Dream Wired
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Celebrity
  • DramaAlert
  • Gossip
  • Movie
  • TV
  • Music
  • Comics
  • Shop
  • Home
  • Celebrity
  • DramaAlert
  • Gossip
  • Movie
  • TV
  • Music
  • Comics
  • Shop
No Result
View All Result
Dream Wired
No Result
View All Result
Home Movie

Shirley Temple Co-Star in ‘The Blue Bird’ Was 91

rmtsa by rmtsa
December 31, 2024
in Movie
0
Shirley Temple Co-Star in ‘The Blue Bird’ Was 91
74
SHARES
1.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


You might also like

Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2 Episode 3 Release Date, Time, Where to Watch

Carla Simón’s Intimate Dive Into Family History

SUPERMAN Toy Promo Might Reveal How the Movie’s Kaiju Gets Taken Down, Plus New Costume Pics — GeekTyrant

John R. Countryman, who billed as the child actor Johnny Russell appeared in films with Barbara Stanwyck, Tyrone Power, Shirley Temple and Jimmy Stewart before serving as a U.S. diplomat and ambassador in the Middle East and Africa, has died. He was 91.

Countryman died Dec. 14 in Loudoun, Virginia, after a short bout with pneumonia, his daughter, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Secretary Vanessa Countryman, told The Hollywood Reporter.

In the biggest role of his brief acting career, Russell portrayed Tyltyl, the younger brother of Temple’s Mytyl, in the fantasy film The Blue Bird (1940), which was Fox’s answer to MGM’s The Wizard of Oz, released a year earlier. In a dream, the two kids set out on on a series of adventures.

Temple’s mother, Gertrude, was reportedly unhappy that her daughter was sharing so much screen time with the adorable Russell and sought to have him replaced, but producer Darryl F. Zanuck insisted that the youngster remain.

Russell had played Roddy, the son who Stanwyck’s Margot Weston gives up for adoption after her fiancé is killed just before her wedding, in the Fox drama Always Goodbye (1938). As the story goes, 489 boys between the ages of 4½ and 7 were “scanned and tested” in a month before Russell, then 5, won the role and a studio contract.

In 1939 films, Russell portrayed Jesse James Jr., son of Power’s title character, in the Fox outlaw drama Jesse James, and he was one of the Hopper Boys in the Frank Capra classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington at Columbia Pictures.

From left: Johnny Russell, Shirley Temple and Jessie Ralph in the 1940 film ‘The Blue Bird.’

20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Everett Collection

One of two kids, John Russell Countryman was born in Brooklyn on Jan. 25, 1933. His father, Russell, worked for the Associated Press as a photo and art editor; his mother, Lucille, was a Czech immigrant.

He started modeling when he was 3, and while in Los Angeles with his mom was picked to play the son of Allan Lane’s boxer The Duke Comes Back (1937). He appeared in another film that year, The Frame-Up.

Also billed as John or Johnnie Russell, he appeared in Five of a Kind (1938), Prison Break (1938), The Man Who Dared (1939), Sabotage (1939), Florian (1940), The Man I Married (1940) and Lady With Red Hair (1940).

When he and his parents decided he should have a “normal” childhood, Countryman attended the Jesuit military prep school St. Francis Xavier in New York and Fordham University and spent a year at the University of Berlin on a Fulbright fellowship.

He then had a three-year stint in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot and worked as a cityside reporter for a newspaper in Danbury, Connecticut.

Countryman came on active duty in the U.S. Foreign Service in February 1962 and reported to the diplomatic mission in Istanbul about a year later. He would have postings in Saudi Arabia, Libya and Gabon before serving from 1976-78 as deputy director and acting director of Arabian Peninsula Affairs at the U.S. State Department, when he dealt with the Iran hostage crisis.

(In the mid-1970s, he and Temple reconnected when he was stationed in Gabon and she was the U.S. ambassador to Ghana.)

Countryman was U.S. ambassador to Oman under President Reagan from 1981-85 before he retired from the Foreign Service in March 1987. He then worked in real estate and for the Mission for Peace and Cooperation in the Middle East.

“He was a true Renaissance man,” his daughter noted.

Survivors also include his wife, Illona, and his son-in-law, James. He was pre-deceased by his sister, Carol.



Source link

Tags: BirdBlueCoStarShirleyTemple
Share30Tweet19
rmtsa

rmtsa

Recommended For You

Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2 Episode 3 Release Date, Time, Where to Watch

by rmtsa
May 25, 2025
0
Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2 Episode 3 Release Date, Time, Where to Watch

The Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2 Episode 3 release date and time is right around the corner, with fans eager to know where to watch this television series....

Read more

Carla Simón’s Intimate Dive Into Family History

by rmtsa
May 25, 2025
0
Carla Simón’s Intimate Dive Into Family History

Three years after taking top honors in Berlin with her elegiac tribute to the generations of peach farmers in her family, Alcarràs, Carla Simón returns to territory more...

Read more

SUPERMAN Toy Promo Might Reveal How the Movie’s Kaiju Gets Taken Down, Plus New Costume Pics — GeekTyrant

by rmtsa
May 25, 2025
0
SUPERMAN Toy Promo Might Reveal How the Movie’s Kaiju Gets Taken Down, Plus New Costume Pics — GeekTyrant

A new promo for Superman may have just spilled some oversized blue guts… literally.While promoting the upcoming wave of Superman movie toys, a new commercial aired that shows...

Read more

TV Comedy Series Viewers Actually Find Unfunny

by rmtsa
May 25, 2025
0
TV Comedy Series Viewers Actually Find Unfunny

Between cringe-inducing laugh tracks and outdated jokes, not all comedy TV series are created the same... or get the same amount of laughs.There are plenty of universally loved,...

Read more

Steve Carell HBO Movie Gets Compared to Succession

by rmtsa
May 25, 2025
0
Steve Carell HBO Movie Gets Compared to Succession

Ahead of its premiere next week on May 31, the Mountainhead reviews for HBO’s upcoming comedy-drama movie have officially been revealed. Led by Emmy nominee Steve Carell (The...

Read more
Next Post
How to Watch Anderson Cooper, Andy Cohen New Year’s Eve Live Online

How to Watch Anderson Cooper, Andy Cohen New Year's Eve Live Online

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Browse by Category

  • Celebrity
  • Comics
  • DramaAlert
  • Gossip
  • Movie
  • Music
  • TV
  • Uncategorized

CATEGORIES

  • Celebrity
  • Comics
  • DramaAlert
  • Gossip
  • Movie
  • Music
  • TV
  • Uncategorized
No Result
View All Result

Recent News

  • Drake Announces Return of OVO Fest in Summer 2025 at Toronto Show
  • Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2 Episode 3 Release Date, Time, Where to Watch
  • Man Charged After Woman Struck Twice and Killed by Her Own Car Before Body Moved: Police

Copyright © 2023 DramaWired.
DramaWired is a content aggregator and not responsible for the content of external sites.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Celebrity
  • DramaAlert
  • Gossip
  • Movie
  • TV
  • Music
  • Comics
  • Shop

Copyright © 2023 DramaWired.
DramaWired is a content aggregator and not responsible for the content of external sites.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In