For the biographical film, see Lillian Russell (film). For the American screenwriter, see Lillian Case Russell.
Lillian Russell
Russell in 1898
Born
Helen Louise Leonard
December 4, 1860 (or 1861)
Clinton, Iowa, U.S.
Died
June 6, 1922 (aged 60–61)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation(s)
Actress, singer
Years active
1879–1919
Spouses
Harry Braham
(m. 1879; div. 1881)
Edward Solomon
(m. 1885; ann. 1893)
John Haley Agustin
(m. 1894; div. 1898)
Alexander Pollock Moore
(m. 1912)
Relatives
Cynthia Leonard (mother)
Lillian Russell (born Helen Louise Leonard; December 4, 1860 or 1861[1] – June 6, 1922) was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, praised for her beauty and style, as well as for her voice and stage presence.[2]
Russell was born in Clinton, Iowa, but raised in Chicago. Her parents separated when she was 18, and she moved to New York with her mother. She began to perform professionally by 1879, singing for Tony Pastor and playing roles in comic opera, including Gilbert and Sullivan works. Composer Edward Solomon created roles in several of his comic operas for her in London. In 1884, they returned to New York and married in 1885, but in 1886, Solomon was arrested for bigamy. For many years, she was the foremost singer of operettas and musical theatre in the United States, performing continuously through the end of the 19th century.
In 1899, she joined the Weber and Fields' Broadway Music Hall, where she starred for five years. After 1904, she began to have vocal difficulties and switched to dramatic roles. She later returned to musical roles in vaudeville and retired from performing around 1919. Russell was married four times, but her longest relationship was with Diamond Jim Brady, who supported her extravagant lifestyle for four decades. In later years, she wrote a newspaper column, advocated women's suffrage, was a popular lecturer, and contributed to the passage of the restrictive Immigration Act of 1924.
^Although some sources state that Russell was born in 1861, her New York Times obituary and IBDB say she was born in 1860, as do most book-length biographies.
^Cite error: The named reference Gibson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
LillianRussell (born Helen Louise Leonard; December 4, 1860 or 1861 – June 6, 1922) was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous...
Jim" is known for his longtime relationship with actress and singer LillianRussell. It is said they would rendezvous at his home at 7 West 46th Street...
Title Role Notes 1937 Wake Up and Live Nurse uncredited 1940 LillianRussellLillianRussell's Sister performer: "Brighten the Corner Where You Are" 1940...
Faye's most memorable parts was the title role in the musical biopic LillianRussell (1940). Faye always named this film as one of her favorites, though...
first vaudeville theatre one block east of Union Square in 1881, where LillianRussell performed. Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred...
publisher/owner of the Pittsburgh Leader when he married the stage actress LillianRussell, becoming her fourth husband in 1912. He was a delegate to the Republican...
figure, Stephen Foster, in Swanee River (1939). He did a third biopic, LillianRussell (1940) with Faye, and was top billed in a war film, Four Sons (1940)...
was named the "LillianRussell Theater" in honor of the Clinton-born actress LillianRussell. In 1940, the film biography of Russell was shown in Clinton...
entrepreneur James Buchanan Brady, including his romance with entertainer LillianRussell, and stars Edward Arnold, Jean Arthur, Cesar Romero and Binnie Barnes...
Music by Oliver George) was written about this potato. Hollywood star LillianRussell shows off the Northern Pacific Railway's potatoes in this promotional...
substantial donation from the superstar actress and former chorus girl LillianRussell. Marie Dressler, another former chorus girl who had gone on to be a...
Wives Under Suspicion (1938); copper magnate Jesse Lewisohn in 1940's LillianRussell; the evil Jefferson Carteret in Arizona (also 1940); and the sympathetic...
Hammerstein II's Knights of Song (1938). A role he reprised in the film LillianRussell (1940). In 1934, he had moved to Hollywood, U.S. As his career there...
vaudeville in 1918. His popularity soon earned him the moniker "Mr. LillianRussell" for the popular beauty and musical comedy star. Hollywood beckoned...
London on December 26, 1884, and ran for just 24 performances with LillianRussell in the title role and C. Hayden Coffin in his stage debut in the piece...
Along the Mohawk Gilbert Martin 1940 The Grapes of Wrath Tom Joad LillianRussell Alexander Moore The Return of Frank James Frank James Chad Hanna Chad...
performers, was established in 1929, when Fred Russell was King Rat of the GOWR. His wife, LillianRussell, was installed as the first Queen Ratling. From...
which includes a portion of the Berlin Wall, stained glass from the LillianRussell Mansion, doors and facade from the Kuwait Royal Bank, doors from the...
Way I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now Irene It's a Date La Conga Nights LillianRussell A Little Bit of Heaven Little Nellie Kelly Love Thy Neighbor Ma! He's...
politician, 2nd President of the Republic of China (b. 1859) 1922 – LillianRussell, American actress and singer (b. 1860) 1935 – Julian Byng, 1st Viscount...
minstrel shows, before studying singing in London during the 1880s. LillianRussell played a major role in helping make him a Broadway star. When the producer...
as Meeker An Angel from Texas (1940) as 'Pooch' Davis (uncredited) LillianRussell (1940) as Jack - Reporter (uncredited) Public Deb No. 1 (1940) as Reporter...
blank verse and is also the only one of their works in three acts. LillianRussell had been engaged to create the title role, but Gilbert did not believe...
Adelina Patti, Emma Albani, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Eames, Rosita Mauri, LillianRussell, Emma Juch, Louise Paullin, Zélie de Lussan, Marie Tempest, Madeleine...
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