Gail was only 18 when she made this film. A very shy girl, she started drinking to calm her nerves while acting.
In time, her drinking became more problematic on the set and brought bad publicity to the studios that she worked for. Her acting career suffered in later years as no one wanted her. She died of an alcohol induced heart attack in 1961 at the sad age of 36.
Perhaps the ghosts of Windward House finally caught up to her.
You know, when I watched this wonderful and atmospheric film yesterday, I almost cried watching Gail Russell. She was so young and beautiful, with an open-faced innocence and sweetness. I believe that Robert Osborne on TCM mentioned that the talent scout who found her, fresh out of high school, said he probably didn't do her any favor getting her into acting, since her shyness, as you've mentioned, was extremely severe. She would be just about my mother's age now, (or perhaps a year older), and it hurts to know that so much potential was cut short by her insecurities and unhappiness. I hope she has found peace.
shareSad, but thanks for the information. :-(
shareI'm rewatching the movie now on TCM...it's a terrific film, but how sad about Gail...she's so lovely.
share[deleted]
She had a nervous breakdown after the completion of this movie. I wonder who pushed her into a movie career. She was not meant for acting. She had to take a drink before she could perform. I read she was artistic so she should have had a career in art. She drank herself to death. What a shame!!!
shareDidn't her classmates call her their Hedy Lamarr?
shareSadly, her drinking and other health problems took their toll long before her death at 36. (By the way, she was 20 when "The Uninvited" came out, not 18.) If you see her in "The Tattered Dress" (1957), one of her last films, she was bloated and her once soft and beautiful face was puffy, with baggy eyes and an unfocused look. She clearly was drinking heavily by then. I read that somewhere along the way, after Guy Madison divorced her in 1954 because her drinking and other problems had become too much for him to handle, she drifted into a lesbian relationship with the "hillbilly" singer Dorothy Shea, who tried to help her out, to no avail. Her agent said years later she was an artist and he should just have left her alone to paint and sculpt and never put her anywhere near a movie camera. On the other hand, it must be said there was nothing that forced her to continue acting: she could have quit anytime if it was making her life so miserable. Yes indeed, very sad.
shareYes, she had a sad life and each time I watch this movie and see those big eyes looking so innocent, it's hurtful to know what is to come for this young girl in real life.
She was in several John Wayne movies also, always with that lovely, innocent, wide-eyed look.
It may not have mattered what line of work she chose - the outcome might have been the same.
You may well be right...she was a very fragile soul. Still, the film industry is inordinately stressful and harsh, and certainly made her problems worse and more intense than other spheres of life likely would have.
Her relationship with John Wayne certainly didn't help matters. They had a big affair when they made Angel and the Badman, and continued through Wake of the Red Witch, but when he ended it it sent her into an emotional tailspin from which she never really recovered. Wayne may have felt a little guilty about things later on, which is probably why he hired her for the western Seven Men From Now in 1956 -- a safe thing for him to do, as he was producing the film but not appearing in it (Randolph Scott starred). But broken love affairs have hit some actors and actresses hard in Hollywood history, many to the point of suicide or at least self-destructive behavior, and this certainly was one such instance, albeit complicated by other issues as well.
I am responding to certain misconceptions that keep getting repeated online about Gail Russell.
First of all, there is some disagreement over whether she was born in 1922 or 1924. Interviews with her and her brother mention the earlier year. That would mean she was almost 39 when she died, not 36.
I have seen her final movies, and she definitely was not overweight, bloated or puffy from alcohol consumption. She did not look older than her age. She was the love interest in "The Tattered Dress".
There is no indication that she was ever a practicing lesbian.
Her alleged "affair" with John Wayne seems to have been platonic, as indicated in detailed biographies of the Duke.
The person who unwisely pushed her into an acting career was her mother, apparently a frustrated performer.
Much of what appears on the Net is simply copied or even embellished from unreliable sources.
Good post. Thank you for being so rational. People get so involved in deaths of relatively young stars that all reasonableness - and truth! - flies out the window.
share"Thats the basis of all your troubles Stella, staying away from there".
If only this was the answer to her real life troubles. I too read of her tragic life and death just before watching this movie. I was haunted by it (no pun) throughout the movie. She seemed so poised, confident and she was actually pretty good in her role considering she was only 20 years old at the time. I couldn't help wonder (out loud even) "What could have hurt you so much to make you so insecure ? Looks, talent and a career just about handed to her that many others would kill for.
"Nervous breakdown' ?? Theres no such thing. It was a 'catch all' term used whenever someone was committed/admitted to a psych. hospital back in the day.
Amazing that this happened soon after she played a character who was brought to a 'mental hospital', questioned as if she were 'crazy', having delusions of persecution and a 'death wish'. The movie production ends and she finds herself in the exact situation. I wonder if she didn't suffer from some form of schizophrenia (paranoid ?) ....pure speculation but by the sounds of some of her symptoms, which apparently became acute when 'under the lights'/attention focused on her, they could be indicative of paranoid personality or more involved than just a 'disorder'. 'Stage freight' is another 'catch all'. Of course it means that one is uncomfortable performing in front of others but the underlying reasons vary. Drinking ? usually self medicating when drinking to the point that it interferes with your work and relationships. On the other hand, if she was drinking heavily at this young an age of course this could have exacerbated her stage fright and contributed to her frail mental state.
And stage fright, however severe, I doubt results in one having a 'nervous breakdown' AFTER a movie has been completed. To go from playing a 'mental patient' to getting the Dx of having a mental breakdown had to be devastating in itself as worry about the 'gossip pages' (at there height at that time),
neg. press in general and the stigma of 'mental problems' itself compounded by the role she had just played...my G_D, imagine dealing with that at 20/21 back in the 40s ? Not that the 'stigma' has lessened much since then...
Who knows. Just a little speculation 'cause I need an 'answer' to the riddle that was she. Having just watched her for over an hour, its so hard to figure how this lovely young lady could have been so troubled ! RIP GR.And for what its worth, I thought you were marvelous !!
(that an a buck might get ya a cup of joe).
What state has given you a psychotherapist's license to diagnose dead movie stars after watching them on TV for over an hour?
MaywoodRotaryKenyaProject.org
I've just watched an episode of 'E Mysteries & Scandals' that shows the problems Gail Russell had with drink. There are some good interviews included from people who remembered her. Apparently the tune from 'The Uninvited' was always running in her head for the rest of her life. 'Stella By Starlight.' This episode can be seen on You Tube.
share