RUSS TAMBLYN (1934-LIVING)

RUSSELL IRVING TAMBLYN

Born: December 30th, 1934 (Los Angeles)

Died: LIVING

Marriages: Venetia Stevenson (1956-1957), Sheila Elizabeth Kempton (1960-?), Bonnie Tamblyn (?-Present)

Children: Out of Rusty's three children, Amber Tamblyn has become a notable actress.

Interesting Fact: He was discovered by Lloyd Bridges.

Awards: He has received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in "Peyton Place" (1957) and a Laurel Award nomination for "Tom Thumb" (1958) where he came in 5th place. The only other award he has been requested for was the Golden Globe in 1956, which he won, as the most promising newcomer.

My Favorite Film: From "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954) to "Tom Thumb" (1958) to "West Side story" (1961) it becomes hard to pick a favorite. In each one his dancing far surpasses any acrobat show. When it comes down to the wire though, "West Side Story" comes in first.

I chose to post on Rusty for his athletic dancing. In a majority of his films we get to see some of his agility. He came to Hollywood as the musical era began to wain and leaped from picture to picture. It wasn't until his portrayal of Riff that he showed off not just his dancing, but his dramatic acting at it's best.

When I was a kid I thought that I could dance like him. Needless to say, I didn't do so well and luckily I didn't use an axe as a prop. He makes it seem so effortless.

Here is a sequence from "The Fastest Gun Alive" (1956).