Hollywood sex symbol Jane Russell dies aged 89

She was initially “discovered” by the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes at the age of 20 and he cast her in his Western The Outlaw.

The film became notorious because of the way her 38D-24-36 figure was on show in most of the scenes. It took five years to get the film a general release certificate during which time the publicity merry-go-round surrounding the censorship issues launched her parallel career as an international pin-up girl.

She went on to star in more than 20 movies with some of Hollywood’s top stars. She starred opposite Bob Hope in The Paleface in 1948 – he later introduced her as “the two and only Jane Russell” and quipped: “Culture is the ability to describe Jane Russell without moving your hands”. She also famously duetted with Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, playing the brunette.

Her film career faded by the end of the 1960s. Her last movie – Darker than Amber – was made in 1970. Once asked why she left Hollywood she replied: “Because I was getting too old”.

She diversifed, but played to her strengths appearing in TV commercials and becoming a spokeswoman for Playtex Cross-Your-Heart Bras, with the catchphrase: “For us full figured gals”.

She also developed a career as a singer, forming a gospel group and releasing a number of records, one of which reached the charts. It’s little known but she was also an accomplished bagpipe player.

Jane Russell was married three times and adopted three children. She founded the World Adoption International Fund, which helped thousands of foreign children find parents in the United States.

Her hand and foot prints are immortalised on the forecourt of Hollywood’s legendary Grauman’s Chinese Theater. She was also awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

She died at her home in Santa Maria, California, of a respiratory-related illness.