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Rene Russo extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Rene Russo
Born	Rene Marie Russo February 17, 1954 (1954-02-17) (age 55) Burbank, California, U.S.
Years active	1987–present
Spouse(s)	Dan Gilroy (1992-present); one daughter

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

Contents 1 Early life 2 Modeling 3 Acting 4 Personal life 5 Filmography 6 References 7 External links

Early life

Russo, an 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.

Modeling

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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 appeared on 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.

Acting

By her 30th birthday, demand for her began to dwindle, as it does 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. She began to study theater and acting, and began appearing in theater roles at small regional theaters in Los Angeles and elsewhere in California.

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 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.

She also tried her hand at comedy in Tin Cup with Kevin Costner, Get Shorty with John Travolta and as Natasha Fatale 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. She has not appeared in a film since 2005.

Russo recently joined the cast of the upcoming film, Thor, in which she will play Frigga, the mother of the titular hero.⁷

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

Year	Film	Role
1989	Major League	Lynn Wells
1990	Mr. Destiny	Cindy Jo Bumpers/Burrows
1991	One Good Cop	Rita Lewis
1992	Freejack	Julie Redlund
	Lethal Weapon 3	Lorna Cole
1993	In the Line of Fire	Secret Service Agent Lilly Raines
1994	Major League II	Lynn Wells (cameo)
1995	Outbreak	Robby Keough
	Get Shorty	Karen Flores
1996	Tin Cup	Dr. Molly Griswold
	Ransom	Kate Mullen
1997	Buddy	Mrs. Gertrude 'Trudy' Lintz
1998	Lethal Weapon 4	Lorna Cole-Riggs
1999	The Thomas Crown Affair	Catherine Olds Banning
2000	The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle	Natasha Fatale
2002	Big Trouble	Anna Herk
	Showtime	Chase Renzi
2005	Two for the Money	Toni Morrow
	Yours, Mine and Ours	Helen North
2011	Thor	Frigga

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Rene Russo

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

Persondata
NAME	Russo, Rene
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Russo, Rene Marie
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Actor
DATE OF BIRTH	1954-2-17
PLACE OF BIRTH	Burbank, California, U.S.A.
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH