Jan Russ

Jan Russ is an Australian casting director, producer and actress of theatre and television. She is best known as the casting director for various programs for Grundy Television/Fremantle Media, and is notable for launching the careers of many actors that became international stars. In 1956, Russ, along with her drama group, won the Victorian Association of Youth Club's drama championship. Russ played Alice in an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass. She appeared in productions of Man of La Mancha, Oliver!, Fiddler on the Roof, Godspell, The New Adventure of Pinocchio and Funny Girl. Russ lived in New Zealand while she worked in musical theatre and appeared on television shows. She was forced to give the child up for adoption as she was young and unwed.

In September 2014, Russ was featured in The Past Is A Foreign Country, a two part episode of the ABC documentary series Australian Story.

Casting career When Russ moved back to Australia, she began working as the casting assistant for Crawford Productions. After 18 months, she was offered the job of casting director at Grundy Television for their television drama Prisoner. During this time Russ was contacted by Reg Watson, who explained that he was working on a new drama series and wanted her to make a list of actors to look at. Russ wanted a mix of new talent and experienced but not as well known actors, believing viewers would find it harder to engage with their characters if they were too well known. She is credited not only for casting "seasoned performers", including Ian Smith, Anne Charleston, Tom Oliver, Jackie Woodburne, Alan Fletcher, Guy Pearce, Daniel MacPherson, Craig McLachlan, Holly Valance, Madeleine West, and Brooke Satchwell.

In 2006, Russ was responsible for choosing the winners of Dolly magazine's search for Neighbours next big stars competition. She had to go through seven thousand taped entries over several weeks, before starting live auditions. The Dolly competition ran again in 2008 and Russ handpicked Mauricio Merino Jr. and Chelsea Jones to star as Simon and Tegan Freeman, respectively.

In March 2009, Russ' future with Neighbours was called into question following a backstage "shakeup".

Acting Russ has had acting roles in Division 4, Homicide and The Clinic. Russ had a guest role as Mrs Daniels on Prisoner before she became the casting director. Russ had not performed on television since Prisoner in 1982. Her character was Robyn Turner, a community volunteer. Russ said she received an email from the City Homicide casting team, which said there was a role they wanted to see her for and would she be interested in auditioning. Russ call her audition "bizarre" and "strange". Russ also teaches acting.