile, Jane was traveling the world for her films, seeing firsthand the desperate need for adoption of older orphans worldwide.
“I said, ‘Ok, Lord, I’ll go to work on it.’ ” And that’s when she founded WAIF which helped place more than 50,000 orphans in its first year. The following year, Jane was instrumental in the passage of the Federal Orphan Adoption Amendment, which allowed children of American servicemen born overseas to be adopted by American families. She also lobbied successfully for the passage of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act in 1980.
Jane Russell made her last film, Darker Than Amber, in 1970. Now retired, she sings with a group of friends and continues her work on behalf of children who need homes.
Retired from the movies, today Jane sings with a group of friends at a regular gig in Santa Maria. But it is her continual work on behalf of orphaned children where Jane no doubt hopes her voice carries furthest. As noted by a friend of hers in the film bio that night, “God gave Jane a mother’s heart.”
To learn more about the remarkable Jane Russell, check out her autobiography: Jane Russell: My Path and My Detours.
With gratitude,
Meredith Simonds, Social Media Reviewer, Blogger and Consultant
I previously blogged about my social media review of the Hollywood Heritage Museum here.
