Karen Russell

Karen Russell was a buxom, shapely, and voluptuous brunette actress and dancer who popped up with pleasing regularity in a handful of entertainingly trashy low-budget straight-to-video exploitation pictures made throughout the 1980's and 1990's. Karen made a memorable film debut as nasty street gang moll Chula in the brutal urban action opus "Tenement." She was quite funny and appealing as the ditsy Shawnee in the crudely amusing "Vice Academy." Russell's other noteworthy parts include sweet, but troubled Mafia princess Amy in the gloriously outrageous "Murder Weapon," motorcycle mama Candy in "Easy Wheels," naive hooker Fran in the hugely enjoyable "The Banker," cop Francesco Quinn's bitter estranged ex-wife Isabella in "Murder Blues," and lusty groupie Michelle in "Shock 'Em Dead." Moreover, Karen appeared in small roles as a dancer in the mainstream features "Dick Tracy," "Havana," "Mobsters," and "Bugsy." After calling it a day as an actress in the mid-1990's, Russell went on to become a yoga teacher and founder of her own business Yoga Groove based in North Hollywood, California.

Filmography
2003 The Work of Director Chris Cunningham (Video) Dancer (segment "Windowlicker")

1999 Aphex Twin: Windowlicker (Video short) Dancer

1996 Dream On (TV Series) Woman #1

- Hey Diddle Diddle (1996) ... Woman #1

1992 Up All Night (TV Series) Bowler #2

- Hawaiian Tropics: Make Me a Star/Neurotic Cabaret (1992) ... Bowler #2

1991 Bugsy Dancer (uncredited)

1991 Lethal Games Coco

1991 Mobsters Showgirl

1991 Murder Blues Isabella

1991 Shock 'Em Dead Michelle

1990/I Havana Dancer #2

1990 Wilding Cathy

1990 Mob Boss (Video) Mary

1990 The Girl I Want Lisa

1990 Dick Tracy Dancer

1989 Blood Nasty Mona

1989 Hell High Teen Girl

1989 The Banker Fran

1989 Murder Weapon Amy

1989 Easy Wheels Candy

1989 Memorial Valley Massacre Emily (as Dusty Woods)

1989 Vice Academy Shawnee

1989 Dr. Alien Coed #2

1989 American Rampage Hooker #1 (as Dusty Woods)

1988 Hellbent Topless Woman

1988 Phoenix the Warrior Mohawk (as Dusty Woods)

1986 Modern Girls Music Video Dancer

1985 Tenement Chula