William (Bill) Helburn (b. 1924) is an American fashion photographer, and contemporary of Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Francesco Scavullo, and Lillian Bassman. He was at the top of his profession from the early 1950s through the 1960s, with bylined covers and editorial images in the pages of Harper's Bazaar, LIFE, McCall's, and many other magazines.
Classic beauties taken by William Helburn in the 1950s and 1960s
Helburn also worked extensively in advertising, contributing memorable pictures to campaigns designed by such legendary art directors as Gene Federico, Robert Gage, Helmut Krone, and George Lois.
Throughout his career Helburn strove to grab the viewer's attention, contextualizing his models in images that jumped off the page. Helburn's first work in photography came at the close of World War II, when he was part of the team that processed the first pictures of the atom bomb exploding over Hiroshima.
Inspired soon after by then-partner Ted Croner's encounter with model Lisa Fonssagrives posing naked on skis, Helburn entered the fashion world in 1947, shooting neophyte models like Grace Kelly and Tippi Hedren, while studying graphic design with legendary art director Alexey Brodovitch.
Helburn became a successful director of TV Commercials in the early 1980s. He left the industry a decade later to raise his children, and currently resides in New England.
These stunning photos are part of his work that Helburn shot famous beauties in the 1950s and 1960s.
Joanna McCormick, photo by William Helburn, 1951
Dorian Leigh, photo by William Helburn, 1955
Suzy Parker poses lying in a bed with white linens, cosmetic advertisement for Revlon, New York, circa 1955
'Dovima Under the El' ('Dior Creates Cosmopolitan Drama'), photo by William Helburn, 1956
Norman Norell and Dovima wearing his Roman-striped version of his famous sequin evening gown, photo by William Helburn, LIFE, October 8, 1956
Born 1931 in Beirut, Lebanon to an Italian father and a Greek mother, actress and singer Antonella Lualdi grew up fluent in Arabic, French and Italian. She began her career in 1949, after having won a contest for new talents of the cinema magazine Hollywood, in which she was presented as "Signorina X" ("Madam X"), inviting the readers to choose her stage name.
After having starred with Italian actor Franco Interlenghi in several films, Lualdi married him in 1955; the couple had two daughters, Stella and Antonellina, an actress in her own right.
Lualdi appeared in many Italian and French films in the 1950s and 1960s, notably in Claude Autant-Lara's film The Red and the Black in 1954.
In 1974, Lualdi debuted in France as a singer with some success and critical appreciation, then she also debuted on stage with the comedy Le Moulin de la Gallette, with which she toured across several European countries.
These gorgeous photos captured portraits of this beautiful woman from the 1950s and 1960s.
These photographs of Janis Joplin, with a cigarette in her hand, shot in 1969 by legendary American fashion photographer Francesco Scavullo.
“I had one fabulous afternoon with Janis Joplin,” Scavullo recalled. “She stayed the whole afternoon. I loved photographing Janis. I loved meeting her, and she was so different from what I thought she was going to be. She died a year later I think… She walked into the studio and I said, ‘Oh, hi Janis, I’m Scavullo.’ She looked at me and she said, ‘I’d love to f— you, only I got the clap.’ ”
Scavullo was best known for his magazine covers for Rolling Stone, Harper’s Bizarre, Seventeen, and Cosmopolitan (for whom he famously shot actor Burt Reynolds for a nude centerfold.) His photographs graced album covers for Barbara Streisand, Judy Collins, Donna Summer and others.
Doris Day, the Academy Award-winning singer of “Que Será, Será” and a Golden Age of Hollywood movie icon, died on Monday (May 13, 2019), at 97 from complications of pneumonia, according to her foundation. Day had an enormously popular entertainment career, and is one of the top ranked female box-office stars of all time. She was one of the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Day was born Mary Ann Von Kappelhoff, on April 3, 1922 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Day’s life's work – music, films, and animal advocacy – comprise an enduring legacy. She began her professional singing career at age 15, and she had her first hit, “Sentimental Journey,” with Les Brown’s band. That tune, and her signature “Que Sera Sera,” were her biggest hits.
During her three decades of work in film, Day starred in nearly every genre, not just as a singer/dancer but as an actress with superb comic timing, a natural talent for interpreting a role and a gift for evoking emotion. Her 39 films – many still incredibly popular and shown frequently today – stand as a testament to her talent.
While Day was honored with many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004 and a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement in 2008, she never won an Oscar, and many film critics and fans have decried the Academy’s overlooking Day’s talents.
“My public image is unshakably that of America’s wholesome virgin, the girl next door, carefree and brimming with happiness. An image, I can assure you, more make-believe than any film part I ever played,” Day told A.E. Hotchner in her memoir, Doris Day: Her Own Story.
Day’s music continues to attract new fans worldwide. The 2011 release of “My Heart,” a compilation of songs never before released, went to No. 1 in the United Kingdom.
By the mid-1970s, she withdrew from the limelight to focus on animal rights and set up the Doris Day Animal League and Doris Day Animal Foundation. In a 2012 interview with “Fresh Air” host Terry Gross, Day admitted that she had about 30 dogs at one point.
“All my life, I have never felt lonely with a dog I loved at my side, no matter how many times I’ve been alone,” she said in her memoir.
As a staunch advocate for animals, she briefly came out of retirement to host a cable TV pet show called “Doris Day’s Best Friends,” which included an emotional reunion with three-time co-star Rock Hudson shortly before his death in 1985.
During her career and retirement, Day always seemed to adhere to the philosophy of her biggest hit, “Que Será, Será,” which she initially opposed as a “kiddie song” but which became her signature tune.
“Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be; The future’s not ours to see. Que sera, sera, What will be, will be.”
Back around 1966, Sixties counter-culture iconography was being injected into the everyday, infusing society with a collision of postmodern DayGlo colors, earth tones and psychedelically styled designs. And flowers–lots and lots of flowers. Most of these floral designs may have been a bit too loud on a Formica counter or trusty old Thermos, yet one particular print looked right at home on the top of a car. Counterculture became mainstream.
Like most cars of the day, the Barracuda was available with standard solid-colored vinyl top options, but the flower-power Mod Top was something more, at least in the “wow” department. Sure, it was little more than a marketing ploy, but at least the Chrysler folks had a sense of humor, and the guts to do something completely different.
In 1969, Chrysler added to its brochures one of the most eye-catching and bizarre options ever, the result no doubt of the cultural upheaval going on in America and the psychedelic flair of the times. From the get-go, the Plymouth Mod Top and Dodge Floral Top options were intended to attract women buyers to the showrooms.
And although this option wasn’t the success Chrysler thought it could be, it did cement Mopar at the top of the list of the most flamboyant fashion statements made by any of the Big Three during the rebellious ’60s.
Plymouth Mod Top cars were available in several combinations. The Mod Top with a floral interior was the most popular selection. One could also have a Mod Top with a standard color interior, or a regular vinyl top with a floral interior. There were also rumors that you could get a Barracuda convertible with a floral interior, though no example has been found. In order to get a floral interior in the ’70, you had to order a bench seat.
Dodge dropped the radical vinyl top option after the ’69 model year, which left Plymouth alone with a Mod Top monopoly for the new decade. However, only the new Barracuda would be available with the hippie vinyl on its roof. The ’70 sales figures were on the low side, with less than 100 buyers checking off the option. The rather masculine lines and aggressive stance of the new Barracuda just wasn’t the right vehicle for the female-oriented vinyl top.
