Picture Play Magazine (Sep 1920 - Feb 1921)

The Man Who Made Himself Over Bill Russell gives a few recipes for manhood, and tells how, as a crippled child, he commenced his fight for health and success. Bv Celia Brvnn ■ Willie Russell hi was called then. I CAN'T recall I what I went to * interview Bill Russell about, and it doesn't matter, because 1 never did it. I was waiting for him in his little bungalow dressing room at the Fox studio, amusing myself by looking over old pictures of the stalwart star, when I suddenly came across a photograph of a puny., spindling youngster with one leg in a metal brace. The resemblance to William Russell was unmistakable; there were the same dark eyes, the thick wavy hair, the same facial contour, and I was trying to decide whether the bov was a brother or cousin or nephew of Bill's, when the star himself came into the dressing room, having finished work for the day on his latest picture. "The Challenge of the Law." "Relative of yours?" I asked, holding the photograph up for his inspection. "Well, yes — and no,'* he answered, regarding the picture with an amused and reminiscent smile. "To be exact, the person there is the Bill Russell of — er — several years ago — Willie Russell he was called then." I gasped. And you who are familiar with the powerful physique of William Russell would have gasped with me. He is one of the strongest men in moviedom — he tips the beam at two hundred and four pounds, and there is not an ounce of fat on his six-footfour frame. "It doesn't seem possible." I demurred, my eyes traveling back and forth from the picture of the scrawny youth to the figure of the massive but perfectly formed man beside me. "It is possible, though," said the star, filling his pipe thoughtfully. He sank down into an armchair and smoothed back his thick black hair with large, well-kept hands. "You might say," he continued, '"that I made myself over. And what I did, any man can do. There wasn't any miracle about it, it just took work and determination. If you care to hear about it " Of course, I did. The original theme of the interview had slipped my mind some moments before. "Well, here's the whole story in a few words. When I was a kid, I was 'nuts' on tumbling; and at the gymnasium where I spent every possible minute after school, I met a troupe of gymnasts who were training for going on the road. They taught me the tricks of tumbling — backward somersaults and all that. And. of course, I used to show off around the house, o the neighbors used to call me out on the sidewalk and say, "Willy, do us a couple of backflips,' and I would— for a nickel or a dime. "But one day I missed the last flip, and came down on the hard sidewalk on my hip. I'll spare you the details of the operations I had, and the long months in the hospital — anyhow, when I came out. I was like that" — he indicated the picture — "mv right leg was in a brace, and was shorter than the other. I told myself that F simply wouldn't go through life a semicripple. arid I started in to make myself over. "I studied physical-culture books, I spent hours at the gymnasium, and I worked out a scientific schedule for myself. When I commenced. I weighed one hundred and thirty; in two years, when I was twentv-one vears old. I weighed two hundred and ten." Bill Russell paused, and I demanded detailed "information as to how he did it. Not that I ever expect to reach the two-century mark on the scales — but ten pounds would be a welcome addition. "Exercise," he responded. "Regular eating and sleeping, deep breathing exercises even* morning, a cold bath every day of the year, and a wineglassful of olive oil with a dash of salt taken evenafternoon. I'll guarantee a course of training like that will put weight on any one, no matter how thin they are." I mentally put olive oil down on my shopping list, but not for the world would I have interrupted him. "No person need to be without health," he continued. "The man or woman who is too fat. is lazy — that's all. A person who is inclined to corpulency can reduce by first fasting for ten days — eating only a head of lettuce a day — and then beginning on foods that are not fattening. Fat people should do a great deal Of walking, and should take regular gymnasium training." "If fat people are lazy, what would you call thin people?" I asked, anxious to hear the worst. Bill Russell regarded me speculativelv. "Well, they are — inconsistent, we'll call it," he replied, and I have an idea that he was trying to spare my feelings. "Thin people never eat properly, because they take no time to it. and they very rarely eat at regular intervals. Breakfast for them should be the important meal of the day, because the stomach is ready to receive food, and the system is capable of assimilating it. And thin 3 From a crivpled, puny youngster — to this!