Jane Russell, Queen of Technicolor

A recent article in Filmfax magazine (Spring 2010) references one of the top stars of Hollywood's Golden Era – actress Jane Russell, who played opposite such stars as Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and many others.

Yet at the top of her fame in the 1950s and 1960s Jane Russell hosted the Hollywood Christian Group at her home in California. This was a fairly well-known Bible Study meeting where the former gospel singer did her bit to keep the faith present in the City of the Angels.

Gospel singer? Yes. Few can remember that in 1954 Jane Russell's four-girl group hit #27 on the Billboard list in 1954 with the song "Do Lord." Three of the singers apparently met at a church social.

In 1955 the statuesque brunette, who could not have children, formed WAIF (World Adoption International Fund) to connect needy children with proper parents.

Russell, now in her late 80s, appeared on Trinity Broadcasting Network as late as the 1990s, a fearless believer in an industry that rarely showcases such behavior.