
Betsy Russell
Actor · b. 1963 · San Diego, California, USA
Elizabeth "Betsy" Russell (born September 6, 1963) is an American actress who is best known for her roles in Private School (1983), Tomboy (1985), and as Jill Tuck, one of the primary characters of the Saw film series from 2006 to 2010. Russell was born in San Diego, California, the daughter of Constance (née Lerner) and Richard Lion Russell, a stock analyst, and the granddaughter of journalist and educator Max Lerner. Her father and maternal grandfather were Jewish. Russell wanted to be an actress since the age of eight and started acting in school plays. She appeared in a Pepsi commercial that was taped locally while in high school. After graduating from Mission Bay High School in 1981, she moved to Los Angeles and began taking acting classes before landing her first role. She did a masters program in Spiritual Psychology at the University of Santa Monica and is a certified hypnotist and life coach, also from the University of Santa Monica. Russell's first role was in the 1982 film Let's Do It! That same year, she landed roles on T. J. Hooker, Family Ties, and The Powers of Matthew Star. In 1983, Russell's breakout role came as Jordan Leigh-Jensen in the sex comedy Private School. While shooting the action film Avenging Angel, she was offered to audition for the 1985 film Silverado but turned it down. She said in an interview, "Everything happens for a reason. I always believe my career would have been different had I done that part. I can't say if it would have been better or worse. I’ve had a great run." She went on to star in a series of B movies in the 1980s, including the comedy Tomboy and the slasher film Cheerleader Camp. Russell also appeared on TV series such as The A-Team, Murder, She Wrote, 1st & Ten, and an episode of Superboy, which was a reunion with her Tomboy co-star Gerard Christopher. Russell resides in Malibu, California. In August 1988, Russell was engaged to actor Vincent Van Patten, son of Dick Van Patten. They were married nine months later on May 27, 1989, in North Hollywood. Their wedding reception was at Van Patten's father's Sherman Oaks home which was attended by numerous A-list celebrities. They divorced in 2001 and have two sons: Richard Van Patten (March 1993) and Vincent Van Patten, Jr. (September 3, 1995) Russell was previously engaged to film producer Mark Burg. After a brief retirement from acting, Russell appeared in a small role in Saw III playing John Kramer's ex-wife, Jill Tuck. She went on to star in the sequels, Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, and Saw 3D. She played a role in the 2010 film Chain Letter, the SyFy film Mandrake, and My Trip Back to the Dark Side. Description above from the Wikipedia article Betsy Russell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movies23
Movie6.4HorrorThrillerJigsaw has disappeared. Along with his new apprentice Amanda, the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police has once again eluded capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Doctor Lynn Denlon and Jeff Reinhart are unaware that they are about to become the latest pawns on his vicious chessboard.
Saw III
2006 · 5.1K votes
Movie6.0HorrorCrimeAs a deadly battle rages over Jigsaw's brutal legacy, a group of Jigsaw survivors gathers to seek the support of self-help guru and fellow survivor Bobby Dagen, a man whose own dark secrets unleash a new wave of terror.
Saw 3D
2010 · 3.4K votes
Movie6.2HorrorThrillerDespite Jigsaw's death, and in order to save the lives of two of his colleagues, Lieutenant Rigg is forced to take part in a new game, which promises to test him to the limit.
Saw IV
2007 · 4.2K votes
Movie6.3HorrorThrillerSpecial Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw's legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw's grand scheme is finally understood.
Saw VI
2009 · 3.6K votes
Movie6.2HorrorThrillerFollowing Jigsaw's grisly demise, Detective Mark Hoffman is commended as a hero, but Agent Strahm is suspicious, and delves into Hoffman's past. Meanwhile, another group of people are put through a series of gruesome tests.
Saw V
2008 · 3.9K votes
Movie5.7ComedyRomancePrivate-school student Christine loves Jim. But her classmate, Jordan, is also vying for Jim's attention and trying to end his relationship with Christine. Meanwhile, Jim's friend Bubba embarks on a series of sexual escapades, including dressing up as a woman to access the girls' locker room. Despite Jim and Christine's efforts to spend some time alone, various shenanigans and schemes interfere.
Private School
1983 · 226 votes
Movie4.4HorrorThrillerSix friends receive a mysterious chain letter via text messaging and in their email accounts from a maniac who's hunting down teenagers who fail to forward his online chain letter. Who knew they should take the threats in the chain letter seriously? Or that chain letters using the teens' favorite technologies to track them can kill? This maniacal game pits friend against friend as they race to beat rules that seem impossible to escape. Break the chain, lose a life. Do you pass it on? Does friendship mean anything?
Chain Letter
2010 · 141 votes
Movie6.5DocumentaryThe definitive documentary on the history of nudity in feature films from the early silent days to the present, studying the changes in morality that led to the use of nudity in films while emphasizing the political, sociological and artistic changes that shaped that history. Skin will also study the gender inequality in presenting nude images in motion pictures and will follow the revolution that has created nude gender equality in feature films today.
Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies
2020 · 59 votes
Movie5.2ActionThrillerMolly Stewart, now a law student at UCLA, is determined to leave her prostitute past behind. After learning that the detective who helped save her life has been murdered, she quickly finds herself pitted against an underworld of mob figures who might be more than she's bargained for...
Avenging Angel
1985 · 60 votes
Movie4.9ComedyRomanceA budding female race-car driver finally meets her racing idol and unbelievably they fall in love...a love that's quickly put to the test when, having received the chance to show her racing talents, the two find themselves in a race for a multi-million dollar sponsorship contract.
Tomboy
1985 · 58 votes
Movie4.9ComedyHorrorA cheerleader named Alison is plagued by nightmares about the upcoming all-state finals and attends a summer training camp with her teammates. When a number of deaths start occurring at the camp, Alison's nightmares turn twisted and brutal, and she begins to believe that she may be responsible for the mayhem.
Cheerleader Camp
1988 · 92 votes
Movie3.2CrimeThrillerShawn Stone is having a bad day. The funding for his film project is not there, his personal life is in shambles, he's out of time and money. He sees only one way to solve his problems - he must turn to the dark side and ask the King of Porn for some cash
My Trip Back to the Dark Side
2014 · 14 votes
Movie3.6HorrorTV MovieAn expedition led by adventurer Darren McCall and funded by the wealthy Harry Vargas braves the impenetrable jungle to retrieve a fabled bejeweled dagger from an ancient burial ground. But pulling the dagger from its rightful resting place awakens the long-dormant plant creature - part plant, part animal, and all bloodthirsty -- and sends it on a feeding frenzy from which there seems scant hope of survival or escape...
Mandrake
2010 · 31 votes
Movie5.4DocumentaryThe question of "who hunts virgins" and more will be stripped down and explored in the sexiest trailers hosted by Playboy's Nikki Leigh.
Blood of 1000 Virgins
2013 · 8 votes
Movie4.3RomanceSaul Schwartz, a married successful businessman, is bored with his life and decides he has had enough. So he gets a divorce, quits his job, and goes off to pursue his dream, in Hollywood to be a movie star. Only becoming a movie star isn't as easy as he thought. Nobody wants an overweight, 50 year old, New Yorker who looks like a lawyer. He's going to have to make a few adjustments.
Amore!
1993 · 6 votes
Movie4.4ActionDramaUpon graduation from high school eight teens take a seaplane trip, intending to celebrate on Keith's parents' private island. Stormy weather causes the plane to crash and they end up on a deserted isle. They find evidence of other visitors, and soon must fend for their lives against drug smugglers.
Out of Control
1985 · 25 votes
Movie5.8TV MovieDramaMysterious emotional thriller about a woman who, after being left at the altar, has a brief liaison with a handsome stranger on a plane which ultimately puts her – and everyone else on the flight – in terrible danger.
Non-Stop
2013 · 37 votes
Movie4.6DramaActionAn L.A. cop investigates the death of his partner in the swamps of Louisiana. Enlisting the help of an ex-cop who lost his hand to an alligator many years before.
Delta Heat
1992 · 7 votes
Movie3.7DramaTV MovieWhen young Roxanne Ulrich (Chynna Phillips) meets wealthy charmer Herbert Pulitzer (Perry King) and enters the scandal-ridden world of the rich and famous, her life changes forever. After a whirlwind courtship, the two wed, but their marriage is quickly torn apart by drug abuse and affairs. Courteney Cox co-stars in this drama based on Roxanne Pulitzer's 1987 autobiography, written after her headline-making divorce from the publishing heir.
Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer
1989 · 3 votes
Movie6.1ComedyA washed-up tennis pro begins coaching a hopeful teen, Joel Robbins, whose overbearing father wants to discourage him from playing.
The Break
1995 · 7 votes
Movie6.3ThrillerA week after she gives birth, Ashley dies in a car crash and her newborn goes missing. Her husband Brian fears that there is something more devious behind the accident.
Born and Missing
2017 · 14 votes
Movie3.3ComedyHaunted by his mother’s overbearing presence, reluctant young virgin Freddie embarks on a hilarious journey of self-discovery in order to please his girlfriend Melody. With the help of his eccentric buddies and an assortment of others, Freddie hilariously navigates romance, confronting fears and finding love along the way.
Let's Do It!
1982 · 7 votes
Movie3.7HorrorRomanceSome sorority sisters opt for camping in the woods with a handsome professor instead of going to Palm Springs for spring break. However, the orgy is interrupted when some druids appear and decide they need to sacrifice the sisters to prevent the apocalypse at the start of the new millennium.
Camp Fear
1991 · 14 votes
Series6
TV7.5MysteryCrimeAn unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases.
Murder, She Wrote
1984 · 471 votes
TV7.5Action & AdventureComedyA fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel work as soldiers of fortune while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit."
The A-Team
1983 · 1.1K votes
TV6.5DramaCrimeSergeant Thomas Jefferson Hooker is a tough-as-nails veteran police officer with the LCPD who turns his back on a gold badge and goes back to patrolling the streets and training recruits. Along with his young partners in blue, Hooker take on Lake City's toughest criminals.
T. J. Hooker
1982 · 98 votes
TV7.2ComedyDramaFormer 1960s flower children Steven and Elyse Keaton raise their conservative son Alex, daughters Mallory and Jennifer, and later, youngest child Andrew.
Family Ties
1982 · 279 votes
TV6.4Action & AdventureDramaSuperboy is a half-hour live-action television series based on Kal-El's early years as Superboy. It depicted Superboy's adventures during his college years, his meetings with Lex Luthor and his romance with Lana Lang. The series was brought to the screen by executive producers Ilya and Alexander Salkind, who were the producers of the first three Superman movies and the 1984 Supergirl movie.
Superboy
1988 · 27 votes
TV4.7ComedyPlatypus Man is an American sitcom that aired on UPN in 1995. Starring comedian Richard Jeni, the television series was based on an hour-long HBO special of Jeni's filmed in 1992. The series lasted for only one season, with a total of thirteen episodes. Platypus Man premiered January 23, 1995. The concept of a "Platypus Man", the concept of a "cooking show for guys" and the scenes involving the main character's social life were drawn from Jeni's stand-up routines. The show, paired with Pig Sty, followed Star Trek: Voyager on UPN's Monday schedule. Both Pig Sty and Platypus Man were canceled in July 1995.
Platypus Man
1995 · 3 votes