Actor, Minor League Baseball Club Owner. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the headstrong Douglas Hamilton in "Cattle Empire" (1958) and as Deputy Clem Foster in the classic NBC Western television series, "Bonanza." Born Neil Oliver Russell, the son of floatplane businessman Warren Oliver, after attaining his degree in business from Dartmouth College, he began his career as a mascot for the New York Yankees. While attending a luncheon at the prestigious Bevely Hills Hotel, he was discovered by singer and actor Bing Crosby. Impressed by his dark good looks, slim physique, and distinctive voice, he took notice of his potential and arranged for him to begin a career in the television industry providing him the new name of Bing Russell and granting him his formal debut on an episode of "The Living Christ Series". From there, he would go on to flourish as a notable character actor appearing in over 100 features; often typecast as husbands, fathers, relatives, boyfriends, blue-collared guys, cowboys, sheriffs, deputies, bailiffs, mechanics, soldiers, sailors, authority figures, lieutenants, sergeants, landlords, neighbors, curmudgeons, eccentrics, gigolos, technicians, educators, clergymen, district attorneys, judges, politicians, lawyers, waiters, doormen, salesmen, retail clerks, chauffeurs, doormen, athletes, adventurers, city slickers, policemen, detectives, reporters, guards, bankers, aristocrats, and patriarchs. He appeared in such feature films as "Big Leaguer" (1953), "Cult of the Cobra" (1955), "Attack" (1956), "Drango" (1957), "Suicide Battalion" (1958), "Last Train from Gun Hill" (1959), "The Magnificent Seven" (1960), "The Stripper" (1963), "Cheyenne Autumn" (1964), The Hallelujah Trail" (1965), "Madame X" (1966), "Blackbeard's Ghost" (1968), "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" (1969), "Yuma" (1971), "Now You See Him, Now You Don't" (1972), "The Apple Dumpling Gang" (1975), "Onboard" (1987), "Sunset" (1988), and "Dick Tracy" (1990). On television, he appeared in numerous guest spots on such syndicated sitcoms as "Playhouse 90," "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp," "The Twilight Zone," "Bonanza," "Hazel," "The Andy Griffith Show," "Route 66," "Ben Casey," "Maverick," "The Donna Reed Show," "Zane Grey Theatre," "Branded," "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color," "Alias Smith and Jones," "Mannix," "Little House on the Prairie," "Emergency!," "Gunsmoke," "Wagon Train," "The Loretta Young Show," "Johnny Ringo," "Combat!," "The Munsters," "Death Valley Days," "Adam-12," "I Dream of Jeannie," and "The Streets of San Francisco". During his career, he was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, had been one of the founding members of the Canyon Theatre Guild, was a theatrical instructor for the Pasadena Playhouse, was a member of the Hollywood Republican Committee, had been a regular parishioner of the Congregationalist church, had been the celebrity spokesman for Omaha Steaks and Men's Warehouse, presided as a chairman for his local charters of the American Red Cross and the Boy Scouts, had been the owner of the Portland Mavericks, and he was married to traditional housewife Louise Crone from 1946 until his death (their union produced four children, one of whom became actor Kurt Russell). Following his 1990 retirement, he spent the final years of his life being a regular attendee at autograph conventions, as well as being involved in charitable and religious causes, until his death.