Harold Russell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Harold Russell
Russell in 1946
Born	Harold John Russell (1914-01-14)January 14, 1914 North Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
Died	January 29, 2002(2002-01-29) (aged 88) Needham, Massachusetts, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Rita Russell-Nixon ​ ​ (m. 1944; died 1978)​ Betty Marshalsea ​ ​ (m. 1981)​
Children	2

Harold John Avery Russell (January 14, 1914 – January 29, 2002) was a Canadian-born American World War II veteran who became one of only two non-professional actors to win an Academy Award for acting (the other being Haing S. Ngor). Russell also has the distinction of being the only performer to sell his Oscar award at auction.

Early life

Russell and Cathy O'Donnell in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Harold Russell was born in North Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada and moved to Massachusetts with his family in 1921, after his father's death in 1920.

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.

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. 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

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.'' 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. It was the only time in Oscar history that the academy awarded two Oscars for the same performance.

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.

Later years

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. 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.

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.

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.

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, though this was later disputed. Russell did not sell the special Oscar. After his death, the unidentified collector was identified as Lew Wasserman, a studio executive and talent agent, who donated it back to the Academy.

On January 29, 2002, Russell died at a nursing home in Needham, Massachusetts. He was survived by a daughter, Adele, a son, Gerald, four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Harold Russell para niños