Growing up a movie fan, one of the great names I saw and heard mentioned in the same breaths with the likes of Betty Davis, Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds and Jayne Mansfield was Jane Russell.

If you’ve visited this blog previously, you know that I have a penchant for biographies and autobiographies, so you won’t be surprised that I just finished reading the bio of “Jane Russell – Mean Moody, Magnificent! And The Marketing of a Hollywood Legend”” by Christina Rice   [978-0813181080 University Press of Kentucky].

This was an addicting read from the outset for me. Ms. Rice chronicles Jane from cradle to the grave with details which portray the human story of an at first reluctant superstar actress of the classic “golden” movie years.

The one black mark in the book was at the end, where Jane is quoted as having misused a word which can have racist connotations; you’ll have to judge accordingly for yourself, because I don’t think she meant it that way.  Had she been around when I enjoyed my own celebrity as a radio DJ, being a man who always loves “the top”  (breasts) of a woman, I’d have surely sought her out for an interview – or maybe more!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about her, in-fact, I had to return/renew/take out again the hardcover edition a couple of times at my local public library in order to finish!  I surely would buy a copy for my home library, when my writer’s budget allows and recommend that you do so, if you are such a curious fan and book curator as I.

If you’ve ever heard of “Gentlemen Prefer Blonds”, “His Kind Of Woman” (featuring Robert Mitchum), “Born Losers (Billy Jack)” or watched TV commercials for Playtex “Living Bras” back in the days as I have, then you’ll want to read this book because Jane is the girl you were seeing!  I couldn’t tell how “mean” she – in the angry sense – was, but in street lingo, her figure sure was “mean” and to be seen!

Long before feminism and women’s lib, Ms. Russell quietly proved that there is more than posing for paparazzi emphasizing her voluptuousness by her activist activities, which championed adoption of orphaned children internationally by forming WAIF (World Adoption International Fund).

This is an educationally entertaining five-star read you should keep on your night table stack, as I did, for soothing bedtime (or any time ) stories!