Talyn
Emissary
The Academy Awards annually remind Americans how far out-of-touch most of Hollywood is with the average American. Older generations know just how deeply Tinseltown has sunk.
There was a time when a far greater proportion of male actors exuded a natural masculinity because they had lived real lives before Hollywood and were, simply, men. One of those was John Russell, known as Jack to his friends. He had a 40-year career in Hollywood, appearing in 50 movies and more than 200 television episodes. Before that, he was Lt. Russell, a Marine in the Battle of Guadalcanal
John Russell in Lawman
Russell’s two TV series didn’t stop him from appearing in movies, mostly Westerns. He played typical Old West characters: lawmen, outlaws, and gamblers. However, in one of them, Yellowstone Kelly, starring Clint Walker, Russell played Gall, a Sioux Indian chief.
Russell continued appearing in movies and in various television shows throughout the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. He appeared with John Wayne in Rio Bravo and with Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales, Honkytonk Man, and Pale Rider. The role of Marshal Stockburn in Pale Rider was Russell at his intimidating and villainous best. He was a lawman, but one whose services were for sale. He and his deputies were enforcers for a mining company intent on running prospectors off their claims. As a mysterious and somewhat otherworldly figure, Eastwood came to the rescue of the prospectors and confronted Russell.
John Russell in Pale Rider
Emphysema ended John Russell’s acting career in the late ’80s. For most of his adult life, he smoked, and he paid a terrible price for it. He had just turned 70 when he died in 1991, leaving behind two grown daughters from his marriage to Renata Titus. He was given a military burial at the Sawtelle Veterans Cemetery in West Los Angeles.
In keeping with Russell’s wishes, there’s nothing on his tombstone about his Hollywood stardom. Engraved on his tombstone is only the Christian cross, the dates of his birth and death, the phrase “Precious Liberty,” and “John L. Russell, 2nd Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, World War II.”
There was a time when a far greater proportion of male actors exuded a natural masculinity because they had lived real lives before Hollywood and were, simply, men. One of those was John Russell, known as Jack to his friends. He had a 40-year career in Hollywood, appearing in 50 movies and more than 200 television episodes. Before that, he was Lt. Russell, a Marine in the Battle of Guadalcanal
John Russell in Lawman
https://chroniclesmagazine.org/columns/sins-of-omission/john-russell-from-guadalcanal-to-hollywood/?
Russell’s two TV series didn’t stop him from appearing in movies, mostly Westerns. He played typical Old West characters: lawmen, outlaws, and gamblers. However, in one of them, Yellowstone Kelly, starring Clint Walker, Russell played Gall, a Sioux Indian chief.
Russell continued appearing in movies and in various television shows throughout the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. He appeared with John Wayne in Rio Bravo and with Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales, Honkytonk Man, and Pale Rider. The role of Marshal Stockburn in Pale Rider was Russell at his intimidating and villainous best. He was a lawman, but one whose services were for sale. He and his deputies were enforcers for a mining company intent on running prospectors off their claims. As a mysterious and somewhat otherworldly figure, Eastwood came to the rescue of the prospectors and confronted Russell.
John Russell in Pale Rider
Emphysema ended John Russell’s acting career in the late ’80s. For most of his adult life, he smoked, and he paid a terrible price for it. He had just turned 70 when he died in 1991, leaving behind two grown daughters from his marriage to Renata Titus. He was given a military burial at the Sawtelle Veterans Cemetery in West Los Angeles.
In keeping with Russell’s wishes, there’s nothing on his tombstone about his Hollywood stardom. Engraved on his tombstone is only the Christian cross, the dates of his birth and death, the phrase “Precious Liberty,” and “John L. Russell, 2nd Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, World War II.”
! i've seen him in a few movies and like him as an actor.
