Alice B. Russell

Alice Burton Russell (June 30, 1889 – January 1, 1985) was an African-American actress, producer, and the wife of director Oscar Micheaux. She appeared in several films directed by her husband.

Biography

She was born in 1889 in Maxton, North Carolina. Her parents were M. J. Russell and Robert Russell, who was a prominent newspaper editor, publisher, and politician.

Russell and Micheaux married on March 20, 1926, in Montclair, New Jersey.

She began her acting career in silent film, starring in her husband's The Broken Violin (1928). She continued to act after talkies predominated. She was mentioned often as A. Burton Russell in credits. In the 1930s, she produced three films by her husband and worked as miscellaneous crew in two films.

Living nearly 100 years, she died in New Rochelle, New York. She was buried in an unmarked grave in Greenwood Cemetery in Rye, New York. Her gravesite is now marked with a stone honoring her achievements in the entertainment industry.

Filmography

As actress:

• The Broken Violin (1928)
• Wages of Sin (1929)
• When Men Betray (1929)
• Easy Street (1930)
• A Daughter of the Congo (1930)
• Veiled Aristocrats (1932)
• Ten Minutes to Live (1932)
• The Girl from Chicago (1932)
• Harlem After Midnight (1934)
• Murder in Harlem (1935)
• God's Step Children (1938)
• Birthright (1939)
• The Betrayal (1948)

As producer:

• Darktown Revue (1931)
• Murder in Harlem (1935)
• Birthright (1939)

As miscellaneous crew:

• Ten Minutes to Live (1932)
• Swing! (1938)

See also

• Oscar Micheaux

References

External links

• Alice B. Russell at IMDb
• Alice B. Russell at the Women Film Pioneers Project
• Alice B. Russell Micheaux at Find a Grave