[2] His family moved to New York at age nine and he began his career appearing in Broadway musicals in the 1920s.
In the 1930s, he moved on to Philadelphia, where he became a local star as the singing master of ceremonies at the elegant Cafe Marguery in the old Adelphia Hotel.
Lee Meriwether, age 19 from California, was crowned Miss America on September 11, 1954, by a panel of judges including movie queen Grace Kelly.
He appeared as the emcee of Bonnie Maid's Versatile Varieties (1950–51) and Your Pet Parade (1951),[4] and was the announcer on the quiz show Time Will Tell (1954).
From May 1956 to September 1957, he hosted Stand Up and Be Counted,[5] Russell retired from the limelight to Sarasota, Florida, where he kept busy as Reservation Manager at the Aku Tiki Inn on Lido Key, and later at the Meadows Golf and Tennis Resort.