Stillwell Russell Saunders (January 1, 1906 – April 29, 1987) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

fullback in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

during the

1931 NFL season The 1931 NFL season was the 12th regular season of the National Football League. The league decreased to 10 teams due to financial hardships caused by the Great Depression: while the Cleveland Indians (NFL 1931), Cleveland Indians joined as an ...

. He was an All-American at

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

and was one of the models for the Tommy Trojan statue. He was

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

in the 1930 Rose Bowl when he led the Trojans to a 47–14 victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers. After playing football, Saunders went on to a career in Hollywood. He was one of 11 All-American football players to appear in the 1930 film '' Maybe It's Love''. In 1938 he was nominated for an Oscar for best Assistant Director for '' The Life of Emile Zola''. He was assistant or Second Unit director on more than 85 films including '' PT 109'', ''

Hatari! ''Hatari!'' (, Swahili for "Danger!") is a 1962 American adventure romantic comedy film starring John Wayne as the leader of a group of professional game catchers in Africa.McCarthy, Todd. ''Howard Hawks: the grey fox of Hollywood'', New York, ...

'', '' Arsenic and Old Lace'', '' High Sierra'' and production manager for '' Stripes'', ''

The Amityville Horror ''The Amityville Horror'' is a book by American author Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released from 1979 onward. The book is based on the claims of paranormal experiences by the Lutz family b ...

'' and '' Bonnie and Clyde'' among others. His first screen appearance was in the 1927 movie '' The Drop Kick'' in which the 1927 USC team appeared. In that film, Saunders appeared along with

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

—a teammate from the USC team—and worked on many of Wayne's movies over the following decades.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Russ 1906 births 1987 deaths American directors American football fullbacks Green Bay Packers players USC Trojans football players Sportspeople from Ardmore, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma Male actors from Oklahoma San Diego High School alumni