Ruslana Korshunova (1987 - 2008)

Ruslana Korshunova was born in Almaty, Kazakh SSR. Her father, Sergey Korshunov, died in 1992 when she was 5 years old. Her mother, Valentina (née Kutenkova) and her brother, Ruslan, live in Kazakhstan. With different degrees of fluency she spoke Russian, Kazakh, English and German. She was discovered in 2003, when All Asia magazine printed […]

Russ Brown (1892 - 1964)

Actor. He won the 1956 Tony for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Damn Yankees”, which he reprised for the film version. Other films include “Moulin Rouge” (1934), “South Pacific” (1958) and “Anatomy of a Murder” (1959). (bio by: Ginny M)

Russell Arms (1920 - 2012)

Entertainer. Best remembered as a featured vocalist on the music program “Your Hit Parade” (1952 to 1957). His parents divorced when he was young and during his high school years, he caught the acting bug. While attending junior college, he initiated his career in entertainment with parts in a radio drama for a local San […]

Russell Birdwell (1903 - 1977)

Motion-Picture Publicist. He won almost legendary status as one of Hollywood’s most flamboyant press agents. Birdwell launched his first big publicity stunt in 1927, when he hired an actress to dress in widow’s garb and place flowers at the tomb of Rudolph Valentino on the first anniversary of his death. An anonymous “Woman in Black” […]

Russell Collins (1897 - 1965)

Actor. He first appeared on stage in 1922. He had roles in a few early Group Theatre productions with Success Story being his Broadway debut. Probably his most noted Broadway role was as the star of the 1935 musical play Johnny Johnson. He enjoyed a long career on Broadway, in films and television. By the […]

Russell Gleason (1907 - 1945)

Actor. Born the son of actors Lucile and James Gleason, it was only natural that he would follow in his parents’ footsteps, initially performing in their stage productions. Beginning his film career with the release of five films, including “The Sophomore” and “The Flying Fool” in 1929, he went on to act in over fifty […]

Russell Harvey Ash (1910 - 1974)

Actor. Born in Springfield, Ohio, he was a veteran character performer in feature films from the 1930s to 1960s. His credits included “The Champ’s a Champ” (1936), “Weekend in Havana” (1941), “Where Do We Go From Here?” (1945), “Around the World in Eighty Days” (1956), “Marjorie Morningstar” (1958) and “Do Not Disturb” (1965). He died […]

Russell Hayden (1912 - 1981)

Hayden worked behind the scenes in films in jobs such as sound recorder, film cutter, and assistant cameraman before he became an actor in the mid-1930s. At the beginning of his acting career, he mainly starred in Westerns and was voted one of the Top Ten cowboy stars. He played Lucky Jenkins, one of a trio […]

Russell Herman Conwell (1843 - 1925)

Educator. He was the founder of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Temple University. Born in Worthington, Massachusetts in 1843, he began attending Yale in 1860, but enlisted in the Union Army in 1862 after the outbreak of the Civil War. He was commissioned as Captain and commander of Company F, 46th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which was an […]

Russell Johnson (1924 - 2014)

Russell Johnson Russell David Johnson (November 10, 1924 – January 16, 2014) was an American television and film actor, best known for his role as “The Professor” on the CBS television sitcom Gilligan’s Island. Early life Johnson was born on November 10, 1924, in Ashley, in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. His parents were Russell Kennedy Johnson […]

Russell Kirk (1918 - 1994)

Russell Kirk was born in Plymouth, Michigan. He was the son of Russell Andrew Kirk, a railroad engineer, and Marjorie Pierce Kirk. Kirk obtained his BA at Michigan State University and a M.A. at Duke University. During World War II, he served in the American armed forces and corresponded with a libertarian writer, Isabel Paterson, […]

Russell Sage (1815 - 1906)

Financier. Began in grocery business in Troy, New York. He held a large portion of ownership in railroads and Western Union. U.S. Representative from New York, 1853-1857.  Family links:  Parents:  Elisha Sage (1779 – 1854)  Prudence Risley Sage (1778 – 1865)  Spouses:  Maria Winne Sage (1819 – 1867)  Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage (1828 – 1918) […]

Russell Simpson (1880 - 1959)

Russell Simpson was born on June 17, 1880 in Danville, California. He attended grammar school in the Danville District in Contra Costa County, California; he graduated on July 2, 1892. At age 18, Simpson prospected for gold in Alaska. He began taking acting classes in Seattle, Washington. He was married to Gertrude Alter from New […]

Russell Stover (1888 - 1954)

It was in Omaha that a fellow approached Stover with a chocolate-covered ice cream bar idea. Stover produced and sold it for a year. After the first mad surge for the novelty, sales dropped off and the Stovers bailed out with $25,000. This novelty was the Eskimo Pie. The Stover’s moved to Denver where they […]

Rusty Allen (1944 - 2004)

Actress. Born Terri Kay Dennis in Taylor County Texas, she was a model and a Playboy Bunny at the Miami Playboy Saloon, when she made her big screen debut in “Daughter Of The Sun” (1962). Her other film credits included “Girl Happy” (1965), “Black Spurs” (1965), “The Sexperts” (1965) and she appeared on the television […]

Rusty Burrell (1925 - 2002)

Sheriff, Bailiff, and Reality Actor. Born in Metropolis, Illinois,  as Roy Justus Burrell, better known as Rusty, he had sometimes moonlighted as an actor in his youth. A World War II Navy veteran who had lied about his age to join, After his discharge he was a minor league baseball player who played for a […]

Rusty Hamer (1947 - 1990)

Rusty Hamer in Tenafly, New Jersey, Hamer was the youngest of three sons of Arthur Walter John, Sr., a men’s shirt salesman and Dorothy Hamer (née Chretin), a former silent film actress. He had two elder brothers, John and Walter. As a child, Hamer was nicknamed “Rusty” because of his red hair and freckles. Due […]

Ruth Asawa (1926 - 2013)

Asawa was born in 1926 in Norwalk, California, one of seven children. Her father operated a truck farm until the Japanese American internment during World War II. The family lived in the assembly center at the Santa Anita racetrack for much of 1942, then at Rohwer War Relocation Center in Arkansas.  Following her graduation from […]

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933 - 2020)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Ruth Joan Bader was born March 15, 1933, to Nathan and Cecelia (Amster) Bader in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother was a role model in Ruth’s life at a time when women had to fight for the privileges and rights that men took for granted. “I pray that I may be all […]

Ruth Benerito (1916 - 2013)

Ruth Mary Rogan was born and raised in New Orleans. In an age when girls did not usually go on to higher education, her father made sure his daughters received the same education available to boys. She completed high school at age 14 and entered Sophie Newcomb College at age 15, and later Tulane University […]

Ruth Bernhard (1905 - 2006)

Photographer. Her black-and-white images of compelling shapes from female nudes to seashells are regarded as some of the finest in still-life photo art. Her contemporaries, including Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Wynn Bullock and Dorothea Lange, called her “the greatest photographer of the nude.” One of her most famous photographs, “In the Box, Horizontal” (1962), shows […]

Ruth Carol Hussey (1911 - 2005)

Actress. Often played graceful, sophisticated, and intelligent women.   Best Known for her Oscar-nominated role as the cynical photographer Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Imbrie in “The Philadelphia Story” in 1940. Ruth was a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Drama. Her first show-business job was as a fashion commentator on a local radio station. Ruth […]

Ruth Chatterton (1893 - 1961)

Actress. Born in New York City, she began her career as a dancer on Broadway at age 14. Her first film was “Sins of the Fathers” (1928), followed by being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in two films, “Madame X” (1930) and “Sara and Son” (1930). Her many credits included “Anybody’s Woman” […]

Ruth Clifford (1900 - 1998)

Ruth Clifford (February 17, 1900 – November 30, 1998) was an American actress of leading roles in silent films, whose career lasted from silent days into the television era. A native of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, she attended St. Mary’s Seminary in Narragansett, Rhode Island, then, following her mother’s death in 1911, came to Los Angeles as […]

Ruth Cracknell (1925 - 2002)

Cracknell was born in 1925 in Maitland, New South Wales to Charles and Winifred Cracknell. When she was four years old, the family moved to Sydney. She was educated at North Sydney Girls High School and, after graduating, worked at the Ku-ring-gai Council as a clerk. At 17 she was taken to the theatre by […]

Ruth Donnelly (1896 - 1982)

Actress. Best known for her film roles as wisecracking matrons, Donnelly began her career on the stage at 17, in the chorus of a touring show. Her Broadway debut occurred in 1914’s “A Scrap of Paper,” a performance that brought her to the attention of George M. Cohan, who cast her in comic roles. Her […]

Ruth Draper (1884 - 1956)

Ruth Draper was born in New York City, the youngest child of Dr. William Henry and Ruth (née Dana) Draper. Her father, who was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, had the affluence to support a large family with the help of several servants. Ruth Draper’s mother was the daughter of Charles Anderson Dana, editor and publisher […]

Ruth Duckworth (1919 - 2009)

Artist. Born Ruth Windmüller, her work with clay and bronze included large monumental sculptures and murals, also small-scale intimate pieces. She started her career as a stone mason in Britain in the 1930s, after leaving Nazi Germany. Turning to large-scale ceramics, she accepted a teaching appointment at the University of Chicago in 1964 and began […]

Ruth Elder (1902 - 1977)

Ruth Elder (1902-1977) was a pilot and actress. She carried private pilot certificate P675, and was known as the “Miss America of Aviation.” Ruth Elder was a charter member of the Ninety-Nines. Known as “Miss America of Aviation,” she was the first woman to attempt a flight across the Atlantic from the United States to […]

Ruth Ellis (1926 - 1955)

Ruth Ellis became a nightclub hostess through nude modelling work, which paid significantly more than the various factory and clerical jobs she had held since leaving school. Morris Conley, the manager of the Court Club in Duke Street, where she worked, blackmailed his hostess employees into sleeping with him. Early in 1950 she became pregnant […]