Born: 4 December 1860, United States
Died: 6 June 1922
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Helen Louise Leonard
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company:
Lillian Russell (1861-1922), an American actress and singer, born at Clinton, Iowa. She sang in “Pinafore” in 1879, and later was the popular prima donna of the McCaull Opera Company. After appearing in London in 1883, she returned to New York and for a number of years was a favorite at the Casino. In 1912 she was married to A. P. Moore, editor and owner of the Pittsburgh Leader, this being her fourth marriage. Lillian Russell was a noted beauty of the American stage, and much beloved for her kindliness and charities. During the latter part of her life she became interested in public matters, and in 1921 President Harding appointed her a special investigator to study immigration conditions. On her return from a European trip in fulfillment of her mission she presented to the Department of Labor a report that favored an “immigration holiday” of five years, and twenty-one years’ residence here before naturalization.