Year of Jane Russell: Day 18

Here are few more pics from Jane’s days as a student at Van Nuys High School. The copy of the 1939 yearbook I have has three signatures, including one next to a moody portrait where Jane was listed as a “personality.”

A collage of photos shows Jane with a fella named Chuck, which she also signed.

Jane isn’t in this image of the drama club, but in the first row on the far left is Jane’s dear friend, Pat Dawson, who was the daughter of Academy Award winning film editor Ralph Dawson. Pat’s mom thought Jane had film star potential and took her to meet agent Charles Feldman, who politely declined, saying he only represent established talent. Jane would tease him about that later.

Also in the first row, second from the right, is Jim Dougherty, who Jane acted with in some of the school’s productions. In 1942 he married a 16-year-old named Norma Jeane Baker. She would file for divorce four years later and go onto international stardom under the name Marilyn Monroe.

Year of Jane Russell: Day 16

Jane Russell would become an international film star and photographer’s dream, but her humble beginnings in front of the camera started in Van Nuys. This advertisement for the local J.C. Penny with Jane as the model appears in the 1938 edition of Crimson and Gray, the Van Nuys High School yearbook. A little over two years later, she would be under contract to Howard Hughes.

Year of Jane Russell: Day 15

By the early 1930s, the Russell household had grown to include five children and Jane’s grandfather. The Burbank house had grown too small, so the family needed to find bigger quarters. Geraldine found a seven-acre parcel of land in Van Nuys for sale, located east of Woodman Ave and north of Sherman Way, that butted up against the Tujunga Wash. There, they built a home that resembled a Spanish Hacienda which they named “La Posada.” Here’s Jane at La Posada in the early 1940s.

Year of Jane Russell: Day 14

Jane was the oldest of five and the only girl, so the family always called her Daughter. Having four younger brothers always kept Jane grounded, even after she became an internationally known film star. Here she is with three of her brothers at the Burbank home.

Year of Jane Russell: Day 13

Jane was incredibly close to her mother, Geraldine Jacobi, particularly after Jane’s father Roy passed away unexpectedly when she was a teenager. Here’s mother and daughter enjoying a Southern California beach circa 1925.

Year of Jane Russell: Day 12

Jane lived in Edmonton, Canada for the first two years of her life, then she moved to California with her parents, Geraldine and Roy. They purchased a modest home on Angeleno Avenue in Burbank which Geraldine described as being “cute as a bug’s ear.” Here’s Jane circa 1925 at the Burbank house.

Year of Jane Russell: Day 10

We’ll wrap up the negatives for now, but will probably return to the rest throughout the year. To end this challenging week, here’s a more playful portrait of Jane, taken circa 1951. I don’t know that Jane’s hands get talked about, but I’ve often found my eye drawn to them and the sharp nails polished red that I can never pull off quite as well.

Year of Jane Russell: Day 9

Most of the portraits we’ve looked at the past week and a half have shown Jane at her smoldering best, but she could turn on the charm for the camera as well. Here’s one of the 8×10” negatives showing Jane flashing a smile in a publicity portrait for His Kind of Woman in 1951. She’s wearing the Howard Greer design we took a look at last week.