in
The Dalton Girls (1957) in
Lawman (1959) series leads
Will Hutchins (
Sugarfoot),
Peter Brown (
Lawman),
Jack Kelly (
Maverick),
Ty Hardin (
Bronco),
James Garner (
Maverick),
Wayde Preston (Colt .45), and John Russell (
Lawman) Russell signed a contract with
20th Century Fox in 1945 and made his first film appearance as a guard in
A Royal Scandal. He played several supporting parts while at Fox, acting the role of a junior law partner in the Clifton Webb comedy
Sitting Pretty (1948), as well as a navy pilot in ''
Slattery's Hurricane'' (1949). He primarily played secondary roles, often in
Western films, including
William A. Wellman's 1948
Yellow Sky. Later, however, he signed with
Republic Pictures, where he was cast in a starring role opposite
Judy Canova in
Oklahoma Annie (1952). In 1955, Russell landed the lead role in a television drama series called
Soldiers of Fortune. This half-hour syndicated adventure show placed his sidekick (played by
Chick Chandler) and him in a dangerous setting each week. While the show proved popular with young boys, it did not draw enough adult viewers to its prime slot and was canceled in 1957. That same year, he returned to films briefly to appear as a corrupt agricultural magnate in the Warner Bros. low-budget exploitation film
Untamed Youth. A year later, he returned to the small screen, as gunslinger Matt Reardon, in "The Empty Gun" episode of the
ABC/Warner Bros. Western series,
Cheyenne. In 1958, he appeared as Saylor Hornbook on
Cheyenne in the episode titled "Dead to Rights". In 1958, he was cast in his best-known role: the stolid, taciturn Marshal Dan Troop, the lead character in
Lawman, an ABC/
Warner Bros. hit Western series that ran for four years. Co-starring alongside
Peter Brown, who played Deputy Johnny McKay, and
Peggie Castle as Birdcage Saloon owner Lily Merrill, Russell portrayed a US frontier peace officer mentoring his younger compatriot. Russell also appeared in other motion pictures for Warner Bros., notably as a
Sioux chieftain in
Yellowstone Kelly (1959) and as a rich, corrupt cattle rancher, Nathan Burdette, in the highly successful
Howard Hawks Western
Rio Bravo (1959), starring
John Wayne. At the same time, Russell guest-starred in an episode of
NBC's adventure series
Northwest Passage. In 1969, Russell appeared in five episodes of the
Robert Wagner series,
It Takes a Thief: "Guess Who's Coming To Rio?" (January 9, 1969), "Saturday Night in Venice" (September 25, 1969), "The Blue, Blue Danube" (October 30, 1969), "Payoff in The Piazza" (November 13, 1969), and "A Friend in Deed" (November 27, 1969). Throughout the remainder of his movie career, he played secondary roles in more than 20 films, including several
A.C. Lyles Westerns and three films directed by his friend,
Clint Eastwood, most notably as Marshal Stockburn, the chief villain in Eastwood's 1985 film
Pale Rider. Russell also appeared as Bloody Bill Anderson in Eastwood's 1976 Western
The Outlaw Josey Wales. He appeared in the second season of the
Filmation children's science-fiction series
Jason of Star Command. He played Commander Stone, a blue-skinned alien from
Alpha Centauri. ==Death==