Marilyn Monroe Working Out at the Bel Air Hotel in 1953

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

In 1945 Hungarian-Romanian photographer Andre de Dienes met the nineteen-year-old Marilyn Monroe, then called Norma Jeane Baker, who was a model on the books of Emmeline Snively’s Blue Book Model Agency

Norma Jeane had recently separated from her husband, James Dougherty, and told Dienes of her wish to become an actress. Dienes suggested that they go on a road trip to photograph her in the natural landscapes, for which Dienes paid her a flat fee of $200.

Dienes next met her on Labor Day in 1946, with her new name of Marilyn Monroe, they next worked together in 1952, where he shot her at the Bel Air Hotel and 1953, where she telephoned him at 2am, and took him to a darkened street where he used his car headlights to illuminate her, taking pictures her wide-eyed and unmade up. Dienes last saw her alive in June 1961.

These photos were taken by Hungarian-Romanian photographer Andre de Dienes at Bel Air Hotel in 1953, showing the beautiful Marilyn Monroe working out — or not really — and keeping herself in tip-top shape. De Dienes was also among the first photographers who photographed Marilyn during her early modeling days, notably the 1949 pin-up series taken at Long Island’s Tobay Beach in New York.

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25 Fabulous Photos of Elena Statheros in the 1980s

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Elena Statheros is an actress, known for Married with Children (1986), Switch (1991), and Melrose Place (1992). These fabulous photos of her taken by Southern California-born photographer Peter Duke that defined fashion styles of the 1980s.

“Photographs are tools of persuasion, and I specialize in making the champions of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness look good. Elena was ready to shoot anyway... She is one of the best models ever...”

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Italian Classic Beauty: Gorgeous Photos of Antonella Lualdi in the 1950s and 1960s

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.

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Janis Joplin Photographed by Francesco Scavullo, 1969

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.

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A Day With Salvador Dalí: Hilarious Photographs of Dalí at His Home in Portlligat, Spain in 1955

In 1930 Salvador Dalí was looking for a house of his own, he established himself in Portlligat, in the fisherman’s hut that Lídia Noguer had sold him. The house is in fact a cabin with its roof in poor condition, where Lídia’s sons kept their fishing gear. In order to purchase the Portlligat house Dalí used the 20,000 French francs that the Viscount of Noailles, as patron, decided to give Dalí as an advance on a painting that was to end up as The Old Age of William Tell.

Dalí tells us about the difficulties of getting to Portlligat from Paris in his autobiography La Vida Secreta de Salvador Dalí, in which he also speaks about the plan for the house: “Our little house was to consist of a room of about four square metres that was to serve as a dining room, bedroom, studio and an entrance hall. You go up some steps and as you land, three doors open out, taking you to a shower, a toilet and a kitchen of very tight dimensions that you can hardly squeeze in. I wanted it all good and small ̶̶ the smaller the more womblike.”

Referring to his usual residence, Salvador Dalí said: “Portlligat is the place of production, the ideal place for my work. Everything fits to make it so: time goes more slowly and each hour has its proper dimension. There is a geological peacefulness: it is a unique planetary case.”

Over the next four decades, he purchased neighboring cabins, gradually expanding the property into a twisting, labyrinthine villa, packed with artwork and ephemera reflecting his unique obsessions and fixations.

In 1955, photographer Charles Hewitt visited Dalí and his wife/muse/business manager Gala at their home to shoot photos for a Picture Post story entitled “A Day With Salvador Dalí.”

The artist, never one to shy away from a little showmanship, gamely modeled for the camera.

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15 Classic Beauties Who Knew to Rock a Swimsuit in the 1950s

Monday, May 13, 2019

History of swimwear traces the changes in the styles of swimwears over time and between cultures, and touches on the social, religious and legal attitudes to swimming and swimwear.

The '50s was truly the decade of swimwear glamour! Most women however stuck with the one piece swimwear. Except celebrities and pin-up girls, women in this period rarely wore a daring two piece bikini.

Anyway, swimwear is really the best costume to show the beauty of a woman. Here below are 15 classic beauties who knew to rock a swimsuit in the 1950s.

Brigitte Bardot

Diana Dors

Doris Day

Elizabeth Taylor

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30 Wonderful Color Photographs of Doris Day, America’s Box-Office Sweetheart of the 1950s and ’60s

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.”

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50 Candid Photographs of Freddie Mercury on Stage That Still Rock You!

Freddie Mercury remains one of rock and roll’s most outrageous and legendary performers. As the lead vocalist for Queen, the hit-delivering band of the 1980s, Mercury sang in a dazzling voice, pranced across the stage with electric flair and made lasting waves in the music space.

With hits like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Somebody To Love,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” — the list goes on — Queen’s music is still popular decades after the band’s final performance in 1986. His music aside, Mercury’s personal moments and performances also made a huge impact in the arts and culture space.

Here, below is a collection of 50 amazing photographs of Freddie Mercury rocking the stage from between the 1970s to the early 1990s.

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Hollywood's Number One Party Girl: 40's Glamorous Photos of Jeanne Crain in the 1940s and 1950s

Saturday, May 11, 2019

Born 1925 in Barstow, California, American actress Jeanne Crain had her first sizable role in Home in Indiana (1944). The film, shot in Technicolor, was popular at the box office and established Crain as a film name.

In 1949, Crain appeared in three films. A Letter to Three Wives (1949), in which Crain was one of several stars, quickly became established as a classic, winning Joseph L. Mankiewicz two Oscars and being a solid box office hit. The Fan, directed by Preminger and based on Lady Windemere's Fan by Oscar Wilde, was received poorly. However Pinky earned Crain a nomination the Academy Award for Best Actress and was one of the more popular films of the year.

Crain continued to have success when appeared in some movies in the 1950s such as Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), starred in Take Care of My Little Girl (1951), People Will Talk (1951), starred in The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951), and showed her dancing skills in 1955's Gentlemen Marry Brunettes.

At the height of her stardom, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Crain was nicknamed "Hollywood's Number One party girl", and she was quoted as saying that she was invited to at least 200 parties a year.

Film roles became fewer in the 1960s as Crain went into semi-retirement. Her last films were Skyjacked (1972) and The Night God Screamed (1975).

Crain died in 2003, cause of a heart attack, at the age of 78.

Take a look at these glamorous photos to see the beauty of Jeanne Crain in the 1940s and 1950s.

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Jane Russell: One of Hollywood's Leading Sex Symbols in the 1940s and 1950s

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Born 1921 in Bemidji, Minnesota, American film actress Jane Russell moved to California, where she had her first film role in 1943 in The Outlaw.

In 1947, Russell delved into music before returning to films. After starring in several films in the 1950s, including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1953, Russell again returned to music while completing several other films in the 1960s. She starred in more than 20 films throughout her career.

Russell married three times, adopted three children, and in 1955 founded Waif, the first international adoption program. She received several accolades for her achievements in films, including having her hand and footprints immortalized in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Russell died at her home in Santa Maria of a respiratory-related illness in 2011, at the age of 89.

Take a look at these glamorous photos to see the beauty of Jane Russell from the 1940s and 1950s.

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