Actress Jane Russell Dies at 89

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Screen Legend Jane Russell Dead at 89

By the CNN Wire Staff
February 28, 2011

(CNN) -- The 1940s and '50s movie bombshell, whose name was synonymous with voluptuousness, died Monday morning at her home in Santa Maria, California, her family said. Jane Russell was 89.

Daughter-in-law Etta Waterfield said that Russell was a "pillar of health" but caught a bad cold and died of respiratory difficulties.

Russell's children, Thomas K. Waterfield, Tracy Foundas and Robert "Buck" Waterfield," were at her side, Etta Waterfield said.

Eccentric philanthropist and movie producer Howard Hughes was the first to put Jane Russell on the silver screen, signing her to a seven-year contract in 1940 and promptly putting her in his production of "The Outlaw," a film about a torrid romance between Billy the Kid and woman named Rio (Russell).

The film got only limited release -- in 1943 -- because censors at the time were skittish about the attention given Russell's figure. Hughes wasn't satisfied. He pulled the film from release and kept it out of circulation for six more years while he did more reshoots and re-editing.

And, Hughes kept Russell off the screen -- her only other appearance during those seven years was in "The Young Widow" (1946), shot while she was on loan to United Artists.

Hughes' extensive publicity campaign for "The Outlaw," however -- she has said that he had her making appearances five days a week for five years -- made Russell popular during World War II as a pin-up, and when the movie was finally released in 1946, she was a star.

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