There is already an interesting thread on Gail Russell, but it is closed and that's why i decided to put on some details with a new one.
She was named 'The Hedy Lamarr of Santa Monica'. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Gail was raised mostly in Michigan on her uncle's farm. Her mother wanted to be famous but didn't have the necessary talent, so she channeled her energies into her daughter. Gail was a skillful artist and a very shy child who adored Ginger Rogers. When Gale was 12, the family moved to California and she went to school with Jane Russell who, although not related, became a close friend.
Her first film was 'Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour' (1943) as high school femme fatale, Virginia Lowry. The studio arranged dates for Gail. She was cast opposite her idol Ginger Rogers in 'Lady in the Dark' (1944), but Gail was so nervous it took nearly two days to shoot her two lines of dialogue. Nevertheless, she and Ginger Rogers became friends and the elder actress took a keen interest in the younger. 'The Uninvited' (1944), in which she played Stella Meredith, established Gail as a film star, although again she suffered from stage fright and that led to a nervous breakdown.
In 1949 Gail and Guy Madison went on a month-long holiday to get to know each other better and visit her relatives. On August 3, they married at the Biltmore Hotel in Santa Barbara. Gill's mother, father and brother were notable by their absence from the ceremony.
Joseph Losey's 'The Lawless' (1950) was her last film at Paramount. Losey later recalled Gail being absolutely terrified on set and unable to deliver a single line without a drink; once a drink arrived, she was word-perfect. During the shooting of her movies, she was lonely (Madison was unable to visit her, because of his own busy workload...), depressed, tired and drinking. Back in her hotel room after shooting, she was drink herself into oblivion. Gail and Madison separated and then in 1953 Gail was named as co-respondent by John Wayne's estranged wife, Esperanza Baur. Gail and Madison reconciled, but it was never a love match. She entered a sanatorium in Seattle, Washington, to try and recover, but in November 1953 she was arrested for drink-driving. Madison bailed her out, but on October 6, 1954 they were divorced.
Gail continued to appear in films, but she put on weight and lost much of her beauty due to drink. In 1957, she began a two-year lesbian relationship with singer Dorothy Shay. In the summer of that year, she was again arrested for drink-driving, when she crashed her car through a shop window, pinning a man under the from wheels. She was sentenced to 30 days in prison suspended, fined $420 and put on probation for three years.
On August 27, 1961, she was discovered dead, surrounded by empty vodka bottles in her home, at the age of 36. Gail had died some time between August 24 and 26. Cause of death: alcoholism and cirrhosis of the liver. She was also found to have been suffering from malnutrition at the time of her death.
