Catherine Russell (born 1956) is an American stage actress, professor, general manager, and producer. She is best known for never having taken a sick or vacation day in the late Warren Manzi's

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

play ''

Perfect Crime A perfect crime is a crime that is undetected, unattributed to an identifiable perpetrator, or otherwise unsolved or unsolvable. The term is used colloquially in law and fiction (especially crime fiction) for both crimes committed as crimes foremo ...

'' since its opening in 1987. Russell holds the world record for the most performances as the same character, playing Margaret Thorne Brent in that play.

Biography

Russell grew up in

New Canaan New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. About an hour from New York City by train, the town ...

, Connecticut. In 1970, at the age of 14, Russell appeared in

The Diary of Anne Frank ''The Diary of a Young Girl'', commonly referred to as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of t ...

. She earned her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1977 and an MA from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1980.

Theater

Russell made her

debut in 1980 as Nicola Davies in

Stephen Poliakoff Stephen Poliakoff (born 1 December 1952) is a British playwright, Film director, director and screenwriter. In 2006 Gerard Gilbert of ''The Independent'' described him as the UK's "pre-eminent TV dramatist" and that he had "inherited Dennis Po ...

's '' City Sugar.'' She has since appeared Off-Broadway in productions such as ''Miss Shumann's Quartet'', ''A Resounding Twinkle'', ''The Award And Other Plays'' and ''Creeps''. Russell has played the character of Margaret Thorne Brent in the late Warren Manzi's

play ''

'' since its opening in 1987. She has missed only four performances, the last in 1995 to attend her brother's wedding. In 2008, Russell was awarded the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for most performances as the same character. She celebrated her 15,000th performance in that role in December 2024. Russell's understudy is Andrea Leigh, who also serves as assistant stage manager on the production. Russell is the general manager of

The Theater Center The Theater Center (known as The Snapple Theater Center until 2016) is an off-Broadway theater on 50th Street in Manhattan, New York City. It has two stages. History The complex was built by actress and producer Catherine Russell in partnersh ...

which she built in 2005. There she was a lead producer of ''

The Fantasticks ''The Fantasticks'' is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the 1894 play ''The Romancers'' (''Les Romanesques'') by Edmond Rostand, concerning two ne ...

'' from 2006 to 2017.

Academia

Russell teaches educational theater as an adjunct faculty member at NYU Steinhardt since 1981 and has taught writing at

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City, United States. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the colle ...

since 1980.

Personal life

Russell was married to Patrick Robustelli, who owned a

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. A pizzeria may offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then takes the prepared food with them in a pizza box. A pizzeria may deliver food to ...

, until his death in 2019. She identifies as a

Christian Scientist Activists, politicians, and military figures Activists *Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone (1882-1985) – Native American singer and activist * Bonnie Carroll – President and founder of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) *Henry ...

. Her favorite play is Three Sisters by

Anton Chekov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Catherine American stage actresses Living people 1956 births Cornell University alumni Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American actresses American Christian Scientists New York University faculty Baruch College faculty New York University alumni