Russell William Thaw

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Russell William Thaw (25 October 1910-6 May 1984) was a racing pilot who fought in World War II. Thaw was the son of Evelyn Nesbit and, legally, he was also the son of her husband Harry K. Thaw. The Thaw-Nesbit couple became notorious after Thaw murdered Stanford White, Nesbit's former lover, at Madison Square Garden in 1906.

Born in Berlin, Germany, Russell William Thaw was treated indifferently by the man supposed to be his father, as Harry K. Thaw never accepted Russell William as his son—quite reasonably, as Russell was born four years after his putative father had been incarcerated in the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Thaw's mother, who initially testified that Russell was Harry's son, eventually admitted he was not, but refused to name his actual biological father. As a child, Russell Thaw co-starred with his mother in at least five films: Threads of Destiny (1918), Redemption (1917), Her Mistake (1918), The Woman Who Gave (1918), I Want to Forget (1918), and The Hidden Woman (1922).

Thaw participated in two of the cross-country Bendix trophy races, which were instituted in 1931 and held annually to promote and encourage the achievements of U.S. aviation. Flying the Gee Bee "Model R-2" - P&W Wasp, he withdrew from the 1933 race. Flying the Northrop Gamma - Wright Cyclone, he came in third in the 1935 race from Los Angeles to Cleveland (ahead of Amelia Earhart in 5th place). Around this time, he also was the private pilot to the Guggenheim family.

On 17 July 1936, he married Katherine "Kay" Roberts, whom the New York Times described as a Beverly Hills debutante and a graduate of Radcliffe College. After their wedding, they moved to White Plains, New York. They separated on 15 March 1939, when Katherine Thaw sued her husband for cruelty and "refusal to live with her." Their divorce was finalized on 8 July 1941, with Katherine Thaw stating that her husband had separated from her because he said he could not support them both.

During World War II, Russell William Thaw became one of the most noted American pilots, obtaining five air victories, three of them as part of the 103rd Squadron. In his later years, he served as the postmaster of a small town in Connecticut.

He died in Santa Barbara, California.