Gregg Russell is a nationally known singer, songwriter and actor who regularly performs on
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southwest of Charleston. The island is n ...
.
He has shared the stage with such famous acts as
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...
,
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...
,
George Burns
George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...
and
Stephen Curtis Chapman. He has appeared at hundreds of college campuses, many major corporate conventions, family festivals and events across the nation, and is
Carnival Cruise Lines' Premier Headline Entertainer.
Entertaining and Music Career
Russell has been performing under an old oak tree in Harbour Town on Hilton Head Island every
summer for 45 years, as of 2022.
[Hart, Anne. "Hart to Heart: The king of savoring summer found a permanent vacation." Savannah Morning News 18 JUL 2010, Print.] As measured by concert attendance records and YouTube hits, Russell's performances have been viewed by over three million people.
Many children who watch his show sign up for the "Kid friendly Bubble Gum Cruise," which features Russell as a singer and activity leader. The cruise is intended to be family-oriented and features
dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...
watching on the Calibogue Sound.
Gregg also has over 30
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
videos and some with over 5 views.
Original Compositions
With the help of Dennis Scott, Gregg Russell wrote the music for the children's SCETV/Wardley series "Dooley and Pals." Gregg Russell made a CD album called, "Stop, Look and Listen" which includes many of the songs from the series. He has written and performed hundreds of children's songs. His recognitions include writing and performing original music for specials on the
USA Networks
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
,
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
.
Acting career
Gregg Russell was featured in two award winning productions, ''Come Away Home'' and ''Camp Tanglefoot''.
''Come Away Home''
''Come Away Home'', written by Kat Shehata, is a Benjamin Franklin Award winner. It is a film about a girl named Annie that is forced to stay with her grandfather on
Hilton Head Island one
summer. The movie was filmed exclusively on Hilton Head Island during the summer of 2004 and was released in 2005.
Russell made his debut as a performer who lost his
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
in a tragic accident and befriends Annie. Through their friendship, they find the feeling of belonging, and overcome some similar tragedies in their family situations. This film was made by American Family Movies, Stephen M. Zakman Productions and was directed by Doug McKeon.
Most of the reviews were negative, with a minority of positive reviews. One of the many reviews on Flixster.com was, "Sweet movie about realizing what you have and not squandering it. A touching movie the classic coming of age city girl in the country realizing there is more to the world than
mall
Mall commonly refers to a:
* Shopping mall
* Strip mall
* Pedestrian street
* Esplanade
Mall or MALL may also refer to:
Places Shopping complexes
* The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria
* The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India
...
s and city fun." Another review on the movie ''Come Away Home'', is found in the ''
Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', "Some of the acting was unprofessional but otherwise a great family movie to watch with your kids."
''Camp Tanglefoot''
Russell stars as the camp counselor in the movie production of ''Camp Tanglefoot''. He not only had a star role in the movie, he also produced it. ''Camp Tanglefoot'' was filmed at Camp Highlander in
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
and was released in 1999. The film went on to win Best Children's Live Action video in 2000. According to Russell's official website, greggrussell.com, "It shocked dozens when the video sold out in four days." The video "went gold" in the initial release, which indicates a million dollar in sales. It has numerous children's songs written and performed exclusively by Gregg Russell himself. According to a review on Amazon.com, "The message of the video brings families heartwarming drama and good, clean entertainment."
Philanthropy
Hilton Head Heroes
Russell is cofounder and president of Hilton Head Heroes, a nonprofit charitable organization.
His wife, Lindy Russell, is the other cofounder and the executive director. This philanthropic venture was started in 1998. As reported by hhheroes.com, "Gregg was traveling around the country entertaining, and after his performances he would go to local hospitals in the area and sing for the sick children there." Gregg and Lindy adored the children and knew what a great time the kids would have if they could have a week at the beach away from the hospitals with their families; this is how Hilton Head Heroes was born. The reported mission is to help families with children ages 4–18 who suffer from serious illnesses, by providing them with a weeklong vacation away from
doctors and
hospital stays.
Hilton Head Heroes spends approximately 1,500 dollars per family to help with lodging, meals, gas money, gift certificates, many family activities, and day camps, such as,
miniature golf,
boating,
beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...
toys, and many more. The families are housed in the Hilton Head Island HERO house located in Sea Pines Resort. Donations from businesses and individuals keep this project running. Lindy Russell searches for potential children and their families through the
Medical University of South Carolina
The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is a public medical school in South Carolina. It opened in 1824 in Charleston as a small private college aimed at training physicians and has since established hospitals and medical facilities ac ...
and Backus Children's Hospital in
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...
. They narrow it down by choosing families that can not afford a vacation.
[Bredeson, Amy. "Heroes Helping HEROES." Hilton Head Monthly Magazine 162. Print.]
Lids for Kids
Lids for Kids are another program that was started as an extension of Hilton Head Heroes. Over the past few years, this program distributed over 1,000
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
style hats to children that had
chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs ( chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...
treatments.
Background
Gregg Russell is originally from
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
. His immediate family consist of, his wife, Lindy Russell, and his 3 children.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Gregg
People from Hilton Head, South Carolina
Living people
American children's musicians
Year of birth missing (living people)