June 21 2016 was 95th birth anniversary of Jane Russell
Jane Russell (1921-2011) by George Hurrell
courtesy: current copyright holder of the picture
The elephant that forgot... to put her bra on
Jane Russell in The Outlaw
courtesy: Wikipedia
“…The Outlaw (1943) was completed in 1941, but it was not
released until 1943 in a limited release. Problems occurred with the censorship
of the production code over the way her ample cleavage was displayed. When the
movie was finally passed, it had a general release in 1946. During that time,
she was kept busy doing publicity and became known nationally. Contrary to
countless incorrect reports in the media since the release of The Outlaw,
Russell did not wear the specially designed underwire bra that Howard Hughes
had designed and made for her to wear during filming. According to Jane's 1985
autobiography, she said that the bra was so uncomfortable that she secretly
discarded it and wore her own bra with the cups padded with tissue and the
straps pulled up to elevate her breasts.
Russell's measurements were 38D-24-36, and she stood 5 ft 7
in (97-61-91 cm and 1.7 m), making her more statuesque than most of her
contemporaries. Her favorite co-star Bob Hope once introduced her as "the
two and only Jane Russell". He joked, "Culture is the ability to
describe Jane Russell without moving your hands." Howard Hughes said,
"There are two good reasons why men go to see her. Those are enough."…”
जेन रसेल, अमेरिकन चित्रपट अभिनेत्री आणि हॉलीवूडची १९४० आणि '५०च्या दशकांतील आघाडीची सेक्स सिम्बॉल, जन्म १९२१, मृत्यू २०११
Jane Russell (1921-2011) by George Hurrell
courtesy: current copyright holder of the picture
जी ए कुलकर्णी,
July 28 1955:
"…हत्तिणीचे
चित्र काढताना जेन
रसेलचे चित्र निघणे हा
लेखकाचा पराभव आहे…" ('जी.एं. ची
निवडक पत्रे, खंड
२', 1998, page 14)
The late G A Kulkarni says in a letter: "...Ending up drawing Jane Russell while drawing a
female elephant is a defeat of a writer..."...Earlier in the letter he
also says you can't really make Jane Russell by planing (रंधून) a female elephant.
Looks like GA was a great admirer of Ms. Russell! But I was
wondering why GA thought of female elephant and Jane Russell together. Surely he did NOT see the following picture.
I have another observation.
GA's book is copiously marked with foot notes by the editors almost on every page. Every time GA refers to something that has not been discussed earlier, there is a footnote for it. For instance, on page 14, 'Grapes of Wrath' is commented upon.
GA's book is copiously marked with foot notes by the editors almost on every page. Every time GA refers to something that has not been discussed earlier, there is a footnote for it. For instance, on page 14, 'Grapes of Wrath' is commented upon.
But for some reason, Ms. Russell does not get a footnote.
Was it because editors assumed every reader knew about her? I
don't think it's quite true because by 1998, Russell was already history and
had not become a legend like Marilyn Monroe among Marathi speaking people at
least. Or was it just widely prevalent snobbishness among Marathi literati that perhaps a Hollywood star and sex symbol (for me Ms. Russell was a competent actor too) from the past was not in the same
league as John Steinbeck's book and hence not worth a comment?
To compensate for that oversight, I have tried writing that missing footnote as a caption for
Ms. Russell's picture that is posted second from the top.