Andy Russell (born Andrés Rábago;[1] September 16, 1919 – April 16, 1992) was an American popular vocalist, actor, and entertainer of Mexican descent, specializing in traditional pop and Latin music.

[12] Russell was born September 16, 1919 (Mexican Independence Day), as Andrés Rábago Pérez[1] in Boyle Heights, which, at the time, was an ethnically integrated, middle-class neighborhood[13] in Eastside Los Angeles.

Now on tour with the band, Russell noticed that when he played solo on the drums or sang bilingually, the couples in the audience would stop dancing and approach the bandstand to get a better look at the handsome vocalist who was singing in a different language.

[31] During this period, he received offers from Paul Whiteman, Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Charlie Spivak,[31] and such bands as Johnny Richards, Sonny Dunham, Alvino Rey and Vido Musso.

[51] It was b/w "Magic Is the Moonlight", another composition by Maria Grever [whose original Spanish title was "Te Quiero, Dijiste (Muñequita Linda)"], with English lyric by Charles Pasquale, backed by the Paul Weston Orchestra, and featured in the MGM musical film Bathing Beauty.

She thus sought out Russell, a popular vocalist, during his personal appearances at the Paramount Theater in New York, hoping to convince him to sing her music in English, since she considered him to be the top crooner of the period, above even Bing Crosby and Perry Como.

Their successful collaboration and Russell's dynamic interpretations led to her works finally achieving the personal, commercial and international recognition that had eluded her, to some extent, in the United States and in her native Mexico.

[4] Russell's 4 top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in 1944 sold millions of records, and opened the door later in the decade for touring around the country and appearances on radio programs, motion pictures, and television.

This program aired on Monday nights from 8:30 – 8:55 p.m.[65] "Popular crooner Andy Russell served as both the variety anchor for The Joan Davis Show as well as Joanie's love interest in the situation comedy series ... [He] delivered as expected to the swoons and cheers of his millions of female fans of the era.

[102] Around this time, Russell and Elizondo made a live appearance at the historic Million Dollar Theater to promote the film for the United States Latino public in Los Angeles, California.

[104]The following year in 1956, Russell starred in three movies, the first being Mi canción eres tú (You Are My Song), directed again by Roberto Rodríguez and co-starring Mexican actress and singer Evangelina Elizondo.

[109] García Riera noted that the "gringo", middle- and upper-class element in the film, for example, the student body dancing cha-cha-chá and wearing sweaters with big letters with the Ciudad Universitaria (the campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico) as a backdrop, was reinforced by "the 'pocho' singer Andy Russell, who covered his jalopy with expressions, such as 'Mercedes ven,' in the manner of American college-boys, and heard Michigan instead of Michoacán.

[110] Primavera en el corazón (Springtime in the Heart) was his last collaboration with director Roberto Rodríguez co-starring Italian actress Irasema Dilián and Spanish actor Enrique Rambal.

"[116] In Mexico, Russell was criticized for modifying the lyrics, tempo and/or melody of traditional Latin American standards, for example, his jazzy, up-tempo renditions of "Perfidia" and "Cuando vuelva a tu lado" of the mid-1950s.

[121] The unprecedented scale of the show became apparent as a Jeep was driven onto the stage during every performance, along with the ballet troupe of Eber and Nélida Lobato, a 50-piece orchestra conducted by Angel "Pocho" Gatti, and the Fanny Day choir, all in support of Russell.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce organized the games for such teams as the "Andy Russell Sprouts" and the "Frank Sinatra Swooners" to play at Gilmore Stadium (which was demolished in 1952, when the land was used to build CBS Television City in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, California).

[138] Other stars who participated were crooners Dick Haymes, Nat King Cole,[139] and Mel Tormé; bandleader Harry James; dancer and actor Gene Kelly; and comedians Bob Hope and Mickey Rooney.

[146] Russell was romantically linked with different women in his life, such as actress Ariadna Skipsey (née Welter) (1954), the Countess Joaquina de Navas of Madrid (1964), Houston oil heiress Susan Smithford (1966), and Spanish dancer Maria Rosa Marcos (1967).

[9] With his romantic, baritone voice; professional, polished demeanor; and energetic showmanship, he introduced American audiences to Latin-American musical compositions with Spanish lyrics, while influencing later Latino and non-Latino recording artists to be open to the idea of singing bilingually, due to his previous success with the concept.

Some academics (with the exception of Loza, Tumpak, et al.) outright dismiss Russell simply because he was light-skinned, had European features, and Anglicized his name, instead of pouring over his myriad accomplishments as a Mexican-American, multilingual[172] entertainer who performed in radio, television, motion pictures, and in venues all over the United States, Mexico, Latin America, and Europe.

"Andy is a handsome, young American, born and reared in Los Angeles, with a deep insight into the music of Latin America and with a flair for singing songs in both English and Spanish that has won him the plaudits of millions.

"[173] In his short story Zona Rosa, 1965 (2004), Vicente Leñero envisions this fashionable neighborhood in Mexico City as a female energy "who is well versed in literature; she's chatted with Carlos Fuentes at Café Tirol; she's become a bullfighting buff after seeing Paco Camino leaving Hotel Presidente.

While some may call this "selling out", others might view it as "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade", Avant-Mier continues: "The case of Andy Russell also reminds us of social structures that often required Latino/as to perform whiteness in order to have any chance of success in the mainstream music business."

As Loza states: "Because he was singing bilingually, Andy felt that the public would know his background by the Spanish songs in his repertoire"[35] and realize he was a Mexican who had simply adopted a stage name, as was the norm for many performers of all ethnicities in that era.

In addition, Germán Valdés, Tin Tan, a Mexican comic, actor, and singer who grew up in the border area of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, south of El Paso, Texas, was exposed to Mexican-American pachucos and caló.

Surely, Guerrero must have appreciated and understood the fact that, despite the shade of a Mexican's skin tone, starting and maintaining a successful career in the entertainment industry mainly took a lot of hard work, dedication, talent, networking, and luck.

But, the assessment of Avant-Mier that Russell's success was mainly due to the fact that he "Anglicized" his name and used his "European" features to bypass American society racist structure and perform "whiteness" is short-sighted.

(see "Mexican Films" section above) One must question if Guerrero's assertion regarding skin color and success in the music industry (and validation of this by later Latino scholars) is correct and universal: that light-skin and European features allowed for upward mobility, while tan or dark-skinned performers were penalized.

In conclusion, questions regarding Russell's identity, appearance, acceptance, success, and influence over a career spanning 50 years and several continents is much more complex and layered than what Avant-Mier, Pacini Hernandez, and Guerrero have presented.

Needless to say, regardless of what was written on the back cover and his situation in Mexico, Russell did not have the same success in 1967 in the United States as he had had in 1944 for a plethora of reasons, many dealing with issues other than identity – he was older, musical tastes had changed, he had been effectively gone for 11 years, the milieu was certainly different, as the country was caught up in the social and political turmoil of the 1960s, etc.