SHE WAS DISCOVERED by Howard Hughes and went on to become a Hollywood star – but yesterday, at the age of 89, Jane Russell sadly passed away of respiratory failure.

Russell was the dark-haired star of movies like her debut The Outlaw, which was released in 1943 and told the tale of Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid.  She acted opposite Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and with Bob Hope in 1948′s The Paleface.

A dedicated Christian, Russell’s faith was somewhat at odds to her image as a buxom sex symbol, and much attention during her career was focused on her curvaceous figure rather than her ability.

Russell, who was born Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell on June 21, 1921, in Bemidji, Minnesota,  later spoke of how her faith helped her fight alcoholism.

She married three times and adopted three children. Her experiences led her to found the World Adoption International Fund in 1955.

Her hand and foot prints were immortalised in the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theater and she was proud to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In her later years, Russell remained active in her local church, and even founded the “Hollywood Christian Group”, a weekly Bible study at her home for fellow Christians working in the film industry.