Theresa Russell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Theresa Russell
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Russell in 2007
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Theresa Lynn Paup
March 20, 1957 San Diego, California, U.S.
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| Other names | Theresa Roeg |
| Alma mater | Lee Strasberg Institute |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Spouse(s) | Nicolas Roeg (m. 1982; div. late-1990s) |
| Children | 2 |
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Theresa Lynn Russell (née Paup; born March 20, 1957) is an American actress whose career spans over four decades. Her filmography includes over 50 feature films, ranging from mainstream to independent and experimental films.
Born in San Diego, Russell was raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank, where she had a turbulent upbringing marked by poverty, and dropped out of high school at age 16. Russell subsequently began modeling, which brought her to the attention of film producer Sam Spiegel. Through Spiegel, she was cast in Elia Kazan's The Last Tycoon (1976), playing the daughter of a prominent film executive.
In 1978, Russell starred opposite Dustin Hoffman in the critically-acclaimed crime drama Straight Time. Her next role was a lead in English filmmaker Nicolas Roeg's controversial thriller Bad Timing (1980), which earned critical praise. Russell and Roeg began a romance while shooting the film, and it marked one of six projects they would collaborate on following their 1982 marriage. She next appeared in Roeg's drama Eureka (1983), followed by the John Byrum-directed The Razor's Edge (1984). Russell portrayed Marilyn Monroe in Roeg's experimental alternate history film Insignificance (1985), followed by a lead role in Bob Rafelson's neo-noir film Black Widow (1987), which garnered her significant commercial attention.
Russell continued to collaborate with Roeg throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, appearing in a Roeg-directed segment of the anthology film Aria (1987), as well as the features Track 29 (1989) and Cold Heaven (1991). Other roles from this time included the crime dramas Physical Evidence (1989) and Impulse (1990).
In 1991, Russell played in Steven Soderbergh's experimental black-and-white feature, Kafka, co-starring Jeremy Irons. After appearing in a number of independent films in the mid-1990s, Russell had a supporting role in the commercially successful neo-noir Wild Things (1998), and the critically-acclaimed drama The Believer (2001). In 2005, she had a supporting role on the HBO miniseries Empire Falls, followed by a minor part in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 (2007).
The song "Athena" by the rock group The Who, was written about a chance meeting with Pete Townshend, who was smitten and rejected by her. The single appears on the band's 1982 album, It's Hard.
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Early life
Russell was born in San Diego, California, the eldest of three children to Carole Platt (née Mall) and Jerry Russell Paup. When she was five years old, Russell's parents divorced, and her father relocated to Mexico. Her mother subsequently remarried, and moved the family to Los Angeles County, where Russell was raised primarily in Burbank. Through her mother's marriage to her stepfather, she has two half-siblings. Russell has said she grew up in poverty, and that at times her family required food stamps to survive. She had a turbulent relationship with her stepfather.
Russell dropped out of high school at 16 and moved in with a 28-year-old boyfriend who worked as a primal scream therapist. She enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Institute in West Hollywood to study acting at age 17.
Career
1976–1980: Career beginnings
Through her modeling work, Russell met photographer Peter Douglas, son of Kirk Douglas, who introduced her to film producer Sam Spiegel in 1975. At the time, Spiegel was beginning production of a film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon, directed by Elia Kazan and adapted for the screen by Harold Pinter. Spiegel suggested that Russell audition for the role of Cecilia Brady, the daughter of a studio executive (played by Robert Mitchum), a part in which she was ultimately cast.
The following year, after completing The Last Tycoon, Russell was cast in the drama Straight Time. In 1979, Russell starred in the miniseries Blind Ambition for CBS, a biographical drama focusing on the Watergate scandal, in which she portrayed Maureen Dean, the wife of White House Counsel John Dean (played by Martin Sheen).
Russell was subsequently cast as Milena Flaherty in Bad Timing (1980). It marked the first of six films Russell would go on to star in directed by English filmmaker Nicolas Roeg, whom she began a relationship with after completing filming. Bad Timing was subject to controversy, though Russell's performance was praised by critics.
1981–1986: Collaborations with Nicolas Roeg
Russell became a muse of Roeg's, and the two were married in February 1982 in Westminster, London. The couple had two sons over the next several years, Statten (born 1983) and Maximillian (born 1985), and resided primarily in Notting Hill, though Russell also maintained a residence in Los Angeles. Following her role in Roeg's Bad Timing, Russell performed the English audio dubbing of Daria Nicolodi's character in the giallo film Tenebre (1982), directed by Dario Argento. Her next on-screen role was in Nicolas Roeg's drama Eureka (1983), portraying the daughter of a Klondike prospector, played by Gene Hackman.
The following year, Russell appeared in John Byrum's The Razor's Edge, an adaptation of the W. Somerset Maugham novel of the same name, in which she co-starred with Bill Murray. The film was a financial failure, grossing under $2 million against its $13 million budget.
She then portrayed Marilyn Monroe in Roeg's experimental alternate history film Insignificance (1985), based on the play by Terry Johnson, in which she appeared opposite Gary Busey and Tony Curtis.
1987–1998: Mainstream recognition
In 1987, Russell gained mainstream exposure for her portrayal of Catharine Peterson in Bob Rafelson's noir thriller Black Widow, co-starring Debra Winger. Russell's performance earned praise. The same year, she appeared in a Nicolas Roeg-directed segment (a film version of the opera Un ballo in maschera) of the anthology film Aria. The following year, she appeared in Roeg's Track 29 (1988).
Next, Russell portrayed a public defender in the crime drama Physical Evidence (1988), starring Burt Reynolds and directed by Michael Crichton. The film received largely unfavorable reviews from critics.
In 1990, Russell was cast in a lead role opposite Jeremy Irons in Steven Soderbergh's Kafka (1991), a black-and-white surrealist adaptation of several Franz Kafka stories. David Ansen of Newsweek felt that Russell was miscast in her role. She again united with her husband Roeg for his film Cold Heaven (also 1991), starring opposite Mark Harmon as a woman whose husband inexplicably rises from the dead.
Russell was the narrator of the British drama Being Human (1994), starring Robin Williams, followed by the British comedy The Grotesque (1995), opposite Alan Bates and Sting.
Russell was then cast in the neo-noir thriller Wild Things (1998), playing the mother of Denise Richards's character. The film was a box office success and went on to establish a cult following.
1999–2014: Later film and television
After appearing in the crime drama Luckytown (2000) opposite James Caan and Kirsten Dunst, Russell was then cast in The Believer (2001), a drama written and directed by Henry Bean, and starring Ryan Gosling as a Jewish man who becomes a neo-Nazi. The film was critically acclaimed and received the Special Jury Prize—Drama at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.
In the early 2000s, Russell mainly appeared in low-budget and independent films, such as The House Next Door (2002), Now & Forever (2002), and The Box (2003). In 2005, she was cast in the role of Charlene in the HBO mini-series Empire Falls, opposite Ed Harris. She also appeared in the supporting role of Emma Marko in Spider-Man 3 as the wife of Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church). The following year, she appeared in the independent drama Jolene, starring Jessica Chastain, and also had a minor role playing the mother of Scarlett Johansson's character in the romantic comedy He's Just Not That into You (2009), though her scenes were eventually cut from the film.
In 2012, she appeared in the Lifetime television film Liz & Dick, playing Sara Taylor, the mother of Elizabeth Taylor (portrayed by Lindsay Lohan). The following year, she had a guest role on the miniseries Delete.
Filmography
See also
In Spanish: Theresa Russell para niños
