Jane Russell, film siren who sizzled on-screen in 'The Outlaw,' dies at 89
Jane Russell, who became one of Hollywood's most celebrated sex symbols through a blend of her own physical endowments and the reported struggles with censorship of her skillfully promoted first movie, died Feb. 28 at her home in Santa Maria, Calif. She was 89.
Her son, Buck Waterfield, said she died of respiratory failure. Her family watched the Academy Award ceremonies on television with her the night before, Waterfield said.
A legend for voluptuousness almost from the time filming began on "The Outlaw," the Howard Hughes production that marked her movie debut, Ms. Russell made many other well-remembered movies, had a productive singing career and remained active in the entertainment world to the end of her life.
In the 1940s, at a time when Hollywood operated under a strict production code, Hughes was credited with sparing nothing to a make a sensation of his movie and Ms. Russell's role in it. "The Outlaw" took its title from its subject, the notorious Western gunman Billy the Kid.
But the name seemed also to suggest forbidden sexuality, and in particular, to refer to Hughes himself. He became known for his defiant efforts to break the restraints of the motion picture production code in his display of Ms. Russell's dimensions, reportedly 38D-24-36.
Read More:Jane Russell, film siren who sizzled on-screen in 'The Outlaw,' dies at 89
