Jane Russell

Jane Russell

Beautiful, dark-haired, big-boned actress with a direct personality, she is known as much for her lingerie commercials as for her film career. She first appeared in film in Howard Hughes's The Outlaw (1943), then went on to star opposite Bob Hope in The Paleface (1948), and Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). In the mid-1950s, she formed Russ-Field Productions with her husband, but this did not substantially improve her box office appeal. For a few months in 1971, she appeared in the lead role of a Broadway production of Company then turned to commercials where she pitched the 18-hour bra for Playtex.