Bob Waterfield

Robert Stanton Waterfield (July 26, 1920 – March 25, 1983) was an American football player and coach and motion picture actor and producer. He played quarterback for the UCLA Bruins and Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965. His No. 7 jersey was retired by the Los Angeles Rams in 1952.

Born in Elmira, New York, Waterfield moved to Los Angeles as an infant. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins in 1941, 1942, and 1944. In 1942, he led UCLA to a Pacific Coast Conference championship and was selected as the quarterback on the All-Pacific Coast team.

From 1945 to 1952, he played quarterback for the Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League (NFL). He led the Rams to NFL championships in 1945 and 1951 and was selected as the NFL's most valuable player in 1945. He was the first-team All-Pro quarterback in 1945, 1946, and 1949. Known as one of the best passers, punters, and place-kickers in the NFL, he set NFL career place-kicking records with 315 extra points and 60 field goals, as well as a single-season record with 54 extra points in 1950, and a single-game record with five field goals in a game.

Waterfield was married to movie actress Jane Russell from 1943 to 1968. During the 1950s, Waterfield also worked in the motion picture business, initially as an actor and later as a producer. He remained involved in football as an assistant coach during the 1950s and served as the head coach of the Rams from 1960 to 1962.

Family and later years

On April 24, 1943, Waterfield married actress Jane Russell, his sweetheart from Van Nuys High School who had subsequently gained fame as a pin-up girl. The couple eloped to Las Vegas shortly after Waterfield entered the military. They adopted three children, Thomas, Tracy, and Robert John, during the 1950s. Russell filed for divorce in February 1967, and Waterfield counterclaimed accusing Russell of habitual intemperance and excessive drinking. The divorce was granted in July 1968, with custody of the two oldest children being granted to Russell and custody of the youngest to Waterfield. He married Janet Ann Green in 1970.

After an extended illness, Waterfield died of respiratory failure on March 25, 1983, at the age of 62, five weeks before his teammate Van Brocklin. He had been in the intensive care unit at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank for two weeks prior to his death.