Harold John Russell was born in Nova Scotia in 1914. His family moved to Cambridge Massachusetts when his father died in 1919. He was training paratroopers at Camp MacKall NC on June 6, 1944 when some TNT he was using exploded in his hands. He lost both hands. After receiving hooks, and training on them, he was chosen to make an Army training film called "Diary Of A Sergeant". William Wyler saw the film and decided to change a character in his film The Best Years of Our Lives from a spastic to a double amputee. Harold Russell played Homer Parish. For this role he received 2 Oscars, a Best Supporting and one for being an inspiration to all returning veterans. He is the only actor to receive 2 Oscars for the same role. After the movie he attended Boston University. He later went on to help establish AMVETS as a viable alternative to the American Legion for veterans, though his dream of an international veterans organization was never realized. He later appeared in Inside Moves and Dogtown. He lived with his wife on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. He wrote 2 biographies: "Victory In My Hands" (1947) & "The Best Years Of My Life" (1981).


The Best Years of Our Lives (1946): $10,000

Two children: Adele and Gerald The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tried to keep him from selling his award, and offered to loan him money, but he turned them down. (Several Oscars have since been auctioned off posthumously, but the Academy now makes all recipients sign an agreement forbidding them from selling their Oscars.) Director William Wyler told Russell after The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) wrapped, "There aren't that many parts for a guy with no hands. You should go back to college, get your degree." Russell followed the advice, got a business degree from Boston University and became an ardent advocate for the disabled. Served three terms as the National Commander of the AMVETS. As National Commander, he wrote an 11 April 1951 letter to President Harry S. Truman supporting his decision to relieve General Douglas MacArthur of his supreme command: "The issue is whether the ultimate civil authority of the United States can tolerate actions in contempt of constitutional lines of authority. Any lessening of civil power over military power must inevitably lead away from democracy." He became so adept with the hooks that replaced his hands, he would joke he could do anything with them except pick up a dinner check. Interred at Lakeview Cemetery, Wayland, MA. Had one of the least prolific careers of any Oscar winner, starring in only four films over a span of fifty years.