Bryan Russell, who has died aged 63, was a Hollywood child actor and Walt Disney contract player who appeared in popular television Westerns and films such as The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962), Bye Bye Birdie (1963) and Emil and the Detectives (1964).
He was born in Los Angeles, California on December 3 1952 to former vaudevillians. A handsome child with piercing blue eyes, a mop of dark hair and dark eyebrows, he was first spotted by a film crew shooting an episode of Lassie close to where the Russells lived.
At the age of five he was appearing in television westerns such as Lawman, Death Valley Days and Wanted: Dead or Alive.
In 1959 he auditioned for the role of Dennis in the television series Dennis the Menace, but was turned down because he looked too young for the part. His sister, Jeannie, who was also a budding child actor, was later given the role of Dennis’s sister, Margaret. The pair also appeared together on The Dinah Shore Show where they were dressed as tramps and performed a musical number together.
Throughout the early 1960s, Russell combined his television work with film roles, including Babes in Toyland (1961), The Wonderful World of Brothers Grimm (1962) in which he played Friedrich Grimm, opposite Laurence Harvey and Claire Bloom, and How the West Was Won (also 1962).
He was just 10 when he cut his first album on the back of the comedy film, Bye Bye Birdie (1963), starring Ann-Margret. “Life on a film set paled when it came to being in a recording studio,” he later recalled. “Head phones on, a bank of knobs and dials and a backing group.” One of his early singles was a rock’n’roll version of Supercalifragilistic expialidocious.
Next came Emil and the Detectives (1964) in which he was cast as the lead, Emil Tischbein, over 300 other hopefuls. The film was shot on location in Berlin, and Russell was in the city when news broke of the assassination of President Kennedy. “Candles burned and women wept,” he recalled. “When people discovered I was an American I was clung to, as if by touching me they were touching him. It was an emotional experience, especially for a kid”. Following the success of the film, Russell was signed to an exclusive contract with Walt Disney Studios for two years.
Throughout his film career, Russell continued his education. His parents opted for their son to stay in a mainstream school, rather than attend school on the Disney lot like some of the other showbusiness children. “It was tough on me – the movie kid,” he said. “I was loved by the teachers and disliked by my peers.”
Being under contract to Disney meant that Russell had to turn down other parts, including a role as one of the children in The Sound of Music (1965). He had to remain content with a four-part television show, Kilroy, and his subsequent screen role, as a boy scout in Follow Me Boys (1966), went uncredited, and was more of a showcase for a younger child actor hopeful, Kurt Russell. Disney’s The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967), co-starring Roddy McDowell, would be Bryan Russell’s final film.
Bryan Russell’s fate was much the same as any child actor: he grew up. Although he was a constant on film and television from the age of five to 13, as he reached puberty, the offers began to dry up. But in contrast to some of his contemporaries, his parents had saved and invested his earnings wisely.
When his film career was over, Russell picked up his school studies and enrolled at Harvard Military School, graduating in 1970.
For many years he also worked with his sister to create fairer working practices for child actors.
His sister, Jeannie Russell, survives him.
Bryan Russell, born December 3 1952, died October 5 2016
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbHLnp6rmaCde6S7ja6iaKeSnsG2rdGinKxnYmV%2Bd3uQamZpcV%2BXv7qtzWaprqujmrmtecKhoKWcXajBor6MZqaboaSqrrPFjg%3D%3D