Anne Russell, one of the first actresses to play the queens of composer and lyricist Jerry Herman’s musical comedies in both. Hello Dolly! and MamiShe died Tuesday at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey, her friend Ted Sifman announced. It was 103.
After serving as a substitute in the downtown revival Joey pal In 1963, Russell made her Broadway debut in the 1965 play Kander & Ebb’s. Flora, the red menacedirected by George Abbott and starring Liza Minnelli (who was also making her Broadway debut).
I started for her Hello Dolly! Her career began that year when she auditioned for Gower Champion and became a backup to Mary Martin, joining the show in Cleveland. She toured for over two years with the production, standing alongside Betty Grable and Ginger Rogers as well, performing across the country and in Tokyo, Vietnam and South Korea.
Ha Mami The years began with a national tour in 1965, followed by summer engagements, bus and truck tours, and stops in Las Vegas, theaters, and dinner theaters.
Russell was born on March 22, 1923, in Raleigh, North Carolina, and began performing in show singing with local bands.
She moved to New York and became the featured vocalist for the Les Brown and Jerry Wald Orchestra while developing a cabaret show that included comedic impressions. Ed Sullivan praised her in his newspaper column, and she appeared twice on his CBS variety show.
Russell hired music director and composer Peter Howard to help her cast, and he helped her land the role of Elektra in a 1961 US national tour. Gypsiesproduced by David Merrick. (Bernadette Peters, then 13, was in the cast at the time.) She later played Tessie Tora in another film. Gypsies Productions.
While with Hello Dolly! In the Far East, she organized a group of fellow artists called The Rice Paddy Seven to perform at military bases and hospitals. They eventually took her to the Riviera in Las Vegas for 14 shows a week.
At the same time, she coached Dorothy Lamour and Martha Raye in the portrayal of Dolly Levy and also played matchmaker for several summer theaters and companies.
In 1989, Russell toured with Debbie Reynolds in the stage production of John Boab. Unsinkable Molly BrownShe then worked with her old friend alongside Shirley MacLaine, Joan Collins and Elizabeth Taylor in the 2001 ABC TV movie. These are old showsco-written by Carrie Fisher.
She also toured with Boy friend, Forty carats, It’s not too late and Oklahoma!; Featured in productions Carnival, It shines, May is very warm and Anything goes; He has done a lot of voiceover work for radio and television commercials; He has worked as a television spokesperson for products ranging from household, bread and banking.
Russell, a 74-year-old resident of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, learned to skydive at 88 and zipline for the first time at 90. As a member of the Edwin Forrest Society, she took action to donate a portion of her estate to the Community Entertainment Fund, formerly known as the Actors’ Fund.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Actors Fund Home.
