[1][2] By 1910, Russell's father had become disabled and jobless, so his mother supported him and the rest of the family by working as a seamstress from their home.

[2] Emma's responsibilities for the family were so predominant, in fact, that she is identified in the 1910 United States Census as "Head" of the Collins' household.

[2] As a student in the Drama School at Carnegie Tech, Collins "first learned his trade in the days immediately following World War I.

[4] Collins had roles in a few early Group Theatre productions with Success Story being his Broadway debut.

He enjoyed a long career on Broadway, although by the late 1940s, he began to perform increasingly in Hollywood films and on television, where he appeared in teleplay dramas, as well as on Westerns, sitcoms, and on an array of other weekly series.