The most underrated actress of all time
It’s a shame more people don’t discuss her work, her image and her legacy. Rosalind Russell was notorious for her fast-witted humor, humanitarian work and tomboyish yet eloquent, stylish good looks. She earned 4 Oscar nominations, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, and won 5 Golden Globe awards - never losing a single nomination!
Her 5 best on screen performances remain:
1. Auntie Mame, 1958
2. Mourning Becomes Electra, 1947
3. The Women, 1939
4. My Sister Eileen, 1942
5. His Girl Friday, 1940
Her comic timing easily exceeds that of Lucille Ball, and both actresses were notorious for being tall, with a sharp sense of timing. But Russell was quicker, and I believe far more intuitive with her mannerisms then Ball.
I’m shocked no one else has started a thread about her. As we continue into the 2020s, the Generation Z community will have forgotten old Hollywood stars like Russell to the likes of modern, vanilla fare - including (sigh) Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Schumer.
I encourage you to seek Russell out. Amazon Prime has His Girl Friday available for free, and her chemistry with Cary Grant is impeccable.
Her work as Auntie Mame should have won her the Academy Award, playing the rich and eccentric New York goddess with the heart of gold, and should be on every Drag Queen’s list as a must watch!
In 1947 she delivered what critics still deem the movie that almost won her the Oscar- the tragic Mourning Becomes Electra. Russell plays the daughter of an evil mother, who’s affair causes murder and suicide in the family. Had it not been for Loretta Young (and the box office failure of the film itself), Russell easily would have prevailed. It’s her best dramatic work to date.
Perhaps the performance that really stands out is The Women, where her comic gifts are on full display and where you can see why she trumps Lucille Ball as the funniest comedienne of her time. Acting off legends Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford, Russell plays a gossiping rich housewife who digs her claws into anything juicy and gets a taste of her own medicine!
To Rosalind - the world misses you. And I salute you where ever you are.