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Johnny Russell, the child actor who played Tyltyl opposite Shirley Temple in The Blue Bird (1940), later became a U.S. diplomat. He died on December 14, 2024, at age 91. His daughter, Vanessa Countryman, told reporters that complications from pneumonia caused his death.
Who was Johnny Russell in The Blue Bird?
Russell was the screen name of John Russell Countryman. In Twentieth Century Fox’s 1940 fantasy film The Blue Bird, he played Tyltyl, the younger brother of Temple’s character, Mytyl. The film was based on Maurice Maeterlinck’s 1908 play. The Washington Post described it as Fox’s response to MGM’s The Wizard of Oz, released the previous year; the films drew on separate works and were not versions of the same story.
Contemporary coverage, as recounted by The Washington Post, said Temple’s mother, Gertrude, wanted Countryman replaced because Temple shared so much screen time with him, while producer Darryl F. Zanuck insisted he remain. That is a reported account of studio-era tensions, not a first-person statement from Temple or Countryman. The Post also cited a critic who praised Countryman’s performance over Temple’s; that was one critic’s judgment, not an objective measure of their acting.
What other films did Johnny Russell appear in?
Countryman came to Hollywood after working as a child model in New York. One early screen appearance was in The Duke Comes Back (1937). For Always Goodbye (1938), he played Roddy, the son of Barbara Stanwyck’s character. The Washington Post reported that 489 boys auditioned for the role, citing Associated Press casting coverage from 1938. Countryman, then five, won the part and a studio contract.
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His other notable credits included playing Jesse James Jr. in Jesse James (1939), starring Tyrone Power, and appearing in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), starring James Stewart. The latter was a small, uncredited role among the boys supporting Jefferson Smith. He appeared in more than a dozen additional films under names including Johnny Russell, Johnnie Russell and John Russell. TheWrap reported that his final film was Don Juan Quilligan (1945).
Why did he leave acting for diplomacy?
Countryman’s acting career was largely over by the early 1940s. In an oral history for the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, quoted by The Washington Post, he explained the family’s decision: “Both my parents and I decided a normal childhood was to be preferred.”
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Diplomacy entered the picture while he was in high school. His godfather, Associated Press cartoonist and columnist Thomas Paprocki, suggested it. Countryman later recalled: “Out of the clear blue sky … he said, ‘John, whatever you do in life, you ought to think about being a diplomat.’”
How did John Russell Countryman become a U.S. diplomat?
Countryman graduated from Fordham University in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in English, then received a Fulbright fellowship to the University of Berlin. He served three years in the Air Force as a pilot and earned a master’s degree in English from the University of Miami in 1961 while preparing for the Foreign Service examination.
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His first diplomatic posting was in Istanbul from 1963 to 1965. He later studied Arabic in Beirut, served at the U.S. Consulate in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, from 1968 to 1971, and became chief economic officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Libya. After leaving Libya in 1973, he served as deputy chief of mission in Libreville, Gabon, before returning to Washington for State Department roles.
During the 444-day Iran hostage crisis, Countryman was a leader of the State Department crisis team, according to The Washington Post. He was named U.S. ambassador to Oman in 1981 and served there from 1981 to 1985. The Post reported that he negotiated a military cooperation pact. He retired from the Foreign Service in 1987.
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What did he do after the Foreign Service?
After government service, Countryman sold real estate in Washington and led Mission for Peace and Cooperation in the Middle East, a private group that organized seminars on regional peace efforts. He married Illona Zwolska Vachon in 1973. His daughter, Vanessa Countryman, later served as secretary of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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