Portrait of Karen Russell

Karen Russell

Acting

Biography

Karen Russell was a buxom, shapely, and voluptuous brunette actress and dancer who popped up with pleasing regularity in a handful of entertainingly trashy low-budget straight-to-video exploitation pictures made throughout the 1980's and 1990's. Karen made a memorable film debut as nasty street gang moll Chula in the brutal urban action opus "Tenement." She was quite funny and appealing as the ditsy Shawnee in the crudely amusing "Vice Academy." Russell's other noteworthy parts include sweet, but troubled Mafia princess Amy in the gloriously outrageous "Murder Weapon," motorcycle mama Candy in "Easy Wheels," naive hooker Fran in the hugely enjoyable "The Banker," cop Francesco Quinn's bitter estranged ex-wife Isabella in "Murder Blues," and lusty groupie Michelle in "Shock 'Em Dead." Moreover, Karen appeared in small roles as a dancer in the mainstream features "Dick Tracy," "Havana," "Mobsters," and "Bugsy." After calling it a day as an actress in the mid-1990's, Russell went on to become a yoga teacher and founder of her own business Yoga Groove based in North Hollywood, California.

Born: April 12, 1962

Place of Birth: Erie, Pennsylvania, USA

Filmography

2022
The Devil You Know

as Announcer (voice)

1997
1991
Bugsy

as Dancer

1991
1991
Mobsters

as Showgirl

1991
Shock 'Em Dead

as Michelle

1991
Shock Cinema: Volume Four

as Herself / Actress

1991
Dead Certain

as Isabella

1990
Mob Boss

as Mary

1990
1990
Dick Tracy

as Dancer

1990
Wilding

as Cathy

1989
The Banker

as Fran

1989
1989
Dr. Alien

as Coed #2

1989
Easy Wheels

as Candy

1989
Vice Academy

as Shawnee

1989
Hell High

as Teen Girl

1989
1989
American Rampage

as Hooker #1

1988
Memorial Valley Massacre

as Emily (as Dusty Woods)

1988
1988
Hellbent

as Topless Woman

1986
Modern Girls

as Music Video Dancer

1985
Tenement

as Chula