Actress Keri Russell of 'Waitress' has baby

LOS ANGELES, June 20 (Reuters) Actress Keri Russell, who plays a conflicted mother-to-be in the romantic comedy ''Waitress,'' has given birth to her first child, her publicist said.

Russell, 31, and her husband, Shane Deary, welcomed their child, a son they named River Russell Deary, on June 9, said the performer's spokeswoman yesterday.

The couple were married this year, on Valentine's Day.

Russell won critical raves for ''Waitress,'' in which she stars as a small-town waitress and pie-maker, Jenna, whose dreams of running away from an oppressive husband are thwarted by an unplanned pregnancy. Resentment of her unborn baby for tying her down leads Jenna to create delicacies like ''Pregnant, Miserable, Self-Pitying Loser Pie.'' Russell's big break came in 1998 as the star of the popular coming-of-age television drama ''Felicity,'' playing the title role of a wide-eyed college student who gets caught up in a romantic triangle.

REUTERS AGL PM1055