Film legend Jane Russell dies

The Gentlemen Prefer Blondes star died age 89

Film legend Jane Russell has died at the age of 89, of respiratory failure at her home in Santa Maria, California.

Famously discovered by billionaire Howard Hughes, the tycoon cast her in the his 1943 movie, The Outlaws, which marked her screen debut. The film was notoriously unreleased for almost three years due to censors' concerns over its lingering shots of Russell's famous hougrlass figure.

Although not gaining favourable reviews for her acting skills, the role made Russell a favourite pin-up girl during the Forties and Fifties, when she shot movies such as 1948's The Paleface, alongside Bob Hope, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with Marilyn Monroe in 1953.

Her Hollywood career faded in the Sixties and she later wrote in her biography, 'Why did I quit movies? Because I was getting too old! You couldn't go on acting in those years if you were an actress over 30.'

She married three time and adopted three children with first husband, Bob Waterfield. After struggling with the adoption process, she founded the World Adoption International Agency, which helps US citizens adopt children from around the world.

Russell's daughter-in-law confirmed the sad news that she had died on Monday.

JANE RUSSELL: A RETROSPECTIVE