Biography: Born March 23, 1963 Rockford, Illinois, the youngest of six children in a mixed marriage and 8 years younger than his nearest sibling, Rus felt he grew up an only child. His mother, Eloise, was a housewife and his dad Russ senior had an appliance store and a band. Dad eventually sold the store and made music his number one choice.
At the age of 14, he found literature fascinating in that litera ... show all Born March 23, 1963 Rockford, Illinois, the youngest of six children in a mixed marriage and 8 years younger than his nearest sibling, Rus felt he grew up an only child. His mother, Eloise, was a housewife and his dad Russ senior had an appliance store and a band. Dad eventually sold the store and made music his number one choice.
At the age of 14, he found literature fascinating in that literature is telling stories and that is what acting is. Rus approached various teachers getting ideas and got a sponsor enabling him to form his own drama club. Rus produced and acted in his first plays, which were mostly simple teenage plays for high-schoolers. They eventually got a director but Rus was kicked out of the drama club he started, after disagreements. However, he got the chance to appear in the chorus of the Cole Porter musical, 'Anything Goes', staged by the local Community Theater. From this small beginning, he was cast in local plays that were successfully entered in State competitions and eventually he received a scholarship from the University of Southern Mississippi, only to leave after just three months. However, shortly after that, he won a two-year scholarship to the prestigious Circle In the Square Theater in New York. While there his roommate was ‘Keifer Sutherland’ (qv). He later moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career spending a year there doing day player roles. He moved to Orlando in 1989 and within a couple of years started teaching there at the Civic Theater. He started to get roles on episodic television and film both there and in New York with shows such as "The With Hostile Intent (1993) (TV)", "”From the Earth To the Moon” (1998) (mini)", and the Disney show "”Emerald Cove” (1993)". He has appeared in several films including "Instinct (1999)", "Rage: Carrie2 (1999)", "The Chapter Zero (1999)", "Code Conspiracy (2001)" and in post production now, "Dunsmore (2001)", in which he plays the sheriff Cal Miller. The film was shot entirely in Florida, directed by the University Of Miami graduate ‘Peter Spirer’ (qv). When not acting, Rus enjoys camping, playing tennis, watching a lot of films, and theater, and spending time outside. He loves teaching acting technique and scene study at Zoe's Acting School in Maitland.
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