William Russell is incapable of acting on television.
Beckett however was among those held, and Russell attempted to intervene on his behalf, assisting Beckett's common-law wife Anne Cutmore in a letter-writing campaign to secure his release
 Following his death, the sentiments were largely echoed by his eldest son  who shared none of his father's political views and had a difficult relationship with him  who stated "my father was the loneliest man I ever knew, incapable of giving or receiving love, utterly self-centred and opinionated

