Jane Russell : Pro-Life Advocate
Earlier this month, screen legend Jane Russell was laid to rest. Featured in such classic films as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), The Paleface (1948), and Son of Paleface (1952), Russell is best remembered for her first film, The Outlaw (1943), which launched her into stardom. But what most people didn’t know—what I didn’t know—is that she was a Christian, and that she was very active in the Pro-Life movement. Russell’s daughter-in-law provides a moving account of Ms. Russell’s true passion over at LifeSiteNews.com. Here’s some excerpts . . .
But according to Waterfield, Jane’s true legacy lies in her deep devotion to the Bible as a born-again Christian, and her tenacity living out that faith as a pro-life advocate following a tragic botched abortion at the age of eighteen. . . .
Russell’s story began in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California where she grew up as the eldest and only girl in a deeply Christian family of five children. The loss of a child - Jane’s older brother, who died at 18 months old - was what inspired her own mother’s zeal for reading the Bible, a hunger she passed on to her daughter.
The death of a child would also later exert a powerful effect on Jane’s life: when the eighteen-year-old star was already well on her way to a successful career in film, an illegal abortion took the life of her unborn child, and left her unable to bear children ever again.
According to Waterfield, the young Jane already “felt horrible” about the moral evil committed in the abortion, which was so badly botched she nearly died. “She knew it was wrong,” she said. “But she as a young teenager, she felt she was trapped and her career starting to take off, and it was an inconvenience, and she thought that was the best solution, knowing all along that it wasn’t.” . . .
Jane carried on, she said, bearing courageously the responsibility of an abortion that wound up giving her “a heart for children,” particularly those who were difficult to place in adoptions, such as older and disabled children. Russell was to found the World Adoption International Fund (WAIF) in 1955. According to Waterfield, through Russell’s efforts at adoption advocacy, she helped find a place for over 40,000 children in permanent homes who may otherwise never have found them.
You can read the entire article here.
HT: Pro-Existence
posted by The Catechizer and The Deacon | 6:10 AM
2 Comments:
Being a huge classics fan, thought this was very interesting! The last time I saw her was on an interview on Turner, with Robert Mitchum.She always struck me as a very down to earth woman, which I liked (as far as hollywood 'stars' go, lol)...that is when she wasn't stuck in some silly steamy movie by Howard Hughs!!, which I understand she was very weary of. Anyway!! Thanks for this info on out sister Jane.
I’m with you, Jo. I’m a big classic movie fan too, which is I why I was so glad to learn about Ms. Russell.
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