Jane Russell has died (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011)

(HMG Celebrity News) – Hollywood’s leading sex symbol of the 1940s and 1950s, Jane Russell has died at her home in Santa Maria, Calif. at the age of 89, of a respiratory-related illness. After being signed to a seven-year contract by film mogul Howard Hughes in 1940, Russell made her motion picture debut in The Outlaw (1943), a story about Billy the Kid that went to great lengths to showcase her voluptuous figure. The provocative movie gained notoriety after censors kept the film from general release in a dispute over Russell’s cleavage. After the film’s 1943 release, she became a star and a pinup girl for many World War II soldiers.  Russell appeared in dozens of films including Paleface, a comedy western with Bob Hope, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. She also wrote an autobiography in 1985 called My Path and Detours. A botched, back-alley abortion at age 19 left her unable to conceive and after experiencing problems adopting, Russell founded World Adoption International Agency. Russell is survived by three children, six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.