Bob Russell (January 1, 1908 – January 24, 1998) was an

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

n entertainer, best known for hosting the

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

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during the years of 1940 to 1946, 1948 to 1950 and 1954. He also served as emcee for the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

, and

Miss Canada Miss Canada is a beauty pageant for young women in Canada. It was founded in Hamilton in 1946. No title was awarded from 1993 through 2008. The trademark was purchased in 2009 by a Québec organization who produces the pageant under the name to ...

pageants.

Biography

Bob Russell's father was a Russian-born baker. His family moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

at age nine and he began his career appearing in

Broadway musicals Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), many of the extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatr ...

in the 1920s. In the 1930s, he moved on to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where he became a local star as the singing master of ceremonies at the elegant Cafe Marguery in the old Adelphia Hotel. In 1952 Russell co-created, directed and hosted the very first Miss Universe pageant in

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, and continued with the pageant through 1957. When the Miss America pageant was first televised in 1954, Russell rejected the song "

There She Is, Miss America "There She Is, Miss America" is a song written by songwriter Bernie Wayne for the Miss America pageant. It was first made famous in 1955 by master of ceremonies Bert Parks, who sang it every year until his firing in 1979. The song is sometimes re ...

" in favor of two of his own. His recommended replacement,

Bert Parks Bert Parks (born Bertram Jacobson; December 30, 1914 – February 2, 1992) was an American actor, singer, and radio and television announcer, best known for hosting the annual Miss America telecast from 1955 to 1979. Early life Parks was bor ...

, in 1955 sang this promenade tune into history.

Lee Meriwether Lee Ann Meriwether (born May 27, 1935) is an American actress and the winner of the 1955 Miss America pageant. She has appeared in many films and television shows, notably as Betty Jones, the title character's secretary and daughter-in-law in th ...

, age 19 from California, was crowned Miss America on September 11, 1954, by a panel of judges including movie queen

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982), also known as Grace of Monaco, was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. ...

. It was watched by 27 million people. Russell helped to start many early television

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

s, such as ''

Name That Tune ''Name That Tune'' is an American television music game show. Originally created and produced by orchestra conductor Harry Salter and his wife Roberta Semple Salter, the series features contestants competing to correctly identify songs being p ...

'' (1954–59). He appeared as the emcee of ''Bonnie Maid's Versatile Varieties'' (1950–51) and ''Your Pet Parade'' (1951), and was the announcer on the quiz show ''Time Will Tell'' (1954). From May 1956 to September 1957, he hosted ''

Stand Up and Be Counted ''Stand Up and Be Counted'' is a 1972 American comedy film directed by Jackie Cooper and starring Jacqueline Bisset and Stella Stevens. It features the recording of "I Am Woman" (1971) by Helen Reddy. Plot Cast * Jacqueline Bisset - Sheila ...

'',Feminist television criticism: a reader - Charlotte Brunsdon, Lynn Spigel - 2007 Page 327-"STAND UP AND BE COUNTED (5/28/56 to 9/6/57, CBS) Host: Bob Russell Contestants were home viewers selected by letter. As they sat with Bob Russell behind the wooden railing of a "front porch," they explained a personal dilemma to a ... Russell retired from the limelight to

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...

, where he kept busy as Reservation Manager at the Aku Tiki Inn on

Lido Key Lido Key (LEE doh KEE) is a barrier island off the coast of Sarasota, Florida, in the United States. It is part of the city of Sarasota and is connected to mainland Sarasota by John Ringling Causeway. Nearby keys To its north is Longboat Key ...

, and later at the Meadows Golf and Tennis Resort. Russell and his wife, Mignon Simpson Russell, had one child, a daughter named Ingrid.

Musical performances

*''

Princess Flavia ''Princess Flavia'' is a 1925 operetta in three acts based on Anthony Hope's novel ''The Prisoner of Zenda'', with book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith and music by Sigmund Romberg. It is set in the fictional European country of Zenda. Production ' ...

'' (November 2, 1925 – March 1926; 152 performances)

TV shows

*''

Versatile Varieties ''Versatile Varieties'', also known as ''Bonnie Maid Versatile Varieties'' and ''Bonny Maid Versatile Varieties'', was a TV series that ran from 1949 to 1951 on NBC, CBS and ABC under three different formats. The sponsor was Bonnie Maid Linoleum. ...

'' (1949) – emcee, 1950–1951 *''

Live Like a Millionaire Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

'' (1951) *''

Your Pet Parade In Modern English, the word "''you''" is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from ...

'' (1951) – host *''

'' (1953) – co-creator *'' Time Will Tell'' (1954) – announcer *''

'' 1956-1957, host *''

Yours for a Song ''Yours for a Song'' is an American game show created by Bob Russell that aired on ABC from 1961–63, with Bert Parks as the host and Johnny Gilbert as the announcer. The series, which filmed in New York City, aired in primetime from November 14 ...

'' creator, aired on ABC from 1961–1963 hosted by Bert Parks

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Bob (Entertainer) 1908 births 1998 deaths Beauty pageant hosts American game show hosts American male musical theatre actors American male television actors People from Passaic, New Jersey People from Sarasota, Florida 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers