Nicole Russell, Duchess of Bedford

Who was Nicole Russell, Duchess of Bedford?

Nicole Russell, Duchess of Bedford was one of the first female television producers in France, and then became the Duchess of Bedford, helping to open and popularize one of the first Stately homes to the public - Woburn Abbey. She was also a best-selling author.

Nicole Milinaire became French television producer in the 1950s. She was the associate producer of Sheldon Reynolds television series Sherlock Holmes and of the 1951-1954 series, Foreign Intrigue. She produced the 1957 CBS series Dick and the Duchess, starring Patrick O'Neal and Hazel Court.

Born as Nicole Marie Charlotte Pierrette Jeanne Schneider, she was the third and last wife of John Russell, 13th Duke of Bedford. They were married from 1960 until his death in 2002. It was his third and her second marriage.

Milinaire was the eldest child of Capt. Paul Schneider, a World War I flying Ace, and Marguerite Durand, of the noble Crouzet de Rayssac des Roches family on her mother's side. Shortly after turning eighteen years old, her parents told her she would be married that December to Henri Milinaire, a man 14 years older than herself.