A sensual actress who often projects an untrained, even somewhat amateurish air, Theresa Russell made an auspicious debut as the daughter of a movie studio head in Elia Kazan's "The Last Tycoon" (1976). Raised in Southern California by her single mother, the alluring, throaty-voiced performer began posing for provocative photos when she was barely a teenager. After dropping out of high school, Russell moved in with a much older man, a primal scream therapist, whom she credits for unleashing repressed feelings that in turn led to her pursuit of an acting career. Trained in the Method at the Lee