Zella Russell

Who was Zella Russell?

Zella Russell was a well known vaudevillian star from about 1912 to the late 1940s on the Columbia circuit. She was born in the Worcester area of Massachusetts and began her career as a pianist in the silent movie theaters the Palace and the Dreamland in the Boston area. She moved into vaudeville, joining Al Reeves show "Big Burlesque Review" both with a piano act and acting in light comedy routines. Her piano specialty was playing pop tunes of the day in a classical arrangement. Her playing was so popular that it often "stopped" the show, the audience demanding she keep playing. Newspaper profiles of the day credit her with attending the New England Conservatory of Music, but this cannot be confirmed by their records.

She married Harry K. Morton, a fellow vaudevillian. She died in February, 1952 in the Somerville, New York area. Her husband died in May, 1956. She had one son, Harold, who died in childhood.