Gorgeous, daring, and a "thinking man's sex symbol," this alluring actress has given many provocative, bold and memorable performances, especially in films directed by her ex-husband, director Nicolas Roeg.  In

, Theresa Russell delivers a strong, moody, nuanced and admirably noir-ish performance as the smart, complex leading female character "Nicole." 

Discovered by a photographer when she was twelve, Theresa Russell modeled and eventually studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. She made her film debut at the age of 19 in director Elia Kazan's "The Last Tycoon" (1976), as Robert Mitchum's daughter, working alongside Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson, and garnered critical praise opposite Dustin Hoffman as his loyal lover in "Straight Time" (1978).

It was her powerful, sexually frank work as a woman involved with a psychiatrist in "Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession" with Art Garfunkel, Harvey Keitel and Denholm Elliott (1980) that established her as a major actress, one who is not afraid of taking chances with risky material.  The film was also her first for Roeg; they fell in love and married several years later.  She went on to work with him in "Eureka" with Gene Hackman and Rutger Hauer (released in 1985 after a long delay), and in a bold, unusual segment of the operatic omnibus art film "Aria" (1988), followed by "Track 29" with Gary Oldman and Christopher Lloyd (1988) and "Cold Heaven" (1992) with Mark Harmon and James Russo (who also appears with her in Dark World).  Among these notable performances, she was especially stunning as the Marilyn Monroe-like actress in "Insignificance" with Tony Curtis and Gary Busey (1985), in which she astonishingly -- and brilliantly-- explains the theory of relativity to the Einstein-like character played by Michael Emil.

Art-house favorite Russell has also made more "commercial" ventures-- She was outstanding as a self-destructive alcoholic in "The Razor's Edge" with Bill Murray (1984), for which she received high critical acclaim, and she scored a major popular success as the gorgeous, seductive serial husband-killer who intrigues Debra Winger in "Black Widow" (1987).  Theresa played an idealistic young lawyer in "Physical Evidence" with Burt Reynolds and Ned Beatty (1989);  then she starred as a brave, smart, and very competent 19th century widow driving cattle across Wales in "The Proposition" (1997).  In 1998, Theresa played a scorned wife in "Wild Things" with Matt Dillon and Kevin Bacon.

Theresa also made a high-profile television appearance as Maureen Dean in the miniseries "Blind Ambition" (1979).  She was terrific as an undercover narc in "Impulse" (1990) and starred in the title role in the controversial "Whore" by director Ken Russell (no relation) in 1991.  Theresa also performed with Jeremy Irons, Joel Grey and Ian Holm in "Kafka" (1991), narrated 1994's "Being Human," she was praised for her work in a controversial Sundance-screened film about a skinhead sect titled "The Believer" (2001) and she played Charlene in the star-studded mini-series "Empire Falls" opposite Ed Harris, Helen Hunt, Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman (2005).

Bold, brave, and very hip, Theresa Russell, who has around 50 films' worth of experience, has been called the "greatest actress of her generation" and is chosen by Empire magazine as one of the top "100 Sexiest Stars" in film history. 

- A. Tripp

Copyright 2006 Light Mountain Productions/Dark World © All rights reserved worldwide. Text, photos, graphics, HTML or other code, content, design, and material on this site are protected by US and International Copyright, Trademark and Intellectual Property Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, translated, distributed, or used in any way without explicit, prior, written permission. ©