Dad Greets Rosalind Russell at West Point. Circa 1943.

My Dad, James “Gene” Rier, stands on the left staring up at her, smiling in apparent admiration, as she departs the train upon arrival at West Point where Dad was a pilot instructor. In 1935, Rosalind Russell had starred with Robert Young in West Point of the Air, a movie about pilot training in the US Army Corps in the early 1930s. So she came to boost the morale of the military men there during World War II and was met at the train by two (rather handsome) pilot instructors in the US Army Corp.

In 1942, Russell was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in the movie My Sister Eileen, the first of four Academy nominations. In the coming years, she won the Golden Globe for Best Leading Actress five times and a Tony Award in 1953 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Ruth in the Broadway show Wonderful Town.

According to Dad, greeting Rosalind Russell at the train that day was quite an honor. “She was beautiful,” he grinned, “but your mother is far more stunning.”