American actress and sex symbol Jane Russell died yesterday, it has been announced. She shot to fame thanks to a Howard Hughes film, The Outlaw, which caused much controversy in its day for its steamy atmosphere and emphasis on Russell's curves, and that publicity informed many of her roles thereafter. She had a big hit as Calamity Jane opposite Bob Hope in The Paleface, and returned to star in the sequel Son of Paleface four years later.
Other movies included cult favourite His Kind of Woman with Robert Mitchum, whom she also starred with in Macao, one of Josef von Sternberg's last assignments, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - another cult classic that paired her with Marilyn Monroe, Underwater, The Tall Men, sequel Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, and the first Billy Jack movie The Born Losers. Her last was the controversially violent Darker Than Amber; thereafter she devoted her time to the stage and charitable causes, becoming a devout Christian.
