Harold Russell
Harold Russell | |
---|---|
![]() Russell in 1946 | |
Born | Harold John Avery Russell January 14, 1914 North Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada |
Died | January 29, 2002 Needham, Massachusetts, U.S. | (aged 88)
Spouse(s) | Rita Russell-Nixon
(m. 1944; died 1978)Betty Marshalsea
(m. 1981) |
Children | 2 |
Harold John Avery Russell[1][2] (January 14, 1914 – January 29, 2002) was a Canadian-born American World War II veteran. After losing his hands during his military service, Russell was cast in the epic drama film The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was the first non-professional actor to win an Academy Award for acting, along with being the only performer to sell his Oscar at auction.
Early life[edit]
Harold Russell was born in North Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada and moved to Massachusetts with his family in 1921,[3] after his father's death in 1920.[4]
At the time of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, he was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, working at a food market. In his 1949 autobiography, Victory In My Hands, he wrote that he rushed to enlist in the United States Army because he considered himself a failure.[5]
On June 6, 1944, while he was an Army instructor teaching demolition work with the U.S. 13th Airborne Division at Camp Mackall, North Carolina, a defective fuse detonated TNT explosives he was handling.[6] He lost both hands and was given two hooks to serve as hands. After his recovery while attending Boston University, Russell was featured in Diary of a Sergeant, an Army film about rehabilitating war veterans.
The Best Years of Our Lives[edit]
When film director William Wyler saw the film on Russell, he cast him in The Best Years of Our Lives with Fredric March and Dana Andrews. Russell played the role of Homer Parrish, a United States Navy sailor who lost both hands during the war.
For his role as Parrish, Russell won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1947. Earlier in the ceremony, he was awarded an honorary Oscar for ''bringing aid and comfort to disabled veterans through the medium of motion pictures.''[6] The special award had been created because the board of governors wanted to salute Russell, a non-professional actor, but assumed he had little chance for a competitive win.[7] It was the only time in Oscar history that the academy awarded two Oscars for the same performance.[8]
William Wyler, who directed the film, called it "the finest performance I have ever seen on the screen.'' But Russell earned under $10,000 for his performance and did not receive residual profits.[6]
Later years[edit]
Upon completion of the film, Russell returned to Boston University and graduated with a business degree in 1949.
Russell became active in AMVETS, serving three terms as National Commander. He was first elected in 1949.[9] He was elected to his third term in 1960. He also was vice-president of the World Veterans Fund, Inc., the fundraising branch of the World Veterans Federation.[10]
As head of AMVETS, Russell wrote to President Truman in 1951 supporting his decision to dismiss General Douglas MacArthur during the Korean War. Russell's telegram to Truman cited MacArthur's "repeated insubordination in violation of basic American principles governing civil versus military authority." His telegram said those were "obvious grounds" to relieve MacArthur. Erle Cocke, Jr., commander of the American Legion, said that he was "shocked by the news" that AMVETS and the American Veterans Committee supported MacArthur's firing.[11]
From the early 1960s to the late 1980s, Russell served as chairman of the President's Commission on Employment of the Handicapped, an unpaid position.
In 1965, Russell received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[12]
Russell appeared in two films after his debut, Inside Moves in 1980 and Dogtown in 1997. He also appeared in an episode of Trapper John, M.D., in 1981 and a two-part episode of the television series China Beach in 1989.
Russell authored two autobiographies, Victory in My Hands (1949) and The Best Years of My Life (1981).
In 1992, Russell consigned his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor to Herman Darvick Autograph Auctions, and on August 6, 1992, in New York City, the Oscar sold to a private collector for $60,500. Russell defended his action by saying he needed money for his wife's medical expenses,[5] though this was later disputed.[13] Russell did not sell the special Oscar.[6] After his death, the unidentified collector was identified as Lew Wasserman, a studio executive and talent agent, who donated it back to the Academy.[13]
On January 29, 2002, Russell died at a nursing home in Needham, Massachusetts.[5][6]
Filmography[edit]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1945 | Diary of a Sergeant | himself | Official Film of the United States War Department |
1946 | The Best Years of Our Lives | Homer Parrish | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Honorary Academy Award Golden Globes - Special Award for Non-professional acting |
1980 | Inside Moves | Wings | |
1981 | Trapper John, M.D. | Leo Hopkins | TV episode - "The Days of Wine and Leo" aka: "Harold Russell Story" |
1989 | China Beach | Uncle Conal | TV episodes - "The World, Pts. 1 & 2" |
1997 | Dogtown | Blessed William | (final film role) |
References[edit]
- ^ Cameron Rollins, Beth. "Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics". Nova Scotia Genealogy.
- ^ Cameron Rollins, Beth. "1930 US Census". Ancestry .com.
- ^ http://search.ancestry.ca/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1930usfedcen&indiv=try&h=15803313
- ^ Cameron Rollins, Beth. "Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics". Nova Scotia Genealogy.
- ^ a b c Bergan, Ronald (February 6, 2002). "Harold Russell; Brave actor whose artificial hands helped him win two Oscars". The Guardian. Retrieved February 5, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e Severo, Richard (February 1, 2002). "Harold Russell Dies at 88; Veteran and Oscar Winner". The New York Times.
- ^ Montgomery, Mark (December 10, 2016). "Remembering Harold Russell, the soldier-actor who won two Oscars for 'Best Years of Our Lives'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- ^ Stilwell, Blake (December 23, 2019). "This Disabled WWII Veteran Was the Only Actor to Win 2 Oscars for the Same Part". Military.com. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- ^ "Harold Russell, Handless War Veteran and Movies' Academy Award Winner, Heads AMVETS". Quad-City Times (Associated Press). September 6, 1949. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "3rd Election Charm for Harold Russell". The Miami News. August 29, 1960. p. 7. Retrieved March 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "AMVETS, AVC Support MacArthur Ouster, Legion Head Shocked". The Gazette and Daily. Associated Press. April 12, 1951. p. 1. Retrieved March 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
- ^ a b Rothman, Heathcliff (February 16, 2006). "I'd Really Like to Thank My Pal at the Auction House". The New York Times. Retrieved February 5, 2008.
External links[edit]
- 1914 births
- 2002 deaths
- American male film actors
- Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners
- Academy Honorary Award recipients
- United States Army personnel of World War II
- Canadian emigrants to the United States
- Canadian people of Scottish descent
- Canadian male film actors
- Canadian male television actors
- People from North Sydney, Nova Scotia
- American amputees
- Canadian amputees
- Boston University alumni
- United States Army soldiers
- 20th-century American male actors
- People without hands
- Amputee actors