At The Old Hollywood Newsletter
We’re Celebrating Vintage Sensuality
Hello Body House Members;
I wanted to start off 2025 with a sense of stability.
By all predictions, this years should be another crazy one with ups and downs every time we turn around.
So I wanted to set a tone for 2025 by choosing to feature a lovely classic movie star who was known for having her feet firmly planted on the ground.
Russell was married only once to the same man, Frederick Brisson, for 35 years until her death at the age of 69. It was her first marriage and his second.
They had one child together. A son. Lance Brisson.
Listen to Rosalind Russell’s son Lance speak about how his father saw one of Russell’s movie’s and HAD to meet her.
Ultimately, it was Cary Grant that was the bridge to the two of then meeting. See Below…
ROSALIND RUSSELL’S TOP MOVIES
HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940)
AUNT MAME (1958)
‘THE WOMEN‘ (1939)
2 ROWDY BROADS! Apparently Rosalind Russell actually bit Paulette Goddard in this stage fight and left a scar!
‘The Women’ also starred Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford.
Have a look!
I found a video of a compilation of Rosalind Russell’s comedy chops.
She’s got great timing!!
FAST FACTS ABOUT ROSALIND RUSSELL
- Catherine Rosalind Russell was born on June 4, 1907, in Waterbury, CT.
- She was an American actress, model, comedian, screenwriter, and singer.
- The middle of seven children in an Irish Catholic family, she was named for the S.S. Rosalind on which her parents had sailed, at the suggestion of her father, a successful lawyer.
- As she said of her sibling position in her auto-biography, “I’m the middle one, the ham in the sandwich,” Russell writes.
- Russell is best known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday.
- According to Vanity Fair, Russell is; “A golden-age character actress trapped in a leading lady’s body.”
- Nominations: Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
- Height: 5′ 8″
- Russell’s one and only marriage was to the actor and producer, Frederick Brisson (m. 1941–1976) They had one son together; Lance Brisson.
- Frederick Brisson’s father was the famous Danish actor, and singer Carl Brisson. He appeared in 13 films between 1918 and 1935, including two silent films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
- In the 1934 film Murder at the Vanities, Carl Brisson introduced the popular song “Cocktails for Two“.
- Russell passed on November 28, 1976 (age 69 years), in Beverly Hills, CA. from breast cancer.
- She was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California where so many Old Hollywood stars have been laid to rest.
Come Celebrate Vintage Sensuality with us on Substack here…
ROSALIND RUSSELL’S LOVE LIFE
RUSSELL was married to Frederick Brisson for 35 years until her death from breast cancer.
It was her first marriage and his second. They had one child together. A son they named Lance.
Photos of Russell and Brisson…
A PICTURE OF ROSALIND RUSSELL
WITH HER HUSBAND AND SON
RUSSELL AND HER GOOD FRIEND FRANK SINATRA
Quotes By ROSALIND RUSSELL
- “Acting is standing up naked and turning around very slowly.” – Rosalind Russell “Success is a public affair. Failure is a private funeral.” – Rosalind Russell
“At MGM, there was a first wave of top stars, and a second wave to replace them in case they got difficult. I was second in line of defense, behind Myrna Loy.” – Rosalind Russell
“Flops are part of a life’s menu and I’ve never been a girl to miss out on any of the courses.” – Rosalind Russell
“In all those types of films I wore a tan suit, a grey suit, a beige suit and then a negligee for the seventh reel near the end when I would admit to my best friend on the telephone that what I really wanted was to become a little housewife.” – Rosalind Russell
“Taste. You cannot buy such a rare and wonderful thing. You can’t send away for it in a catalogue. And I’m afraid it’s becoming obsolete.” – Rosalind Russell
“Taking joy in life is a woman’s best cosmetic.” – Rosalind Russell
“Being given good material is like being assigned to bake a cake and having the batter made for you.” – Rosalind Russell
“I just get out there and belt a song around. No one would dare give me anything with a range of more than seven notes – and four would be better.” – Rosalind Russell
“[On her role in Picnic (1955)] [William Inge] has sisters who were schoolteachers. That helped him in writing Rosemary so perceptively.” – Rosalind Russell
“It’s fine to have talent, but talent is the last of it. In an acting career, as in an acting performance, you’ve got to have vitality. The secret of successful acting is identical with a woman’s beauty secret: joy in living.” – Rosalind Russell
“People can teach you a lot if you’ll let them. I know.” – Rosalind Russell
“[On Joan Crawford] She was very much the star. I think that’s a very important thing to remember about her, that she was in command of what she did. Now, if she was not that confident herself, she certainly gave a damned good performance of somebody that was! She lived the life of a star. When you walked into her house, it looked as though a star lived there.” – Rosalind Russell
“[On her great friend Frank Sinatra] Ohhhh, he is quite a guy! Frank is a remarkable human being. Very colorful. He is several people, all interesting. He is a man with concern for people – not only his friends, but people he doesn’t know. I guess there is just reams that could be written about the things he has done for people which no one knows other than the recipients. He likes it that way.” – Rosalind Russell
“Moments. A couple of moments that people remember, that they can take with them, is what makes a good movie.” – Rosalind Russell
“[1967] I’ve worked with scores of actors and actresses far more skilled than I’ll ever be as far as raw talent is concerned. But what they have In abundance fails to register with the necessary impact on audiences either across the footlights or via the camera. Perhaps this stems from a lack of a kind of resilience, the absence of a subconscious all-powerful drive to project an image to score with the viewer. Whatever this mysterious thing is, you either have it or you don’t.” – Rosalind Russell
“[1967] To this day people stop me on the street and greet me with “Hi Auntie” [referencing Auntie Mame (1958)). It is marvelous to think I’ve been able to subordinate myself and achieve a characterization which had enough dimension to become alive for some viewers.” – Rosalind Russell
Thank you for your interest in The Body House Chronicles and vintage sensuality.
ALL Links – https://linktr.ee/bodyhouse1
Relationship SAVING HUG – Soulmate Embrace {FREE eBook} – https://bit.ly/32vEbzQ
30 Romance Tricks That Work Like Magic {FREE Ebook} – https://bit.ly/2ZVJuXM
Relationship Magic – Free eBook – https://bit.ly/2ZDutcW
Get The Old Hollywood Newsletter – Celebrating Vintage Sensuality
Sign up for FREE here…. The Body House Chronicles SUBSTACK newsletter.
Contact: thebodyhouse.biz@gmail.com
Discover more beautiful classic movies stars here:
DEBBIE REYNOLDS
AGNES MOOREHEAD
JANET LEIGH
TALLULAH BANKHEAD
JUDY HOLLIDAY
JULIE LONDON
ANN SHERIDAN
DONNA REED
MARY PICKFORD
MARION DAVIES
Don’t Forget to Get That Beautiful Mug on a Mug!
