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Russell Janney (April 14, 1884 – July 14, 1963) was an American theatrical producer and author. He is best known for his 1946 best-selling book and first novel, The Miracle of the Bells, which was made into a film of the same name in 1948. He also produced and co-authored the 1925 musical The Vagabond King, working with Brian Hooker and composer Rudolf Friml.

Janney also produced other plays including Marjolaine (1922) (based on Pomander Walk by Louis N. Parker), White Eagle (1927) (based on Edwin Milton Royle's The Squaw Man), June Love, Ballyhoo (1927), and an adaption of The O'Flynn (1934) by Justin Huntly McCarthy. His second novel, So Long As Love Remembers, was published in 1953, and the short novel Curtain Call followed in 1957.

Janney was born in Wilmington, Ohio and graduated from Yale University in 1906. While at college, he put on plays for his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi. He died of natural causes at his apartment in New York City on July 14, 1963.

Janney also served as a juror in a high-profile 1949 trial, one of the Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders.

Janney married Edith Hulda Cramer in 1907; they later divorced. Their son William Janney was a film actor in the 1930s.

References

1. Mantle, Burns. The Best Plays of 1921–22, p. 498-99 (1922)
2. (December 7, 1927). 'White Eagle' for Casino; Russell Janney's Musical Version of 'The Squaw Man' to Open Dec. 26, The New York Times
3. (December 27, 1927). 'The White Eagle' Is Lavishly Staged, The New York Times
4. (January 17, 1926). The Story of an Operetta, The New York Times
5. ^ (July 15, 1963). Russell Janney, Stage Producer; Sponsor and Co-Author of Vagabond King Dies at 79, The New York Times
6. Dixon, George H. (September 5, 1953). Russell Janney Writes Second Masterpiece, Pittsburgh Press
7. Nichols, Lewis (May 26, 1957). Old Manager's Triumphant Swan Song, The New York Times
8. Warfel, Harry R. American novelists of today, p. 228 (1951)
9. Current biography yearbook, Volume 24, p. 209 (1964)
10. (December 28, 1940). William Janney Marries, The New York Times
11. (March 2, 1930). Actors' Children Emulate Parents, Pittsburgh Press

External links

• Works by Russell Janney at Faded Page (Canada)
• Russell Janney at the Internet Broadway Database
• Russell Janney at IMDb

• People from Wilmington, Ohio
• 1884 births
• 1963 deaths
• 20th-century American male writers
• 20th-century American novelists
• American male novelists
• Yale University alumni