12 Facts About Russell Gleason

Russell Gleason was an American actor who began his career at the very beginning of the talking film era.

Russell Gleason was born into an acting family, the son of actors Lucille and James Gleason.

Russell Gleason had an early screen role in the 1930 film All Quiet on the Western Front.

Russell Gleason was born to actors Lucile and James Russell Gleason on February 6,1908, in Portland, Oregon, where his parents were acting in local theater productions.

Russell Gleason's debut occurred when he was carried on stage by his grandmother to appear with his mother in The Heir to the Hooray.

Russell Gleason appeared with both of his parents in the film series surrounding The Higgins Family, of which nine films were made from 1938 to 1941.

Russell Gleason would appear in "The Jones Family" series, produced by 20th Century Fox.

Russell Gleason was married to Cynthia Hobart, who was a stunt woman and swimmer, and later wrote a biography of Boris Karloff.

The entire Russell Gleason family were close friends with Karloff, and the young couple became the godparents to Karloff's daughter, Sara Jane.

On December 25,1945, Russell Gleason was in New York City awaiting deployment to Europe with his regiment when he fell to his death out of a fourth story window in the Hotel Sutton on East 56th Street in Manhattan, which the army had commandeered to house the troops.

Law enforcement was unable to determine whether Russell Gleason's fall from the window had been accidental or a suicide.

Russell Gleason was interred at the Long Island National Cemetery, a military cemetery, on December 28,1945.