Gail Russell was a hauntingly beautiful, yet emotionally fragile Hollywood actress with large blue eyes and a shy smile. She starred with some of the most popular leading men in films, including John Wayne, Joel McCrae, and Alan Ladd. In spite of her success, she was tortured by extreme shyness and stage fright and used alcohol to calm her nerves. She eventually lost both her career and her life to the devastating effects of alcoholism.
Painfully Shy Childhood
Gail Russell was born Elizabeth L. Russell in Chicago, Illinois on September 21, 1924 to George and Gladys Russell. She was a shy child who hid beneath her parent’s piano when they entertained. She was also interested in art and started sketching at age five. The family moved to Los Angeles when she was fourteen. Russell’s mother convinced her to audition at Paramount Studios. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Russell said she was asked to wear an evening gown and told to look glamorous, a task she found challenging considering she had never even tried on makeup. Nevertheless, Gail was offered a standard seven year contract and $50 a week, and signed with Paramount as soon as she graduated from Santa Monica High School.
Early Years with Paramount Studios
Although the studio hired an acting coach, Russell’s stage fright was a problem from the start. She made her first film appearance at nineteen in the 1943 film Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour. The following year she appeared in Lady in the Dark, starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland. Although Russell’s role was hardly noteworthy, the film was nominated for three Oscars, which boosted Russell's career. Critics compared her to Hollywood favorite Hedy Lamarr and Paramount acted quickly, casting her in two more movies in 1944.
"The Uninvited" and the Start of a Deadly Disease
Her raven hair and enigmatic beauty was particularly suited to the ghost story plot of The Uninvited, her second film of 1944. Russell was again cast with Ray Milland, this time as his love interest. During filming, Russell’s stage fright was so great that one of her co-stars suggested she use alcohol to calm her nerves. Russell completed the film, but lost twenty pounds and later suffered a nervous breakdown. This film was also nominated for an Oscar, drawing even more attention to the young star, but her use of alcohol to calm her fears was the beginning of the end for Gail Russell.
Stress of a Hollywood Life
In her next film, Russell played Emily Kimbrough in the well-received 1944 comedy Our Hearts Were Young and Gay. The following year she starred as a school teacher opposite Alan Ladd in Salty O'Rouke, another Oscar-nominated film, then with Joel McCrae in the supernatural tale, The Unseen. In 1946, Russell starred in Our Hearts Were Growing Up, a sequel with Diana Lynn, and before the year was over she would complete yet another movie, The Bachelor’s Daughters, with Adolphe Menjou. Added to this grueling schedule was Russell’s tortuous ordeal with stage fright, which she continued to treat with a liberal dose of alcohol.
Gail Russell and John Wayne
In 1947, Russell performed one of her most famous roles as the innocent Quaker love interest of John Wayne in The Angel and the Badman. Wayne's wife, actress Esperanze "Chata" Bauer, was convinced that her husband was having an affair with Russell, though Wayne and Russell both denied anything more than friendship.
Ronald L. Davis discusses the situation in his biography of John Wayne titled Duke. In 1949, Russell once again starred as John Wayne's love interest in Wake of the Red Witch. Wayne received 10% of the gross from the movie, which entitled him to help choose the cast. When Wayne's wife, actress Esperanza "Chata" Bauer, learned that her husband had chosen Russell for this role she exploded in an alcoholic, jealous rage. Wayne returned home late from the cast party and Bauer was waiting at the door with her mother. Bauer aimed a gun at her husband and pulled the trigger. The bullet barely missed Wayne’s head.
Russell was called upon to testify at the divorce trial of John Wayne and Chata Bauer, which turned into a humiliating and painful drama for Russell, but she insisted throughout the trial that she was friends with Wayne, and nothing more.
Criminal Record and Contract Loss
Months later, Russell married her long-time boyfriend, television actor Guy Madison. In 1953, Russell was called to testify in John Wayne’s divorce trial, which greatly increased her stress. Once again, Russell and Wayne both denied having an affair. Two weeks later, Russell was arrested for drunk driving, which fueled even more rumors about an affair with John Wayne and caused serious damage to her marriage to Guy Madison. Her alcoholic reputation troubled Paramount executives and they refused to renew her contract.
Divorce, Continued Alcoholism, and a New Contract
Russell and Madison divorced in 1955, adding to her feelings of despair. Shortly after the divorce, Russell left the scene of the crime after rear-ending another vehicle while intoxicated. In 1957, she drove her new convertible through the glass windows of Jan's Restaurant in Beverly Hills and the janitor was pinned beneath her vehicle.
Remarkably, Russell was picked up by Universal Studios and continued to star with some of the most famous names in Hollywood, including Randolph Scott, but she also continued to drink. In August of 1957, when she failed to appear in court for the incident at Jan's Restaurant, officers were sent to her home and found her drunk and unconscious. The hearing was held at General Hospital where she was bedridden with severe effects from the alcoholism. She joined Alcoholics Anonymous at the hospital and stayed with the organization for a year, then returned to her alcoholic habits.
Russell Succumbs to a Deadly Disease
In 1961, Russell starred in her last movie, The Silent Call. When filming was completed, she locked herself in her Los Angeles studio apartment, sketching and drinking. On August 26, 1961, 35-year-old Gail Russell died from an alcohol-induced heart attack. She wasn't found until the next day, and the certificate lists August 27 as her date of death.
Gail Russell is buried in Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park in Hollywood, California. Russell continues to have a fan following, based mainly on her role in the popular John Wayne film The Angel and the Badman. Actress Jane Fonda also modeled her Oscar-nominated role in the 1986 film “The Morning After” on the life of Gail Russell. Gail Russell has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6933 Hollywood Blvd.
Sources:
- Davis, Ronald L. Duke: The Life and Image of John Wayne. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman, Oklahoma: 1998.
- “Gail Russell.” Turner Classic Movies Online Database: Retrieved July 26, 2009.
- Harnisch, Larry. “Gail Russell-In Memorium.” Los Angeles Times/The Daily Mirror: July 5, 2007. Retrieved on July 26, 2009.
Darla Sue Dollman - Darla Sue Dollman, BA, MFA, has expertise in classic films, the Old West, boating, and animals.
