Sept 2011
****The blog has come to a bit of a standstill at the moment as I have just moved back to the other side of the world (Australia) & am waiting for my container with all my worldly goods to arrive in Oct 2011 which contain all my research info on Gail.I'm also expecting a baby in Nov 2011 so will be quite busy! but am keen to get back to writing Gail's story asap.Thank you to all who have visited this blog & who continue to remember Gail Russell****
A hauntingly beautiful actress,Gail Russell's demure and melancholy screen persona reflected a deeper sadness in her life.
She was discovered,groomed and reached stardom in her third film,The Uninvited (1944) but there would be no happy ending for this Hollywood Cinderella story...
Painfully shy and self-conscious,thrust into a career she never really wanted,her life became a hideous nightmare.''I'm frightened'',she said,''Did you ever stand up on a set with everyone looking at you? All those electricians and grips and everyone? It's terrifying.''
This fear penetrated Gail's daily life and led her into a downward spiral of alcoholism.
This fear penetrated Gail's daily life and led her into a downward spiral of alcoholism.
Sadly,Gail would succombe to the effects of alcohol & die at the age of just 35 in August 1961.