Renata Titus – Behind the Curtains of a Classic Hollywood Marriage

Updated on: August 11, 2025

Basic Information

Early Life and Family Roots

I like to picture Renata as a kind of sepia-toned protagonist — born on October 4, 1921 in Los Angeles, she arrives in the stories as Renata Mary Titus, the daughter of James Clifford Titus and Renata Mary Garst. That repeating maternal name — Renata Mary for both mother and daughter — reads like an heirloom passed down, a small echo through two generations. A surviving photograph from 1936 shows a younger Renata at the beach with her sister Kathleen — a snapshot that, for me, is the opening scene of a film where two girls chase sunlight and Pacific foam, then grow into the mid-century life we later glimpse in public records.

The Marriage — Hollywood’s Quiet Side of Fame

In 1943 Renata married actor John Lawrence Russell. To anyone who remembers classic television westerns, Russell’s face is recognizable — he starred in shows like Lawman, and his on-screen persona belongs to that era’s rugged, television-friendly mythos. Renata’s life with John, however, is not recorded as a career in show business; she reads more like the off-stage partner who keeps the set humming, the person who walks the red carpet less often but whose presence shapes the household scripts.

They produced a family — often summarized in period obituaries and biographies as “a son and two daughters,” although public records reliably name two daughters: Renata Amy Russell (born 1946, died 2014) and Angela Bedelia Russell (born April 20, 1956, died June 14, 1990). The son — if the phrasing “a son and two daughters” is taken literally — does not have a consistent, public-facing presence in the freely accessible records I’ve read; he drifts in and out of the narrative like a character mentioned in passing between acts.

Children and a Family in Time — A Table

Reading those dates — 1946, 1956, 1990, 2014 — you see a household stretched across decades, two daughters born in the shadow of John Russell’s rising career, and later, the quiet trailing off of family lines into private obituaries and memorials. The house lights dim; the family files stay in cabinets and on memorial pages.

Civic Life — The Leakey Foundation Fellowship

Here’s the surprise detail that gives Renata a distinct public footprint beyond “actor’s wife”: she appears as an active fellow of the Leakey Foundation, a scientific philanthropic organization. Her involvement is noted in a foundation newsletter announcing her sudden death in Laguna Beach in 1978 — an announcement that reads less like a celebrity sidebar and more like an institutional obituary for someone who supported scientific inquiry. That role paints her as someone who moved between worlds: the social orbit of a Hollywood actor and the intellectual orbit of a foundation that funds scientific research — a backstage pass to two different cultural stages.

Public Presence, Photographs, and the Archive Economy

If you hunt classic-photo archives and fan galleries, you’ll find Renata cropping up beside John in publicity stills, candid family shots, and Western TV fan collections. These images exist in the online afterlife of celebrity — stock photos, fan galleries, memorial pages — and they are the visual glue that holds together the narrative we can reconstruct. But she never appears to have cultivated a separate public persona as an entertainer; hers is a presence documented primarily through marriage records, genealogy pages, memorials, and the occasional archival print.

How the Records Read — Agreement and Disagreement

Documents line up on a few core facts: birth in 1921, marriage to John Russell in 1943, and her death on August 19, 1978 in Orange County, California. Where the papers blur is the question of how many children — some biographical write-ups say three children (“a son and two daughters”), while genealogy pages reliably name two daughters. That kind of discrepancy is typical when family life sits partly in the public eye and partly in private; some details are shouted from marquees, others whispered in family trees.

Legacy — The Quiet Echoes Left Behind

When I read the dates and the names together — Renata Mary Titus, Renata Mary Titus Russell, Renata Amy Russell, Angela Bedelia Russell — I don’t just see statistics; I see a family album with several pages missing, a television program interrupted between seasons, and an unexpected chapter where a woman connected to Hollywood quietly supported science. That combination is cinematic: a leading man on camera, a wife who prefers the wings, children who grow and disperse, and a fellowship that hints at causes beyond celebrity.

FAQ

Who was Renata Titus?

Renata Mary Titus (later Renata Mary Titus Russell) was born October 4, 1921 in Los Angeles, married actor John Lawrence Russell in 1943, and died August 19, 1978 in Orange County, California.

Was she an actress?

No — public records and memorial pages list her primarily as the spouse of actor John Russell and as a fellow of the Leakey Foundation, not as a performer with her own acting credits.

How many children did she have?

Sources commonly mention “a son and two daughters,” but publicly named children in accessible records are Renata Amy Russell (1946–2014) and Angela Bedelia Russell (1956–1990); the son’s name is not consistently documented in the materials I reviewed.

What was her involvement with the Leakey Foundation?

She is recorded as an active fellow of the Leakey Foundation and is mentioned in the foundation’s fall 1978 newsletter in connection with her sudden death.

When did she pass away?

She died on August 19, 1978 in Orange County, California.

What were her parents’ names?

Her father is listed as James Clifford Titus and her mother as Renata Mary Garst in genealogical records.

Are there photographs of her?

Yes — surviving family photos (including a 1936 beach photo with sister Kathleen) and archival publicity images show her alongside John Russell in various collections.