Rene Marie Russo (born February 17, 1954)¹² is an American film actress and former fashion model.

Biography

Early life

Russo, a Sicilian/Italian American,³⁴ was born in Burbank, California, the daughter of Shirley (née Balocca), a factory worker and barmaid, and Nino Russo, a sculptor and car mechanic who left the family when Rene was two.¹⁵⁶ Russo grew up with her sister, Toni, and their single mother. She attended Burroughs High School (where her classmates included director Ron Howard), but eventually dropped out in the tenth grade. Due to financial constraints within the family, she began taking a variety of part-time jobs including working in an eyeglass factory, and as a movie cashier.

Career

In 1972, Russo was spotted at a Rolling Stones concert by a scout and manager John Crosby from International Creative Management. She was signed to the Ford Modeling Agency and began modeling shortly after, appearing on the cover of several magazines, including Vogue. Russo spent the majority of the 1970s and early 1980s as a successful model, but later began to study acting.

Russo made her television series debut in 1987, with a supporting role in the TV series Sable. Two years later, she made her debut in film as the girlfriend of the Tom Berenger character in Major League. Her breakthrough role is generally considered to be her part as martial arts-practicing internal affairs detective Lorna Cole in Lethal Weapon 3 (and again in Lethal Weapon 4) opposite Mel Gibson.

Throughout the 1990s, Russo appeared in a number of high-profile thrillers that were hugely successful at the box office, including In the Line of Fire with Clint Eastwood, Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman, Ransom (directed by high school classmate Howard) and The Thomas Crown Affair starring Pierce Brosnan.

She also tried her hand at comedy in Tin Cup with Kevin Costner, Get Shorty with John Travolta and as the cartoonish Russian spy Natasha in the live-action film version of The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. She starred in at least one major studio film per year from 1992 to 2002.

Russo more recently co-starred with Al Pacino in Two for the Money and with Dennis Quaid in Yours, Mine and Ours. But she has not been seen in a film since 2005.

Personal life

Russo has been married to screenwriter Dan Gilroy since 1992. They have one daughter, Rose (born August 31, 1993), and the family currently lives in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. Her sister Toni was married to lyricist Bernie Taupin in the 1980s, and Rene appeared alongside her sister in the 1987 video for Taupin's solo song, "Citizen Jane."

Filmography

References

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Rene Russo

External links

• Rene Russo at the Internet Movie Database
• Rene Russo Fansite
• interview, 10/05, About.com
• interview, 10/07/05, MovieWeb