Biography for
Rene Russo

photos

board

add

contact

details

Date of Birth

Birth Name

Height

Mini Biography

Born in 1954, Rene Russo grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in Burbank, a Los Angeles suburb. Her father, a sculptor and mechanic, left the family when Rene was just two, leaving her mother, Shirly, as a single mom with two daughters. (Rene has one sister, named Toni). In junior high school, Rene was plagued with scoliosis and had to wear a back brace for four years, making her look unusually skinny to her classmates. She was already a tall girl, which earned her the nickname "Jolly Green Giant" from her classmates. She entered Burroughs High School, along with classmate Ron Howard, and even though her brace had been removed, she was still somewhat of a loner. Unable to deal with academics and the school social scene, Rene dropped out of school in the tenth grade. Since money was tight, she began to take a variety of part-time jobs over the next 18 months, many for the free benefits. She sold refreshments at a movie theater, where she could see free movies; worked as a restaurant hostess, where her meals were free; and worked as a store cashier at Disneyland, where she had free admission. She often had two jobs at one time. Her last job, which was solely for the paycheck, was a full-time job at an eyeglass factory, inspecting contact lenses.

In 1972, the 17 year old was attending a Rolling Stones concert when she was approached by John Crosby, a scout and manager from International Creative Management. He told her she should be a model and had test photos made of her. Within a few months, Rene signed a contract with Ford Modeling Agency and within a year had become a successful print and photographers model. Soon her modeling breakthrough came when she graced the cover of Vogue. By 1975, she had appeared on numerous magazine covers, was one of the most successful models in America, and was also starting to be seen in several TV commercials through the 1980s. She would define what a top fashion model was for years to come.

By her 30th birthday, demand for her began to dwindle, as it did for most models at that age. She did a few more commercials and then turned her back on modeling and show business for a while. Financially secure for the next several years, she began an intense period of literature and Christian theology. She also began to study theater and acting, and began appearing in theater roles at small regional theaters in Los Angeles and elsewhere in California.

Her television series debut came in 1987 with a supporting part on the short[lived TV series "Sable" (1987). In 1989 she made her motion picture debut with the part of the lead characters girlfriend in the film Major League (1989). Most of her subsequent roles were that of girlfriends and supportive wives in several films until her breakthrough as an internal affairs detective in Lethal Weapon 3 (1992). Rene Russo has been praised for her ability to hold her own against her major male co-stars. Two of her performances within the last few years have gotten her recognition as both a major dramatic actress and a talented character actress. One was as the mother of a kidnapped son in Ransom (1996). The other was as the cartoon femme fatale foreign spy in The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000). Although the latter received mixed reviews among moviegoers and critics, Russo was praised for her performance of a role originally slated for Meryl Streep in 1992. Rene Russo has been married to screenwriter Dan Gilroy since 1992, and they have one daughter, named Rose. They reside in Brentwood, California.

Spouse

Trivia

Has seven siblings on her father's side. The late one-time auto mechanic turned sculptor Nino Russo had at least six other children besides Rene. They are: Jim, January Debra, Toni Lynn, David, and Anthony John Russo.

She met her husband, Dan Gilroy, while they were both working on the film Freejack (1992). Gilroy as screenwriter had turned down an offer to rewrite it, and Rene had turned down an offer to star in it. Both changed their minds, met on the set, and were soon married.

Is allergic to sesame.

Daughter Rose born. [August 1993]

Measurements: 33-23-34 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).

Was originally cast as Dr. Chase Meridian in Batman Forever (1995) but, when Michael Keaton was replaced by Val Kilmer, she was replaced with Nicole Kidman because the producers felt that she was too old to be aconvincing love interest for Kilmer.

Daughter-in-law of Frank D. Gilroy.

Sister-in-law of John Gilroy and Tony Gilroy.

Is a huge Red Sox fan, she often attends games at Fenway Park and road games when the team is in California. She attended their post World Series victory party at the team hotel in Colorado after game 4 in 2007.

Personal Quotes

On her nude scenes in The Thomas Crown Affair (1999): "It never really dawned on me that, gee, I'm 45 and I'm taking off my clothes. For me it was a matter of living inside the character."

"All of us are broken - some of use more than others. It might be a nurturing, mother thing. I do think there is that, "Oh my God, you're hurting. I know what that feels like and I'd like to be there and support you in that.""

"That's a really good question - what is it like living with a writer? I guess it depends on the writer. You know what? They live in a fantasy world a lot of the time. My husband lives in a fantasy world. It's really hard for him to be in the world, because if his head isn't in a script, I guess to write what he does, he has to sort of twist the world a little bit and live in a fantasy. And I think he doesn't live in reality - in my reality, let's put it that way. He's much more "Everything's fine fine fine and everything's good good good," and I'm like, "What, are you nuts? Everything's rotten and sucks.""

Salary

	You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.
	With our Resume service you can add photos and build a complete resume to help you achieve the best possible presentation on the IMDb. Click here to add your resume and/or your photos to IMDb.

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z