MOVIES - May 30, 1989

Hollywood movie stars from another era, Dale Evans and Jane Russell, captivated a small town in Washington as they helped celebrate the state’s centennial. Inside the Elks Lodge in Colville, Wash., at a scheduled press conference, a dozen fans crowded around to hear Evans, 76, talk about such topics as how she changed her name from Francis Octavius Smith and Tom Cruise’s performance in “Rain Man.” Evans appeared on television and in more than 30 movies, mostly Westerns, with her husband, Roy Rogers. In recent years, she has written Christian inspirational books and has been involved with charities. Russell, 68, has appeared in movies and on television, and has devoted much of her time to an adoption program that helps find homes for hard-to-place children. Russell’s brother, Tom, lives nearby at Cedar Creek, so organizers were able to bring her to Colville for the cost of an airplane ticket.