Russell Earp Ball was born in Philadelphia. His father died while Russell was still a teenager; by 1910 Russell was working as a salesman for the Gas Light Manufacturing Company. He moved to New York and on February 1, 1912, he married the film journalist Gladys Hall,[6] with whom he had two children, while working as a newspaper photographer. By 1917 he was working as a photographer, and by 1920 he had specialised into making portrait publicity stills for films, among others for the Shubert Organization. After working independently for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925 (on the East Coast),[7] he opened his own studio at 9528 Brighton Way, Beverly Hills to work for private patrons and celebrities at the end of the 1920s.[8][9]
^Hall, Barbara (2016). Jane Gaines; Radha Vatsal; Monica Dall'Asta (eds.). "Gladys Hall". Women Film Pioneers Project. Columbia University Libraries. doi:10.7916/d8-1z95-5v19.