Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907 – November 28, 1976) was an American actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as the role of Mame Dennis in the film Auntie Mame. She won all 5 Golden Globes for which she was nominated, and was tied with Meryl Streep for wins until 2007 when Streep was awarded a sixth. Russell won a Tony Award in 1953 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Ruth in the Broadway show Wonderful Town (a musical based the film My Sister Eileen, in which she also starred). Russell was known for playing character roles, exceptionally wealthy, dignified ladylike women. She had a wide career span from the 1930s to the 1970s and attributed her long career to the fact that, although usually playing classy and glamorous roles, she never became a sex symbol, not being famous for her looks.

Filmography

• 1994That's Entertainment! III — (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 1994The Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics — Hildy Johnson (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 1972The Crooked Hearts — Laurita Dorsey
• 1971Mrs. Pollifax — Spy — Mrs. Pollifax, Screenplay
• 1968Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows — Mother Simplicia
• 1967Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad — Madame Rosepettle
• 1967Rosie! — Rosie Lord
• 1966The Trouble with Angels — Mother Superior
• 1962Five Finger Exercise — Louise Harington
• 1962Gypsy — Rose Hovick
• 1961A Majority of One — Bertha Jacoby
• 1958Auntie Mame — Mame Dennis
• 1958Wonderful Town — Ruth Sherwood
• 1956The Unguarded Moment — Story
• 1955Picnic — Rosemary - The School Teacher
• 1955The Girl Rush — Kim Halliday
• General Electric Theater — Cynthia
• 1953Never Wave at a WAC — Josephine McBain
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
• 1950A Woman of Distinction — Susan Manning Middlecott
• 1949Tell It to the Judge — Marsha Meredith
• 1948The Velvet Touch — Valerie Stanton
• 1947Mourning Becomes Electra — Lavinia Mannon
• 1947The Guilt of Janet Ames — Janet Ames
• 1946Sister Kenny — Elizabeth Kenny
• 1945Roughly Speaking — Louise Randall Pierson
• 1945She Wouldn't Say Yes — Dr. Susan A. Lane
• 1943Flight for Freedom — Tonie Carter
• 1943What a Woman — Carol Ainsley
• 1942My Sister Eileen — Ruth Sherwood
• 1942Take a Letter, Darling — A.M. MacGregor
• 1941Design for Scandal — Judge Cornelia C. Porter
• 1941The Feminine Touch — Julie Hathaway
• 1941They Met in Bombay — Anya Von Duren
• 1940Hired Wife — Kendal Browning
• 1940His Girl Friday — Hildy Johnson
• 1940No Time for Comedy — Linda Paige Esterbrook
• 1940This Thing Called Love — Ann Winters
• 1939Fast and Loose — Garda Sloane
• 1939The Women — Sylvia Fowler
• 1938Breakdowns of 1938 — Rosalind (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 1938Four's a Crowd — Jean Christy
• 1938Man-Proof — Elizabeth Kent
• 1938The Citadel — Christine Manson
• 1937Live, Love and Learn — Julie Stoddard
• 1937Night Must Fall — Olivia Grayne
• 1936Craig's Wife — Harriet Craig
• 1936It Had to Happen — Beatrice Newnes
• 1936Trouble for Two — Miss Vandeleur
• 1936Under Two Flags — Lady Venetia Cunningham
• 1935China Seas — Sybil Barclay
• 1935Reckless — Josephine 'Jo' Mercer
• 1935Rendezvous — Joel Carter
• 1935The Casino Murder Case — Doris Reed
• 1935The Night Is Young — Countess Zarika Rafay
• 1935West Point of the Air — Dare Marshall
• 1934Evelyn Prentice — Mrs. Nancy Harrison
• 1934Forsaking All Others — Eleanor
• 1934The President Vanishes — Sally Voorman

Appearances as themselves (25)

• 2017Lighting Up with Hildy Johnson — Self (archive footage)
• 2017The Fabulous Allan Carr — Self (archive footage)
• 2009Life is a Banquet — Self (Archive Footage)
• 2006On Assignment: 'His Girl Friday' — Self (archive footage)
• 1995The Flood of ‘55 — Herself (archive footage)
• 1987James Stewart: A Wonderful Life — Self (archive footage)
• The American Film Institute Salute to ... — Self
• 1973The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor — Self (archive footage)
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
• The Mike Douglas Show — Self
• Startime — Self – Host
• Letter to Loretta — Self - Guest Host
• The Oscars — Self
• What's My Line? — Self
• The Ed Sullivan Show — Self
• 1947Blow-Ups of 1947 — Self
• 1945Screen Snapshots (Series 25, No. 1): 25th Anniversary — Self
• 1944Breakdowns of 1944 — Self
• 1942Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10) — Self
• 1941Breakdowns of 1941 — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 1940A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound — Self
• 1940Hollywood: Style Center of the World — Self
• 1939From the Ends of the Earth — Self
• 1937The Romance of Celluloid — Self
• 1936Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1) — Self