Jane Russell didn’t even have to be seen on the screen to become an instant move star—the promo posters for her first film did it for her. Movie mogul Howard Hughes needed just one look—and one audition—to cast the voluptuous brunette in his epic Western “The Outlaw.” When the movie was released in 1943, prudes were scandalized by the suggestive posters showing Jane reclining on a stack of hay bales wearing a very low-cut blouse and teasing with lines like “How Would You Like to Tussle With Russell?”

Jane became an instant sex symbol and pinup girl for World War II soldiers, going on to more sexy parts like her co-starring role with Marilyn Monroe in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” Jane Russell died Monday at her home in Santa Maria, California. She was 89. See more shots of Jane Russell after the jump.