jane russell died at her home in santa maria, ca today of respiratory problems at the age of 89.
russell got her big break from howard hughes when he cast her in the outlaw and signing her to a 7 year contract. the film wasn't released for 3 years because censors where skittish about the attention given her figure. hughes pulled the film until 1946 when it was finally released making her into a star. she went on to star in palface and son of paleface with bob hope and gentlemen prefer blondes in 1953 with marilyn monroe amongst others.
russell was a staunch conservative who considered democrats in hollywood "crazy". she is quoted as saying "in my day hollywood was republican. all the heads of the studios were republicans, and we were fighting communism." she was a vocal supporter of the iraq war & an opponent of abortion (even in cases of rape & incest) and worked tirelessly to "get the bible back in schools." she described herself as "a teetotal, mean-spirited, right-wing, narrow-minded, conservative christian bigot."